The Archbishop of Liverpool has said that being a bishop is dangerous during the ordination of Mgr Marcus Stock as Bishop of Leeds.
Speaking during his homily at Mgr Stock’s installation Mass on Thursday, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, said: “Being a Bishop is dangerous because it might go to your head.”
He continued: “More importantly, you could mistakenly lead the Church away from Christ – ‘God forbid,’ you might say, but a lot of well-meaning Bishops have done it in the past. Or, more likely, you might neglect yourself in serving others so that you can no longer serve them as best you can. But being a danger is not sufficient reason to refuse the office of Bishop – and thank God, for all of us, you didn’t. There is virtue in obedience, a lesson that you can only teach if you have learned it and practised it for yourself.”
Mgr Marcus Stock, former general secretary to the Catholic Bishops Conference for England and Wales, was ordained at a Mass at St Anne’s Cathedral on Thursday.
During his sermon, Archbishop McMahon said that the new bishop didn’t “do things by half.” He said: “famously he begins his day at 4.30 am – although I wouldn’t suggest getting into the habit of ringing Bishop’s House at that time of day – and everything he does is marked by a great sense of devotion and prayer, considerable thought and a real concern for others. Although he is hard on himself, he is always, unfailingly tender with others; this means that you can be sure he will never fall into the trap of being a dictator over the group which is put in his charge, but will always be an example that the whole flock can follow…Read More
Source and Original Content by Catholic Herald