These words of Jesus to St. Peter at the Last Supper were very much on my mind during my stay in Rome earlier this month.

Every five years a Bishop makes a visit to St. Peter’s Successor, the Pope, and to pray at the tombs of the Princes of the Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul.  Bishop Donnelly accompanied me together with all the other Bishops of Ohio and Michigan for this special visit that we made together as a Region of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference.

“Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat.”

I need not belabor the fact that these are not easy times for the Church in our country. Then again, when are times ever easy for the Church? Jesus made it abundantly clear that in this world the way to life is rough, and that believers will have to suffer many crosses and difficulties. Anyone tempted to think otherwise should be much more attentive to what the New Testament actually says, and not just what they think it says. As a recent Easter reading from the Book of Acts tells us: “It is only by many trials that we enter the kingdom of God.”

‘I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” 

Peter failed miserably by denying Jesus three times. Unlike Judas, however, he refused to despair. Perhaps he took heart from what Jesus had once said: “He to whom much is forgiven loves much.” Peter “turned back” and was restored to the good graces of the Lord to become the visible rock on which the Church is built.

Today Pope John Paul carries on the commission given to Peter. He embodies a faith that cannot fail because of Jesus’ prayer. Like every Pope he indeed “strengthens his brothers.” 

In the midst of my own bewilderment and sorrow over recent events in our own diocese, my visit to the Holy Father was a timely blessing. As always, the Holy Father strengthens my faith as a believer in Christ, and as a Bishop. It’s like being lifted up for a restful moment to a higher vantage point from which to take a wide view of the Church not only in time and space, but even beyond. One realizes that one is not alone, and that all our crosses, labors and trials, all our hopes, dreams and desires, are part of a great and as yet unfinished tapestry being woven in Christ by the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father. The Book of Revelation, from which we read in the Easter Season, speaks to us of what is happening in time from the perspective of eternity, of a victory already won but still hidden until the end.

At my private audience with the Pope, I briefly mentioned some of the problems and challenges I have had to face as your Bishop of only a few months. But I immediately went on to thank him for appointing me Bishop of Toledo, a beautiful diocese that enjoys so many blessings, especially its fine clergy, religious and laity who love and pray for him.

Pope John Paul II, St. Peter in our midst, sends you his greeting and his blessing, that you too may be strengthened in your faith and never loose heart.