In the west of the West, there is a good bishop. Shocking as it may seem to many of us living in Los Angeles, there is a leader in Phoenix who is quietly amazing and relevant without a touch of modernism. Much to my delight, I found myself at an event sitting near His Grace, Bishop Thomas Olmsted, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Phoenix, and discovered a pastor that was an apologist for Christianity without apologies.
It was a blessing and an encouragement that he would speak with uncommon courtesy to my wife and me, the theological guests at the table.
His Grace was a gentle man, a spiritual man, passionate about Jesus and the poor. He was a listener at a table full of talkers and yet when he spoke he had something to say. He is radically committed to a culture of life . . . which at the lunch I attended included innovative programs for marriage and family life.
He spoke of the need for health care for all God’s children and was open minded about solutions. Those solutions will not include any compromise on protecting the life of the unborn and the elderly. Bishop Olmsted is not loud, but he is firm and he strikes me as believing without quibbles or reservations the faith once delivered to the apostles. As odd as it sounds, that cannot be taken for granted any longer in a bishop in any church!
He was not full of plans as much as prayers. His first recourse in any problem, from what I could see in my brief time in Arizona, was to gather a group together to pray. Most of all he was unafraid of the future. It was obvious that pro-life Arizona owed much to his leadership.
Of course, I would not agree with the good Bishop on some important theological issues, but it was remarkably encouraging to see such a lover of Jesus at the head of such an important church. We live in dark times where people are afraid that all is lost and that there is no hope.
The Bishop of Phoenix reminded me that there was no reason to be afraid.
