Diocesan clergy gather for fall convocation

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Bishop Daniel H. Mueggenborg addresses the diocesan priests at the fall clergy convocation on Oct. 9.

MIDWAY — The 2019 Fall Clergy Convocation, held Oct. 7-10 at the Homestead Resort, gave the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s priests an opportunity for formation, prayer, fraternization and relaxation.

During the four days of the convocation, the Most Rev. Daniel H. Mueggenborg, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle, gave seven presentations focused on priestly spirituality and the Scriptures. Bishop Mueggenborg also is author of “Come Follow Me,” a three-volume set of discipleship reflections on the Sunday Gospel readings.

Bishop Mueggenborg’s first four talks were on the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist as models of discipleship, and a two-part presentation on the Eucharistic dynamic of ministry. He then spoke about evangelization and discipleship, and how those themes were illustrated in the life of Blessed Stanley Rother, the first American man to be beatified and to be recognized as a martyr. He concluded with a presentation titled “The Danger of Spiritual Lies.”

Speaking about evangelization, Bishop Mueggenborg said priests should hope that their preaching and ministry help “people on that road to salvation, salvation which is a willing relationship with Jesus.”

He reminded his audience that “the Word leads us to an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist. That’s why, in the flow of the Mass, we have the Liturgy of the Word, which precedes the Liturgy of the Eucharist; not two separate liturgies, but two liturgies intricately connected – one leads into the next. Of course, that’s why the book of the Gospel is placed on the altar, because it leads us to the sacrifice of the Eucharist, helping us to recognize the presence of God and helping us know how to respond to the presence of God.”

An example of this, he said, is in John 20, the last part of which describes Jesus appearing to his disciples after the Resurrection. St. Thomas wasn’t present at the time, but after he returned he stayed with the group even though he didn’t believe the others when they told him what they had seen.

“Thomas may not have believed their message, but Thomas could not deny the transformation of life that had taken place,” Bishop Mueggenborg said. “Thomas saw that they had a faith, they had a joy, they had a peace that he didn’t have. And so he may not have believed them, but he couldn’t deny that something happened in their lives. And so Thomas perseveres with them because of their witness, their word. And it is the power of their word, the word of the Resurrection, that leads Thomas to stay until he himself does encounter Jesus, and as a result of that encounter, becomes believing.”

Thomas’ story shows “the power of the word that leads us to encounter,” Bishop Mueggenborg said.

Discussing John 21, Bishop Mueggenborg said that Jesus’ instruction to “feed my sheep” can be interpreted solely on a practical level, but as Catholic priests “we need to look at the life and ministry of Jesus to see how Jesus would do it” and see what happened to the people he encountered “because that’s what he wants to happen in our ministry as well. … Every time Jesus healed someone, they were being invited into a deep personal relationship with him.”

Priesthood can be lived in different ways, he said, “through political calculation, through scheming, through machinations, through cleverness … or we can follow the Lord. We can trust in Jesus, we can trust in the Holy Spirit, we can allow the Lord to use our lives even when we’re not successful, because God can accomplish great works even through our failures.”

Bishop Mueggenborg gave the priests a copy of his book both in printed form and on a thumb drive. He also led them through a reflection on the Gospel reading for Oct. 13, about the 10 men with leprosy whom Jesus cured.

Reflecting on the Scripture readings provides spiritual direction, he said, and the Church’s three-year lectionary cycle “provides for us a regular encounter with the teachings of the Gospel that prevents us from becoming isolated in one perspective or only pursuing one agenda or one theme.”

“This is one of the best convocations that we’ve had,” said Fr. Martin Diaz, rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine and chairman of the diocesan board for Ongoing Formation for Priests. He added that Bishop Mueggenborg focused on the call of the priests as disciples of Jesus. “His focus has been on the Eucharist, because we are called to lead people in the Eucharist, toward the Eucharist.”