Seattle, Wash., Dec 2, 2010 / 18:02 pm
Seattle's new Archbishop J. Peter Sartain told the faithful that he has nothing to offer them, except the faith he has received in an unbroken tradition from the apostles.
“I have nothing at all of my own to offer you,” he told the congregation at St. James Cathedral during his installation Mass on Dec. 1. “Everything I have, I have received … What I have, I will offer you: the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The previous Bishop of Joliet, Ill. then reflected on his position of leadership. He noted that the Church's leaders must see themselves primarily as followers, walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
A bishop, he said, must first be led and taught by the Church, in order to be a leader and teacher himself. “It is the Lord Jesus who leads, guides, protects, and nourishes the flock,” he explained. “It is first and foremost, in following him that we (bishops) shepherd the portion of the flock entrusted to our care.”