SHELTON—It’s a common adage that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. And Bishop Frank J. Caggiano himself can attest to it.
At the kickoff Mass for the diocese’s third Eucharistic procession, held on June 8—Pentecost Sunday—at St. Lawrence Parish in Shelton, the bishop recalled his bout with pneumonia a few months ago. One of the side effects of the illness, he said, was losing the ability to speak.
Although he joked that his relatives were delighted at his voice loss, the bishop said the somewhat forced silence he endured gave him time to reflect upon a famous sermon by St. Augustine of Hippo—who, among other accolades, is the Diocese of Bridgeport’s patron saint.
“He said, for us to speak, there are three things required: the ability to speak, something to say … and the breath that powers our voice,” Bishop Caggiano said. “Now, I didn’t lose the ability to speak—and as my mother would tell you, I always have something to say—but it was the breath that was missing. There wasn’t enough air in my lungs apart from the infection.”
Related: Watch / Read the Bishop’s Pentecost Sunday homily
In the time the bishop could not speak, he was able to reflect on the true power of the miracle the apostles received from the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: the ability to proclaim the Word of God, and for those around them to hear it in their native languages.
“It was in this moment when the Holy Spirit came upon them that everything changed, because in this moment, their ability to speak had two other great gifts,” the bishop said. “First and foremost, they began to speak the word of Christ—not their own words, but the truths that the Lord revealed … And they had breath, but not just the human breath: the breath of the Holy Spirit, the very breath of God. And when you consider their human ability, and powered by the grace of the Holy Spirit … you can see how those who were divided by our human language could all understand the invitation to new life in Christ.”
While none of those gathered at the Shelton Road parish that evening would likely turn water into wine anytime soon, the bishop reminded the faithful that miracles can and do still happen. Moreover, we can be vessels of those miracles by continuing the work the apostles began 2000 years ago and sharing the Gospel with all creatures around the world. Because, after all, that is a message worth sharing.
“We live in a world that’s filled with words, and most of them are nonsense,” Bishop Caggiano said. “They are just noise. They fill up empty spaces. Our transmissions, cable, the internet, social media is filled with lots of noise. But how often do you and I speak the word of Christ?”
The bishop said this third Eucharistic procession will offer the faithful of the diocese to re-extend an invitation to others to come to know Jesus’ power and beauty in the Blessed Sacrament.
“We have miracles here every single day; mere bread and wine become his sacred Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity,” Bishop Caggiano said. “You and I are in the presence of the Lord: the Master and the Savior, the same savior who walked the roads of Nazareth and Jerusalem. And so, do we keep that word hidden, or do we ask for the courage to speak?”
The bishop quipped that obviously, he eventually got his voice back. But now he had a deeper understanding of its power, so much so that he added a reflection on it to his daily examination of conscience. He’d ask himself how many of the words he spoke that day were nonsense, and how many built up the Kingdom of God and asked others to help him do it.
“Whatever words you and I speak, can only invite people to faith, but it is the Holy Spirit that allows the fire to be lit,” he said. “May … we leave this church recommitted to use the voice God gave us to proclaim the word of Christ, and to do it in the power of the Holy Spirit, and be prepared to see miracles, and to be prepared to see the entire face of the world renewed.”
