New Oakland Bishop Visits St. Joe

The Most Reverend Michael C. Barber, SJ is the new bishop of the Diocese of Oakland.

Yes. He is a Jesuit.

Prior to his new role, then Fr. Barber was an "ordinary" priest, who headed the Spiritual Formation at St. John's Seminary in Boston. One day, fellow Jesuit and current Pope, Francis, called him up and told him that he had been chosen to lead Christ's flock in Oakland. He wanted to make sure that he was the "Fr. Michael Barber" the Pope had chosen because there were 2 others with the same name, and who were Jesuits as well. But there was no confusion. No error made. It was him.

On May 25, 2013, Fr. Barber was ordained bishop, then installed as the fifth Bishop of Diocese of Oakland in a solemn and ancient ritual at the Cathedral of Christ the Light. Seating at the Cathedral for this event was limited, but my wife was fortunate enough get a ticket and witness it in person. The ceremony was also broadcast live by EWTN, the global Catholic TV network, so I was able to witness the event as well.

Last Sunday, at the Mass of Corpus Christi, Bishop Barber officiated mass at St. Joseph, the second parish he visited after being ordained bishop. It was the 6:30pm youth mass which he presided at. As expected, the church was filled to the rafters. There were about 7 priests in attendance, including Fr. Manny and Fr. Jun, the parish's pastor and associate pastor, respectively, plus a slew of altar servers and assistants. My son, James, was one of them, and he was responsible for holding the bishop's crosier. And I was requested to take photographs of the event.

As his photograph that evening, I saw him up close as he was preparing at the sacristy. Dressed in his full vestment, he introduced himself, extended his hand, and greeted me as he walked out. I have never met nor seen him in person, until that day, but I saw how warm and humble this man is. I've met and photographed the past 3 Oakland bishops, including the administrator, and I can see the difference.

Since this visit was special because of Corpus Christi, the time spent with the bishop was a bit longer than in past visits by any of the bishops. After mass, Bishop Barber carried the Blessed Sacrament as it was processed to the Old Mission church, stopping first at the side court yard for prayers and Gospel reading. The procession continued to the side, down the ramp, and up the front steps of the Mission for two more stops, before ending at the altar for the final blessing.

The entire ceremony lasted for almost 2 hours, but no one complained. After he changed to street clothes, Bishop Barber stepped out of the sacristy and into the church to greet some well-wishers. We managed a brief exchange of pleasantries, which included describing our Jesuit connection, plus a couple of photographs for posterity.

It was a long night, but a truly memorable one.