Taking role of bridge builder

By Bishop David A. Zubik

	Bishop David Zubik

Shortly after being named Bishop of the Green Bay Diocese, I received an invitation from The Compass to be a regular contributor. While I have had no experience nor training in journalism, I said yes. And so this week, as we begin a new calendar year, I take on the delightful role of connecting with you through our diocesan newspaper every other week.

In giving some thought to what I might name the article, I knew that the word "bridge" would have to play some prominence. The See city of my former Diocese, Pittsburgh, is often called the "city of bridges."

Moreover, the little town where I was born, where I was raised and from which I left to answer the call to priesthood, is Ambridge. It was named after the American Bridge Company, the steel company that employed the majority of women and men who made their living in that town, some 22 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Most important of all, the image of the "bridge" is central to my understanding of my relationship with you as bishop and priest. The image of the bridge applies first and foremost to Jesus, our Savior and High Priest. The author of the letter to the Hebrews, one of the New Testament books, writes about Jesus as the compassionate High Priest:

"Son though he was, he learned obedience through suffering, but having been made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation" (Hb 5:8-9).

In his role as our Savior, Jesus bridged the gap between the Father, the Creator, and his children, his creatures. Through his life, and especially through his death and resurrection, Jesus is the bridge who reconnects us to the Father and creator of all.

In the choosing of the twelve known as the apostles, Jesus passed on the role of bridge building to his closest collaborators. As the successors to the apostles, all bishops share in the bridge-building role of Jesus through the successors of the apostle Peter.

As I reflect on my role as a bridge builder, I remember back nearly seven years ago when I was ordained a bishop. In the beautiful ordination ceremony, the Church impressed on my mind and heart three important ways in which I am called to be a bridge: as teacher, as minister, and as a man of prayer. To teach, to pastor, to sanctify are important responsibilities passed on by Jesus to the apostles and to their successors.

• As teacher, it is my responsibility to teach God's word not only from the "pulpit," but hopefully through the lived experience and example of my life. I am sure many of you remember that famous instruction of St. Francis of Assisi, which says: "Preach the Gospel always. Use words if necessary." As teacher, it is also my responsibility to pass on to you the authentic teaching of the Church in and through our priests and parish leaders, particularly the catechists in our religious education programs and the teachers in our schools.

• As pastor, it is my primary responsibility to "administer" to your needs, to take great care that your spiritual needs are met through the dedicated efforts and seemingly endless energy of your priests, deacons and parish leadership. As I appoint pastors, parochial vicars, deacons and parish directors, I share with them the important role of being bridges for you, just as the Holy Father has shared that role with me, and just as Christ through the Holy Spirit has shared that role with the Holy Father.

• And finally, as bridge builder, it is my happy responsibility each day to pray with and for you. Each day, you must be in my prayer. And each day, as I pray for you and for your needs, I likewise share my love for you to our God.

In 1975, having completed my preparation for the priesthood, as I was leaving St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore to return to Pittsburgh, my spiritual director shared with me this wise advice: "More important than what you tell the people about God from the pulpit, is what you tell God about your people in prayer."

I have never forgotten his wisdom. I especially remember it now at the beginning of my relationship with you, the faithful of our Church.

In 1997, on the occasion of his 50th anniversary as a priest, our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, reflected on the prostration, a very moving part of the ordination rite. Before a candidate is ordained to the priesthood, he lies prostrate on the floor of the church while the entire faithful pray the Litany of Saints. The Pope recalled his impression that the prostration symbolized, for him, the need for him to be a bridge for people to walk over on the road to God's kingdom. He expressed this thought in a poem, as follows:

"... you are the floor that others may walk over you ... not knowing where they go. You guide their steps. You want to serve their feet that pass as rock serves the hooves of sheep."

When I said yes to our Holy Father to come to Green Bay, I signaled to him, and I hope to you, my deepest desire to lay down my life for you. I clearly want to be a bridge on your journey to God's kingdom. It was certainly one of the reasons why I included the image of the bridge in my coat of arms.

Over the course of these next weeks, months and years, I hope through this column, "Bridging the Gap," to reflect on our life and faith together and "connect the dots." I hope to use this column as one way to be a bridge that will not only unite us more intimately to Christ, but to unite us more closely to one another as members of Christ's body, the Church. Thanks for taking the time to let me bridge the gap.