Aug. 3, 2016

By Suzanne Pietropaoli
Staff Writer

The Bishop of Burlington is no stranger to Lake Placid. He has visited often, and enjoys the walk around Mirror Lake. So when Bishop Christopher Coyne speaks at INSPIRE: Called To Love in September, he will be in a place he knows well.

Likewise, when he presents “Spirituality of the Church and Vocation,” Bishop Coyne will be in territory he has known as pastor, Bishop, and scholar. 

Bishop Coyne spoke recently with the North Country Catholic about faith, family, vocations, holiness, and how social media can support the mission of the Church.

NCC: Could you share your own vocation story?
BISHOP COYNE:  I grew up in a Catholic family in Woburn, Massachusetts, the middle of seven children. The first Catholic school I attended was seminary, at age 23. But we were educated and formed in faith at home and through religious ed classes at the local church.

Our family was very involved in the parish, where we were all altar servers. But my parents were not just parishioners - they were disciples! We were as much Catholic Christians at home as at Church. Our parents taught us our prayers, and Mom faithfully sat down with us to review our catechism lessons. Our parents were devout, and their faith was authentic; they were very generous, always giving to others—as my mom still does today at age 86.

Priests were regular visitors and dinner guests in our home.  I first found the priesthood attractive through this association with good parish priests. I thought of going into the seminary out of high school, but the priest I consulted told me I wasn’t ready; he advised me to go to college first. Throughout college I remained active in the parish, lectoring and teaching religious ed. Then I became friends with another priest through young adult and social outreach ministries.

“Give the seminary a try,” he advised, “and see where it takes you.” Even then I had to ask myself why I wanted to be a priest—for power and position, or to serve the Church and her people?

Through good formation I chose to become a priest to become a servant, and, thank God, the Church chose me!

NCC:  What is the significance of your episcopal motto, “Trust in the Lord”?
BISHOP COYNE:  When I was 15, my 19 year-old brother Terence died of a brain tumor after two and a half years of suffering.  It was a terrible time for our family, as all of us were affected.  

Fortunately my music teacher would spend 45 minutes of each lesson just letting me talk. Also, our parish priests were very attentive to our family. One in particular kept reminding me: “You have to trust in God. However this plays out, God’s plan will get you through.”

He instilled this in me: like Jesus in Gethsemane, we must trust in God’s bountiful love and want his will to be done. Our home is not in this world, but in heaven.

NCC:  The upcoming summit focuses on the universal call to holiness. How would you explain that term?
BISHOP COYNE:   The universal call to holiness is the call to become like God, to be of God by engaging with holy things and with the sacraments. We have all had the experience of wanting to be in the presence of another person because s/he has found the way into the good and the holy.

The universal call to holiness reminds us to be that kind of person, so in love with God and so filled with the joy of the kingdom, even when things are not going well.

The parish is very important to this as the spiritual home of Catholics, the place where we come together to be nourished by word and sacrament. It is the place from which we go out to live the call to holiness, to become the domestic church in our homes and to so act in our workplaces that we might bring others to Christ and to the Church.

Much more than the diocese, the parish is the heart of the Church in the world.

NCC:  How do you see your role as Bishop?
BISHOP COYNE:  I try to be a pastor, and to see the diocese as my parish. My task is to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ, and the faith of the Church, and to bring that to people so that they can come to know what I know and to receive what I have received.

We are blessed to have talented people assisting in this, people who focus on the mission of proclaiming the Good News. I see myself as cooperator with priests and deacons, and I try to support and affirm them.

Here in Burlington we also focus on the common good, discovering ways we can support existing care efforts. 
Among the challenges: Vermont now has its lowest birthrate since the Civil War; people seem astonished that anyone likes and wants children.  Shrinking families means shrinking parishes. We also have the second oldest population in the U.S. 

NCC:  You chair the USCCB Committee on Communications, and have a long history of social media presence. How did this begin, and how does a bishop keep up with it?
BISHOP COYNE:  I have always been a computer geek and liked technology. In college, I bought new products and dove right in. As pastor, people liked my columns so I started a blog which became very popular. I have had lots of good help to get me connected and to keep me going on Facebook and Twitter.

As Bishop, I have had the same desire to use technology to serve the mission of the Church .It is an opportunity to reach great numbers of people, and the response is quite positive.

I ration my screen time carefully; each morning after my Holy Hour, I spend half an hour on digital media. I do not do business there, though I do pray for intentions when asked. We are now a culture of the image rather than of the word, which challenges us to use the new media to bring the gospel to the world.