Bishop Andrew Cozzens, who was consecrated an auxiliary bishop of the
Saint Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese Dec. 9, is excited that his new
ministry will facilitate the spread of Christ's love.
“Being with people. Sharing the love of Jesus with people. Helping
people experience the love of Jesus, teaching them to pray, teaching
them about the beauty of God's love,” Bishop Cozzens told CNA in a Dec.
12 interview, when asked what he is especially looking forward to in his
episcopal ministry.
Having had a “very focused ministry” for his last 10 years as a priest,
first as a graduate student in Rome and then forming seminarians for
ministry, he explained that “my flock has been kind of an intense and
small one; I focused diligently on those few, so they can be
strengthened to serve the larger flock.”
“The joy now is that I get to share in the larger flock, and get to be
out, again, with the people of God, preaching and teaching about the
love of God. I'm firmly convinced that, as Pope Francis says, our Church
is rapidly becoming a field hospital as the culture continues to wound
people, (so) we have to help them understand that only in Jesus is the
true healing they seek going to be found. So I just look forward to the
various ways I can help people be healed and come to holiness through
the love of Jesus.”
Since his consecration, the bishop has already visited numerous
communities to share God's love, going to a cloistered Carmelite
convent; Sharing and Caring Hands to wash the feet of the homeless who
are cared for there; his nieces' and nephews' school; a late night Mass
for Our Lady of Guadalupe; and a Mass of thanksgiving at the local
Catholic university.
Bishop Cozzens was made an auxiliary at the request of Archbishop John
Nienstedt, in response to the need of the 250,000 Hispanics who live in
the archdiocese, which previously had no bishop who speaks Spanish. The
new bishop has long been active in Hispanic ministry in the local
Church.
He described the surreal experience of being named a bishop, saying that
“when you go through a life change like this, you feel like at any
moment you might wake up … life does change dramatically.”
After learning of his appointment, the new bishop read, “Rise, Let Us Be
on Our Way,” a book by Bl. John Paul II on his own episcopal ministry.
He explained that the late Pope “says a bishop is like a city set on a
hill that cannot be hidden. That's certainly the most shocking aspect of
the job: all of a sudden you're set on a hill and everyone sees you. I
just pray that as I'm on that hill, I can let the light of Jesus shine
out brightly; that's my real goal.”
Bishop Cozzens shared the trepidation of setting out on episcopal
ministry, saying “yes and no” when asked if it was difficult to accept
his new appointment.
“There was nothing in me that wanted to say no … because I knew it was
the Lord asking, there was no hesitation in me, or thought that I should
say no. But it was obviously still difficult to say yes, because one is
aware of one's own unworthiness, and one is aware of the weight of
apostolic office. So it was difficult to say yes, even though it was
very clear to me that that was the right response.”
The call to follow Christ is a call “to give up everything,” he
reflected, sharing a scene from a film version of Jesus' life in which
Peter, having said he looks forward to returning home and fishing again,
is told, “You're not going home. You never get to go home. To follow
Jesus means to give everything.”
“That thought came back to me as soon as I hung up with the nuncio: you
don't get to go home,” Bishop Cozzens said. “That's the sentiment of
John Paul II in his book; he quotes the Lord right before his passion,
'rise and let us be on our way.' You've got to go to the cross, so let's
go, because that's what the Lord wants … of course it leads to the
beautiful glory of the Christian life,” but it “only comes through the
cross.”
Bishop Cozzens is particularly concerned with strengthening the
spiritual lives of priests, and is involved in two efforts to that end:
the Institute for Priestly Formation, and the Companions of Christ.
“One of the great struggles in the priests of our day can be isolation
and not having enough fraternal support from other priests, and it's
been both my personal experience and the wisdom of the Catholic
tradition that when priests are able to support each other … they are
stronger.”
He has been associated with the Institute for Priestly Formation, which
assists in spiritual formation of priests and seminarians, since 2008,
saying, “I've been deeply grateful for the training in the spiritual
life and spiritual direction that I've received” there.
The bishop had also been a member of the Companions of Christ, an
association of diocesan priests committed to priestly fraternity and a
common life, as well as the evangelical counsels, since his priestly
ordination in 1997. While as a bishop he can no longer be a member of
the organization, he said that “I'm still able to maintain friendly
relationships with the brothers” and looks forward to doing so.
He noted the particular value of priests supporting each other by living
together, as in the Companions' ideals, and called the group “one model
for … strengthening spiritually our priests.”
“Whatever we can do to help priests bond together and become a
strengthening presence for each other, in particular helping each other
to live the high ideals of priestly holiness, we need to find ways to do
that. So I'm very grateful to have had that experience in the
Companions of Christ, and will continue to try and find ways to support
that as a bishop.”
Bishop Cozzens reflected on his experience of priestly ministry, saying
that it was “someone turned up the volume on life,” intensifying life
rather than withdrawing from it.
“People think the priest is out of touch, he lives in the church
rectory, and doesn't really know what's going on, but the fact is, as a
priest … you actually have a much deeper insight” into people's lives
“because you're there at the most intense moments,” he said.
“I feel like a similar thing happens when you become a bishop: it's just
like the volume on life gets turned up (yet) another notch.”
“It's certainly been my experience…that you're being carried in a new way by God's grace.”