The Diocese of Dallas bid a sad farewell and offered thanks to Bishop Kevin J. Farrell at a Mass of Thanksgiving for his near-decade of ministry and service on Saturday, September 10 at 5:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Below is a video of his homily at this Mass.

Bishop Kevin Farrell Farewell Mass homily – September 10, 2016 from Catholic Diocese of Dallas on Vimeo.

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Highlights during Bishop Kevin J. Farrell’s tenure as bishop of the Diocese of Dallas

2007

March 6 – Appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas by Pope Benedict XVI.

May 1 – Installed as the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Dallas at Cathedral Shrine of the
Virgin of Guadalupe. Catholic population in nine-county area stands at approximately 940,000. June 9 – Ordains his first diocesan priest, Father Jason Cargo.

June 9 – Ordains his first diocesan priest, Father Jason Cargo.

Aug. 21 – Visits St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Oak Cliff after it was struck by lightning and burns
and pledges to work to build a new sanctuary for community.

Sept. 15 – Hires director of communications to focus on improving internal and external communications and bridging relationships with media and communities.

November – Hires first full-time Safe Environment Director charged with compliance of criminal background safety checks, for employees and volunteers working in all parishes, schools and offices.

November – Appoints Vicar for Clergy to oversee all aspects of clergy life and assist in improving the relationship with the priests of the diocese.

2008

Jan. 22 – Celebrates Mass and leads 5,000 people in march and rally and implores pro-life advocates  to  not  lose  faith  in  attempts  to  overturn  Roe  v.  Wade  decision  that  legalized abortion.

Aug.  24  –  In  an  effort to  promote  vocations to  the priesthood, organizes semi-annual St. Andrew Dinners to inform young men about being open to the call for vocations to the priesthood.

October – Appoints 16 lay men and women from parishes throughout the diocese to a newly formed Pastoral Council to help him address key issues important to the diocese.

2009

March 23 – Leads groundbreaking for Notre Dame Courts, a 69-unit facility in Oak Cliff for low- income people as part of Catholic Housing Initiative.

Oct. 23 – Relaunches and co-sponsors an expanded University of Dallas Ministry Conference at the Dallas Convention Center to ensure convenient ongoing training for all lay and clergy involved in ministry.

October – Reads decree following Mass of dedication in Kerens, Texas, of the first Vietnamese
Benedictine monastery in the United States.

2010

January 2010 – Launches blog to reach more Catholics via social media.

April 10 – Ordains two auxiliary bishops to help minister to the growing number of Catholics in the Diocese of Dallas.

2011

February  – Appoints a select strategic task force comprised of lay men and women, that included educators, parents, philanthropists and professionals, to map out the future of Catholic Schools in the diocese, resulting in the publishing of the “Our Students, Our Future: A Roadmap for Excellence.”

Sept. 3 – Joins St. Francis of Assisi Catholic community in Frisco in the groundbreaking for a new and much larger sanctuary to better accommodate the ever-growing number of Catholics in northern Collin County.

Sept. 12 – Tees off inaugural Bishop Farrell Invitational golf tournament to raise funds for tuition assistance for students in Catholic schools. To date, this golf tournament has raised $2.7 million for tuition assistance for students in diocesan schools.

Nov. 20 – Thanks members of St. Cecilia Catholic Church community for efforts and support during a
dedication Mass for the church’s new sanctuary.

2012

Feb. 11 – Initiates Bishop’s Award for Service with Mass at cathedral, honoring lay volunteers for their commitment and service to the local Catholic Church.

March 14 – Leads Diocese of Dallas bishops in Ad Limina visit to the Vatican and meeting with
Pope Benedict XVI.

Sept. 4 – Employed first-ever Chief Operating Officer to oversee all business aspects in the diocese.

Oct. 6-7 – Leads Dallas area Knights of Columbus members in delivering wheelchairs to people in rural areas of Honduras. Concelebrates several Masses in Trujillo, Dallas Diocese’s sister city.

