'I will not forget you': Bishop celebrates a farewell Mass

Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. celebrated a thanksgiving and farewell Mass on Monday night at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Cape Girardeau.

The Mass, celebrated before a full congregation, represented one of Johnston's last as leader of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese.

Johnston, who has served as the diocese's bishop for the past 7 1/2 years, was reassigned by Pope Francis in September to lead the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese. His appointment will take effect at the beginning of November.

During his time as bishop, Johnston has earned a reputation for traveling extensively, having visited each parish under his purview several times.

The bishop was assisted in the celebration by members of the Knights of Columbus and a coterie of diocesan priests and deacons.

"I'm so happy to see you all here tonight," he told the congregation, "especially since I know that there's a Cardinals game going on tonight."

But during his homily, Johnston turned candid, speaking about gratitude and the difficulty of having to say goodbye to a diocese to which he's grown close.

"This is where I have been closest to you as your bishop, and it's where we are, together, the closest to Jesus and the Father," he said of the Mass. "It's a beautiful and fitting way for us to come together to give thanks."

But he added a caveat to the "Thanksgiving and Farewell" billing on the worship aides the ushers handed out.

"This isn't a Mass of farewell. That doesn't sound so good, but it is a mass of thanksgiving," he said.

He said a reporter in Springfield had asked him what he found most rewarding about his tenure.

"When you're asked something like that, the tendency is to try to name something visible or concrete," he said. "The thing that is the most rewarding is something that's often hardest to measure, and that's being with people and helping them to grow."

He likened it to the day-to-day sensation of sameness parents often feel when raising children, the type that one day becomes a sense of aggregate pride at a child's first steps or first day at school.

"In the day-to-day, they don't seem to grow, but gradually over time, you see the changes begin to take place," he said. "And I've grown along with you. We've grown together, and that's what has turned out to be the most rewarding thing."

The Mass' Gospel reading was taken from St. John's account of Jesus' last words to the apostles before his passion and crucifixion, in which he notably referred to them not as servants but as his friends.

"We hear Jesus say to remain in me, abide in me. Specifically, he speaks of abiding in his love, to keep his commandments, especially his commandment to love one another," he said.

He urged laypeople to become more involved in the church, stressed the value of a Christian life and said to not question each person's vocation.

"Part of our vocation is to go where God needs us, to go where God wants us to," he said. "Shepherds need to be mobile and ready for change, but that doesn't make it easy."

He said he'll miss visiting rural parishes in southern Missouri, driving through the country to get to them and especially eating venison at the church potluck dinners they had when he visited.

"But mostly, I will miss all of you, my friends," he said in closing. "Know that I will not forget you or stop loving you."

Bishop Johnston also will celebrate a "white Mass" for those in the medical profession at 5:15 p.m. today at St Mary Cathedral in Cape Girardeau.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627