The 40th Anniversary of the Diocese of Orlando - June 2008

• Today 40 years ago, the then Bishop Borders became the first bishop of the new established Diocese of Orlando which was established by Pope Paul VI from territory take from the Dioceses of St. Augustine and Miami. 
• 40 years ago, I was graduating from High School as a member of the Class of 1968;
• 40 years ago, this week, Fathers Peter and Paul Henry and Richard Walsh were ordained priests – the first and youngest priests of the new diocese,
• 40 years ago, Sister Elizabeth Worley, the COO of our Diocese, was a young nun stationed here at St. James’ School,
• 40 years ago, Jerry Hilbrich was “just married” about to begin his career and his family. 

I could go on – but to do so would make some of us feel very, very old.  But, a diocese that is 40 years old is really still very young and, as we have seen, especially in our Festival of Faith, this diocese is not only young:  it is very much alive – “Alive in Christ”.  The Holy Spirit has led the Church from her beginnings in the cenacle on Pentecost Sunday to her expansion to the ends of the earth.  (And I am sure when those Irish missionaries arrived here in Florida and stepped into our summer heat and humidity, they probably thought that they had arrived at the end of the earth.) 

This past April, in Washington, D.C., Pope Benedict reminded us: “In every age (the Church) is impelled by the same Spirit to bring to men and women of every race, language and people (cf. Rv 5:9) the good news of our reconciliation with God in Christ”. (Pope Benedict, Nationals Stadium).  And, for 40 years, this has been our mission here in Central Florida.

For those of us old enough to remember, the 60’s, while they began with great enthusiasm and optimism, were years of no little uncertainly and confusion.  1968 – the year of our founding – was the year of the radical student riots in Europe and of campus unrest and race riots in the U.S.; it was the year of the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy; it was the year of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the year of Humanae Vitae and the beginning of great defections from the Church and contentious dissent within her.  

The late 60’s and early 70’s  - years marked by cultural upheaval, lifestyle revolution and the undermining of traditional authorities - were hardly auspicious times for a new diocese to get started. I suspect that Bishop Borders when he arrived here, much like Elisha to Elijah in today’s first reading asked God for a “double portion” of his spirit. When you consider the rapid growth of this area as well as the turmoil of the 60’s, he needed it.

The history of this diocese, of course, – like any history forged by fallen human beings – is full of lights and shadows.  Yet, despite the shortcomings and foibles of her human members, the Church of God has continued to spread and grow here in Central Florida. And thanks to the Holy Spirit always present in the Church who could deny that these past 40 years have been years of grace?   We can look back on these years – and on the bishops, priests, religious and the members of Christ’s faithful who have served the Church in this area so well in daunting times– with great gratitude. “The light shines in the darkness and darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 5)

The Holy Spirit, of course, continues to lead the Church, the Body of Christ., making us alive in Christ so that we may witness to hope. And the gospel reading for this Wednesday in ordinary time reminds us that this anniversary – and anything else we do in the Church – is not “about us”.  Those who labored here before in this section of the Lord’s vineyard were not put here by God’s providence to seek men’s praise or adulation; but rather God’s glory and the salvation of souls.  This anniversary year has been designated as a “Year of Evangelization” as a way of reminding ourselves that, in celebrate only to properly purify our motivations and to correctly refocus our intentions as members of this local Church.  Later this month, the universal Church will begin her jubilee of the 2000th anniversary of the great apostle, St. Paul’s birth.  And, as we look forward to our next 40 years, et us heed his words: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s lead”.