2013

March 23 – Joins Mayor Mike Rawlings and thousands of men in City Hall Plaza for “Men Against Abuse”
rally, calling an end to domestic violence.

April 16 – Convenes first Marian Dinner to highlight the importance of religious women to the church and inspire vocations for future generations.

April 17 – Celebrates with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings the implementation of $6 million renovation of
Bishop Dunne Catholic with announcement at the Oak Cliff school.

May 5 – Leads march and speaks at rally at City Hall Plaza promoting immigration reform.

Sept. 4 – Presides at all-school Mass kicking off Bishop Lynch High School’s 50th anniversary.

Oct. 7 – Delivers a Red Mass homily at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., where the congregation traditionally prays for the U.S. Supreme Court and government officials (with several Supreme Court judges and officials in attendance) amid the federal government shutdown. In his homily, Bishop Farrell stressed that debate requires respect for the other side in every argument, no matter what the disagreement.

2014

June  14  —Santa  Clara  Regional  Community  Center,  a  program  of  Catholic  Charities  of  Dallas  that features a summer children’s camp, opens in West Dallas.

July 2014 – Urges Gov. Rick Perry to view immigrant children who have crossed into the U.S. from Central America as refugees in response to the governor’s announcement of a plan to send 1,000 members of the Texas National Guard to the border.

Sept. 30 – Presides over kickoff celebration of diocese’s 125th  anniversary and launch of $125 million capital campaign, “Our Faith…Our Future”, to raise $125 million for parishes, Catholic schools, Catholic Charities, Holy Trinity Seminary, and the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Oct. 17 – Announces his invitation of Cristo Rey High School to operate in the Diocese of Dallas with its nationally acclaimed college prep/work-study curriculum in school’s partnership with area businesses.

Oct. 20 – Reveals that four people exposed to Ebola virus were quarantined in Catholic facility for nearly a month, saying, “We help people because we are Catholic, not because they are Catholic.”

2015

Fall – Formally opens St. Philip & St. Augustine Academy that combined two schools into a renovated campus in Pleasant Grove.

2016

Jan. 2 – Prays with parishioners and community members who lost their homes in tornadic storms in the Garland and Rowlett areas in late December and calls for a special collection in all parishes.  The $1.9 million collected was given to Catholic Charities and St. Vincent de Paul Society to provide aid to storm victims.

January— The Diocese of Dallas and the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) formalize a strategic partnership with the goal of strengthening Catholic schools.

January – Pledges and funds to “Our Faith … Our Future” campaign top $130 million. Spring – Catholic population in Dallas Diocese tops 1.3 million.

May 21 – Ordains four diocesan priests, bringing to 34 the number of diocesan priests (24) and
Cistercian priests (10) ordained during his tenure.

June – Renovation and construction of parishes and school buildings and other Catholic-owned facilities tops $184 million from 2007 with another $73 million ongoing.

July 8 – Joins civic and faith leaders in prayer for peace and healing in downtown Dallas after five Dallas police officers are killed during protest.

Aug. 17 – Appointed by Pope Francis as the new prefect for the Dicastery for Laity, Family and
Life at the Vatican.
Source: The Texas Catholic/Diocese of Dallas

Simple acts of kindness say more about relationships than scholarly tomes because they come from the heart. One such act occurred in Irving last week among neighbors along Esters Road. Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Church and Academy are just down the road from the Islamic Center and School of Irving.

On July 26, the world was shocked when Father Jacques Hamel, an 85 year old retired priest, in residence at Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray Parish at Rouen, Normandy, was murdered while celebrating Mass by two young Muslim men inspired to violence by the ISIS distortion of Islam.

The next morning here in Irving a card and bouquet were left on the doorstep at Holy Family. The handwritten note on the card read: ““Our condolences for the loss of Rev. Jacques Hamel of France. From the Muslim Community.”

