The reality of evil and the tender mercy of Jesus Christ were on the
mind of Denver’s new auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez at his ordination
Mass.
“Let the words of Jesus penetrate your own heart,” Archbishop Samuel
J. Aquila of Denver said at the Nov. 4 Mass. “Jesus’ words are full of
tenderness. They are full of compassion. His deepest desire is to reveal
the Father to the world.”
“May you proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ boldly, in season and out of
season, and invite others to his mercy and into the very heart of the
Trinity,” he told the new bishop.
Pope Francis named Bishop Rodriguez, 61, to be ordained the next
auxiliary bishop of Denver. He has served as a priest in the archdiocese
for more than 10 years.
Archbishop Aquila consecrated Bishop Rodriguez at Denver’s Basilica
of the Immaculate Conception. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, emeritus
Archbishop of Denver, and Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles were
co-consecrators.
Over 200 priests, 10 bishops and one abbot processed into the cathedral for the start of the Mass.
Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United
States, read Pope Francis’ official apostolic letter appointing the
bishop to Denver.
In his homily, Archbishop Aquila reflected upon Bishop Rodriguez’s
chosen motto, from the Virgin Mary’s Magnificat: “Mercy from Generation
to Generation.”
“Learn from our beloved Mother: make a home in your heart for her,”
the archbishop exhorted. “She was one who understood her unworthiness.
She was one who saw herself as a lowly servant. But she was one who had
great trust and confidence in God.”
Every disciple of Jesus is called to that trust and confidence in God
and to proclaim his mercy, the archbishop said. He cited St. Paul’s
counsel to be fervent in spirit, to persevere in prayer, to rejoice in
hope and to exercise hospitality.
“As Jesus continues to pray for us, he prays ‘keep them from the evil one’,” the archbishop told Bishop Rodriguez.
He said it is important “to understand that evil is real,”
remembering that Pope Francis speaks frequently about the devil and
temptations and “how the evil one works.”
“The media certainly does not like the fact that he speaks of evil and
the devil, and they mock it and tend to ignore it,” Archbishop Aquila
said. “But when one looks at the confusion in the world today, when one
looks at the advance of the culture of death, of the ‘throwaway society’
that Pope Francis speaks of, underlining it all is the evil one. He is
the one who brings chaos, he is the one who brings confusion, and he is
the one who hates the truth.”
“The words of Jesus ring true: you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free,” he continued. “That truth is a person: Jesus, who
identifies himself as the way, the truth and the life.”
“You my beloved brother are entrusted as a bishop to invite others to
encounter the truth of Jesus Christ,” Archbishop Aquila told Bishop
Rodriguez.
The new auxiliary bishop was born March 22, 1955 in Mérida, Mexico, in the state of Yucatán, where his family still resides.
Archbishop Aquila said that the new Bishop Rodriguez would be “a
tremendous blessing” to the Hispanic community in northern Colorado.
More than half of the Catholics in the Archdiocese of Denver are
Hispanic. Sixty of the archdiocese’s 115 parishes have Mass in Spanish.
At the same time, the archbishop acknowledged the cultural diversity in the archdiocese and the unity of the faith.
“The beauty of the Church is that she is one in Christ, no matter
what he culture, no matter what nationality one may be… it is Christ who
binds us all together and makes us brothers and sisters to one
another,” he said.
Bishop Rodriguez has served as pastor at Holy Cross Parish in
Thornton, Colo. since 2014. He is a former professor and vice-rector of
St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver.
The future bishop joined the Legionaries of Christ after high school.
He was ordained a priest Dec. 24, 1987. He has been a theology
professor and dean of the theology department of the Pontifical
Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome.