Homily by His Grace Archbishop Patrick C. Pinder, STD

June 26, 2024

Solemnity of the Nativity of
St. John the Baptist
Homily by
His Grace Archbishop Patrick C. Pinder, STD
at the Thanksgiving Liturgy for Bishop-elect Kendrick John Forbes, JCL
at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral
West Street, Nassau, The Bahamas

24 June 2024

Readings
Isaiah 49:1-6
[Psalm 139]
Acts of the Apostles 13:22-26
Luke 1:57-66, 80

Beloved,

We gather this evening on the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. John the Baptist, along with Jesus and the Blessed Mother, has a Feast to honour his birth.

The name John means “God is gracious!” “God is merciful!”

Elizabeth and Zechariah, his parents, understood this better than anyone. John’s birth was a gift to them in their advanced age.

John the Baptist was the last and the greatest of the Prophets. He was very much in the tradition of Isaiah from whom we heard in our first reading this evening.

It is from Isaiah that we hear the words: “The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.” (Isaiah 46:1ff)

The passage concludes with the words: “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 46:6)

Being called by name is a sure indication that the prophet is designated for a special purpose, a mission. As a light to the nations, he is to spread the Message of Salvation beyond the confines of his local territory.

These images of Vocation and Mission, of being Called and Sent, come clearly to us as we listen to the words proclaimed, as we listen with the ears of our hearts, in the words of Saint Benedict.

Both Isaiah and John the Baptist were prophets. That is, they were sent. They were sent to speak, to speak the truth. And to speak the truth wherever, whenever and to whomever the truth needs to be told.

Note that prophesying is a very costly enterprise. That is why genuine Prophets, like genuine Saints, are few among us.

Reflecting on Vocation and Mission, on being Called and Sent, takes us squarely to the reason we have gathered this evening.

We have come to express our gratitude, our support and our very best wishes as Bishop-elect Kendrick Forbes prepares to leave us to assume his new responsibilities in another diocese, indeed in another country. The man and the priest we know so fondly as Fr. Kenny has been called by the Church to embrace the yoke of the high office of the Episcopacy.

This will mean a significant change in his life. He has been Called and he is being Sent. It is a vocation within a vocation. A mission within a mission.

Now, I am quite aware that the prevailing expectation and the conventional wisdom is that he is going for a while, then after a time, coming back to us.

It is my profound hope that this will indeed be the case. However, we have no guarantee that this will automatically be the case.

This brings us to this moment with mixed emotions.

Here is the reality. On July 25th when Bishop-elect Forbes is ordained and installed as the Bishop and Ordinary of the Diocese of Roseau, Dominica, at that moment he ceases to be a priest incardinated in the Archdiocese of Nassau. He would then be the Bishop and Chief Shepherd of his own Diocese.

Notice, one of the most ancient symbols of the Office of Bishop is the episcopal ring. The Ring is a sign of the Bishop’s role as the “Spiritual Spouse” of his diocese. He is married to his diocese. In this case, this leaves me in the peculiar position of a “Spiritual Father” giving his son in marriage. His wife’s name is Roseau.

What a thing! Mixed emotions for sure!

But tonight, we wish to express our full, complete, heartfelt and sincere support for Bishop-elect Forbes as he prepares to respond to the Call and the Mission which the Church summons him to. He is entering a new phase of his life and his ministry and our support and our prayers for him are firm and unwavering.

There are many who would love to be present, in person, for the event in Dominica on the 25th of next month but will not be able to be there in person.

I thought it good and wise to provide this occasion for all the faithful, clergy and laity, to gather in faith and express our gratitude and support and love for Bishop-elect Forbes as we have come to do tonight.

I might add that given his personality, he resisted having such a celebration. It took some convincing to get him to agree. But he did and we are all pleased.

As I try to process all that has happened since the announcement on May 2nd, I must say that the prevailing sentiment in my heart is increasingly gratitude.

Here is why.

I entered the seminary in 1971. The years between the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s, for those who care to remember, were a time when the morale of the local Catholic Community was at its absolute lowest. There were so many defections from the priesthood, so many frustrated hopes, so much disappointment.

We thank God for those who stayed the course and kept the faith and kept the flame of hope alive.

I think of Bishop Paul Leonard Hagarty, O.S.B., Monsignor Preston A. Moss and others like Fr. Pat Holmes, Fr. Elias Achatz, O.S.B. and a stalwart like Fr. George Wolf, O.S.B. and the religious community of Saint Martin’s.

Still, in order to do what needed to be done, we required help in the form of leadership from outside. This leadership came in the person of Lawrence Aloysius Burke, S.J. from Jamaica.

I had the privilege of living and working with Archbishop Burke. I also had the privilege of delivering the Homily at his funeral. It was in Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kingston, Jamaica on February 4th, 2010.

After serving us as our Shepherd for 23 years, he was called back to his native Jamaica, to serve there until retirement. On the occasion of his Funeral Mass, I pointed out that:

“Lawrence Aloysius Burke arrived in Nassau as a priest. It was there and it was for there that he was first ordained a Bishop. Of course, at the very beginning of his 23-year term as Bishop of Nassau, there were pockets of displeasure at his coming. There were those who had different ideas and strong feelings about it. The truth is, Archbishop Burke was good for us. His leadership was a grace and a blessing for us. In many ways he left us much better off than he met us. For that we can only be grateful and thankful. His presence and his leadership offered us a lesson in the benefits of regional co-operation.” (Years of Favour, pg. 28)

At our moment of need, we were granted the gift of leadership from outside. It is now a moment of profound grace and a reason for extreme gratitude that we can offer Episcopal leadership to others elsewhere who are in need as we once were.

Now let us not overlook a very important fact. Although we are offering a Bishop to another diocese, we are still very much in need of vocations to the priesthood here in our Archdiocese.

Good vocations come from good families. The reality is, the vast majority of our families are led by mothers. The mother is the hand which rocks the cradle and rules the world.

So, I urge mothers especially to pray for and to promote vocations in your families.

If we truly appreciate the value of our faith and our Church, we will make the sacrifice. We must!

And so, brothers and sisters in Christ, we have gathered on this Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, to give thanks, to pray for, to show our love and respect to our dear Bishop-elect Forbes, whose middle name is John.

He is soon to leave us. He departs on the 19th of July to begin this new period of his life and ministry. His Episcopal Ordination in on the 25th of July.

It is our prayer that he be granted every grace and virtue needed to be a good Bishop and that he be granted those graces and virtues in abundance.

His place is always reserved in our thoughts, our prayers and our hearts.

Is he going away for a while and then coming back to us? That is entirely in God’s hands!

However, I must tell you of a peculiar coincidence I noticed in these recent events. The announcement of Fr. Kenny Forbes as the next Bishop of Roseau, Dominica occurred on the 2nd of May 2024. This was exactly 20 years to the day that Archbishop Burke after serving here in The Bahamas, returned to be Archbishop of his native Kingston, Jamaica.

Is there a message in this for us? I can not say for sure.

One thing I am sure of is that the future is in God’s hands.

God’s will be done!

Amen.