A bouquet and note of condolence spoke profoundly to the sorrow and grief felt by both communities in Irving and Rouen, and the world, over the death of this good priest at the altar.  I am very happy to report that Holy Family and the Islamic Center of Irving have, through the years, forged a very good relationship as neighbors and faith communities.

I am grateful for the sympathy and kindness shown by the Islamic community to our Catholic community and pray we continue to work together to keep our friendship strong.

 

So soon again we mourn the deaths of three more police officers ambushed in Baton Rouge. We share the grief of the families of the slain officers and their comrades who were wounded and offer prayers and condolences.

Our hearts are heavy with sadness at the Baton Rouge tragedy and the events of the past weeks that have shocked the world. There can be no justification for the wanton killing of innocent men, women and children.

We cannot allow the forces of darkness to overwhelm us. We must turn to God to pray for those who have lost their lives and for their families. We must ask him to lead us to productive dialogue that truly fosters understanding, mercy and forgiveness. We must find the love of Christ in our hearts and do all that we can to bring about the  peace and unity that can stop the current cycle of abhorrent violence. As our Holy Father Pope Francis advises:

Look upon your brother’s sorrow – I think of the children: look upon these… look at the sorrow of your brother, stay your hand and do not add to it, rebuild the harmony that has been shattered; and all this achieved not by conflict but by encounter!

On this day as we mourn and reflect, let us remember the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.

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Image Credit – IIP Photo Archive on Flickr

Preaching on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Pope Francis spoke of the fact that to ignore the suffering of another person is to ignore God.

There are four principle characters in the parable.  The victim, who was an innocent traveler robbed by bandits and left wounded by the side of the road to Jericho, is a symbol of Jesus.  A priest and a Levite, both observant Jews, are also part of the story as is a Samaritan traveler, who is considered an outsider because he is from a different Judean toparchy or province. Bad blood, even enmity, had existed between the observant Jews and Samaritans dating back to the Exile.

Jesus was making the point that our neighbor, whom Jews were charged to love as themselves, (Leviticus 19:18) meant more than their associate and fellow Hebrew, and that religion required more than the performance of religious rites. His teaching was brought home by the observant priest’s and Levite’s cold-hearted indifference to the suffering in contrast to the compassionate mercy of the despised Samaritan.

“It is not automatic that one who frequents the house of God and has known His mercy knows how to love his neighbor,” the pope noted. “God’s mercy for us is related to our mercy for our neighbor; […] If I do not open the doors of my heart to the poor, the door stays closed for God too. And this is terrible.”

“Showing compassion to others like God shows compassion to us is the sign that one is close to God. To ignore human suffering — what does that mean? It means ignoring God,” he told a crowd of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, adding, “If I do not draw near to the man or woman or child or older person who is suffering,” —   with their sin and with their wounds — “I cannot draw near to God”

I fear that the deluge of catastrophic events, man-made and natural, have inured us to the immense amount of human pain, suffering and deprivation that exists in the world today. The unimaginable has become commonplace: mass beheadings, kidnapping and trafficking of children, wanton rapine by armies, victimization of those hoping for refuge, mass murder of innocent people and natural disasters, earthquakes, floods, pandemics.

When we are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, often beyond comprehension, our mind may sanitize those numbers and they cease representing suffering human beings and become statistics. A statistic does not have a name or a face. It doesn’t hurt or weep or die.

It is what Pope Francis refers to as “the globalization of indifference.” (Evangelii Gaudium 46) “Almost without being aware of it,” the Holy Father explains, “we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own.” (Evangelii Gaudium 54).

John Donne in his meditation “No man is an island,” grasps the reality of our human connectedness when he reminds us that, “Any man’s death diminishes me.”  We can neither escape nor deny our human bond. We are one with each other as Jesus became one with us.

The Gospel is a call to action, not to inertia or apathy, much less to denial. Outrage demands a response, not a retreat.