Take a look at the special package I have in my arms in this photo:

I had the honour of baptising little Alexi this afternoon at Mary Queen of Peace church in the West Island of Montreal. A few years ago I presided the wedding of his parents, and shortly after that I baptised his big brother. Who knows, as a bishop I may be doing his confirmation one day. For now, though, it was a lot of fun to share in the joy of the extended family and friends on this special day.

This evening I had a chance to do a form of ministry that has been a real source of joy for the past 3 years: Bible study with the youth group at the Montreal Chinese Catholic Mission. We’ve been working through the letters of Saint Paul for the past couple of years, month by month, and personally I have found it quite rewarding. Tonight we closed off our study of Ephesians — but, unknown to me, a plot had also been hatched. A happy one, mind you, as it involved cake! :-)

The celebration was, of course, their way of demonstrating their congratulations for my nomination as auxiliary bishop. A joyful occasion, of course, but also a bit bittersweet, as we were not able to schedule our next session — I don’t know what my new responsibilities will entail time-wise, so I also don’t know if I will be able to continue with the Bible study. Personally, I’d like to see the Bible study not close, but expand, reaching out even further to the broader diocesan community — these Chinese youth have a real gift of enthusiastic faith that I find very compelling. I guess we’ll just have to see what the Holy Spirit has in mind!

Camping season is upon us, and today I had the pleasure of going up to Camp Kinkora (a campsite owned by the Foundation of Catholic Community Services) to say mass for the Diocesan Liturgy Camp (a.k.a. DLC). The photo below is of yours truly in action:

I stuck around after mass for supper, and then chatted with one of the counsellors (a former parishioner of mine). I was planning of praying vespers by the lake as well, but a happy interruption came along in the form of three young campers. They asked me questions all about where I worked, what my life was like as a priest, what it meant that I was becoming a bishop, and so on. They also talked about their families, about their religious pratice, even about how they pray and read the Bible. Given two were 8 years old and one was 11, it was really pretty profound. Eventually I had to go, and as I was getting up to leave they wanted to know if I’d be back next year — I guess we had a good connection! Of course, I don’t know what my schedule as a bishop will allow me to do or not, but I do hope I’ll be able to come back — it is these sorts of random moments of grace that make ministry such a joy!

This is just a heads up for my blog readers in and around Montreal. I’ve been contacted by a friend to let me know the following:

I was wondering if you can give me a hand with something. The place where I work has some office furniture that they want to give away instead of throwing it out; it is all in good condition. I was wondering if you would know of any charities or organisations that would be in need of office desks, chairs and cabinets. If so please let me know and I will try and get in contact with them.

If you have any suggestions, just leave it in the comments box.

Those who know me know that I have a special place in my heart for the Ottawa and Montreal branches of the Challenge Movement, which organizes retreats and ongoing catechism for young adults. The Ottawa branch has been around since the late 1960s, and the Montreal branch (in its latest incarnation) since 1998. Since then the movement has had over 20 retreats, and continues to count on the support of young (and some less young) men and women committed to its work of evangelisation.

This evening I had the pleasure of hosting a gathering of some of the Challenge leadership here in my home at the Cathedral. The movement is facing a new opportunity, in that many of its former active members have since moved on (starting careers and families, for example) but they still hold Challenge in a special place in their hearts. How can Challenge continue to contribute to the path of spiritual growth that began with the movement? How can the desire many of these “alumni” feel to help Challenge succeed in its mission be put into practice? These and other related questions were on the table this evening. While I can’t say every issue got worked out tonight, I must say that our 2.5 hour discussion just flew by. It is always great to be talking with people who, without denying the very real challenges we face as a church, have a sense of hope.

Since my appointment was announced, a number of people have asked me how I think I’m going to handle the enormous volume of work and responsibility that being a bishop involves. My answer is: by doing it with others. As you can imagine, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to be a bishop, and I really do believe that reflection starts with recognizing that I don’t have to do everything myself, and I shouldn’t try. This is not just because it would be impossible (although that’s a good initial observation), but because the Holy Spirit continues to work in the hearts of everyone. For some, they are on the road to the beginnings of faith; for others, they are in the process of becoming true disciples of the Lord; and for others, they are taking up the challenge to use their gifts to build the kingdom of God in their various environments (home, school, work, etc.). As a pastor, my primary job is to walk alongside people as they journey, offering support and encouragement. Of course, I won’t be able to do this in a personal way for the vast majority of people, but if I can encourage them in the support they offer to each other, such as through groups like Challenge, then I am able to be a genuine support myself.

As mentioned in my previous post from early this morning, I went to Toronto today with Mgr Lépine to shop for episcopal clothes — specifically, the purple and black-with-red-trim cassocks that we need, as well as the mozetta, shoulder cape, and cincture. These items are not easy to find, and the advice I got from a couple of bishops was to either go to the USA to get them, or to fly to Rome. There used to be a convent of sisters here in Montreal that could make them, but they closed their shop some years ago, and no one could think of any other shop in Canada where they could be made. After all, these are complex garments with precise specifications, so you can’t get them just anywhere…

This being said, I did once have to get a mozetta as my official uniform piece when I joined the Order of Saint Lazarus a couple of years ago, and it was very well done. It was made by DSR Harcourts in Toronto, a long-standing (and very professional) company of tailors. I wondered if they could make them, and they confirmed they could after speaking with them. Still, they said, it would be necessary to come down to make sure the design they would produce would be exactly what we wanted.

I borrowed a couple of episcopal cassocks from a retired bishop I live with, and brought them along this morning to make sure we would be on the same page as the tailor. As it turned out, though, they had a very good idea of exactly what we would need. We were received with Bert Harkes, the general manager and a tailor with 40+ years experience. He guided us through all the options and choices regarding measurements and fabrics, while we filled in the blanks regarding the protocol (e.g. what colour trim would go where, the difference between a mozetta and a shoulder cape, etc.). Mgr Lépine and I had a good 1.5 hours with Bert, and we really felt the pride he takes in his work: for him, making clothes is not just a job, it is a form of art. Mgr Lépine and I came out of there feeling 100% confident that we would be well-served with the final product. Oh, and need I add that the prices were very reasonable? Now, all we need to do is wait!

One aspect of being named a bishop is that my clerical wardrobe needs to expand. In particular, I need to get a purple cassock, as well as a black one with crimson trim. These are not easy to find in Canada, but I am hoping that DSR Harcourts in Toronto will be able to tailor them. I’ll report on my findings when I’m back.

I’m starting to think I should document a “survival guide to being named bishop”, for the benefit of future nominees. It is a complicated process!

Christoper Curtis, in his recent article on me in the Montreal Gazette, includes this quote: “The job can be a lot of things. When I worked for a hospital, I was on call and you would get everything from a multiple victim car accident to a guy who is sick and needs you to feed his cat.”

In case you were wondering about the reference to a cat, it is from an incident that took place on March 7, 2006. My older posts are still in archives for the moment, but I thought I’d fish this one out and repost it (with just a bit of editing to help it make sense). Enjoy!

I was sick, and you visited me fed my cat

Today I got a call on my pager, 15 minutes before I was going to leave the hospital to teach downtown. Calling the ward desk, I was told that a patient wanted to see me. Could it wait till tomorrow, I inquired? No, it was urgent, was the response. OK, then, I headed downstairs right away.

The nurse let me to the patient’s room. He was quite upset to be stuck in the hospital. I asked him what he wanted to talk about, and it turned out he didn’t want to talk about anything. He wanted me to feed his cat.

Excuse me?

It turns out that this unfortunate gentleman really has nobody here in the city to help him, and by now his cat was 4 or 5 days without food. He did not remember the number of the superintentant of his building, either, so he had nobody to call. Could I head over to his apartment and explain things to the super, and maybe be let in to feed that cat?

Well, this sure wasn’t part of the job description. Running through my head were the words of advice I had received time and time again: “Don’t try and rescue everybody out there! You have to distinguish between what is essential, and what is merely important! There is only one Saviour, and you are not him!”

But on the other hand, this situation involved a starving cat. And I’m a cat person, so I felt for the poor thing. So I said ok, with a rolling of my eyes towards the Lord, who by now (I am sure) was having another one of his divine belly laughs.

Things, it turned out, were not as simple as all that. The super is new there, just recently moved to Canada from Romania, and he could not find the proper key. So it was back to the hospital to get the key (and permission to use it, witnessed by a staff member), until I finally managed to get in the door and feed the poor cat. Boy, was he happy to see me!

It turns out that there is actually a deeper lesson in all of this. At one point, as I was heading back to the hospital, I asked the Lord what the point of all this was. And the Lord answered, in one of those moments of clarity that you just know is a divine response. “Tom,” He said, “if I had asked you to do something extravagently important for this man, something heroic, you would have done it without question. Yet now, when I ask you to merely show him a very simple kindness, you are full of doubts and questions and annoyance. Does that make sense?”

“He who is faithful in small things shows himself worthy to be trusted with greater things. It’s not the big things that count, but the little things, done with great love.”

So I fed his pet, and even pet it for awhile. I also took care of a couple of other things for the man (returned some rented DVD’s, etc.) Tomorrow I will see him again, and I’ll talk with the doctor/social worker/whoever about the need to help him put some structure in his life. I know I can’t take all this on as some sort of long-term responsibility — but in the meantime, I can at least feed the cat.

I’ve had some problems with the alternate stylesheet I’ve been designing for mobile devices, but I think I have the issues licked. If users with small mobile devices (e.g. smartphones) could please test load this blog and post the results, I’d appreciate it. For the front page, you should see a yellow banner on top, with article titles in boxes on a green banner.

While many news organizations have been running with the story of my episcopal nomination this week, particularly in radio and television, I was told that newspapers often save their human interest stories for the weekend. And so it is: a couple of articles have appeared in local Saturday papers today, one in English and one in French:

• Montreal Blogfather Thomas Dowd ready to be bishop
• Épiscopat 2.0: un jeune abbé blogueur bientôt évêque

These article titles are quite clever, actually. “Blogfather” makes it sound like I’m going to have to talk like Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone, making people spiritual offers they can’t refuse. I also like “Épiscopat 2.0″ — I was actually thinking of the rough English equivalent “Bishop 2.0″ at some point to describe brother bishops who are adept in social media (as I’m not the only one).

So please enjoy! And now, while this has been quite a ride, the weekend has arrived and I need to focus on being a priest. I had to decline a media request that came in this morning, for example, because I simply am not available: I’ve got a wedding this afternoon with the reception this evening, and Sunday mass tomorrow with other events in the afternoon and evening. In other words, bread and butter ministry — not everything can be done over the Internet!