This is Archbishop Dennis Schnurr’s homily from his farewell Mass on Nov. 23.

Whether we call this a Mass of Gratitude or a Mass of Farewell, occasions such as this are about the present, but they also connect us with the past and the future. On occasions such as this, we take stock. But we also look back to where we have been and look forward to where we would like to be going.

As your diocesan bishop, I have often reflected upon the history of our diocese, and I feel a special fraternal bond with my predecessors in the office of bishop.

For example, I think of Bishop James McGolrick, the first bishop of Duluth, who with 22 priests on hand was challenged to address the pastoral needs of all of northern Minnesota, with 32,000 Catholics spread over 40,000 square miles.

I think of Bishop John Timothy McNicholas, my predecessor not only in the Diocese of Duluth but also in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, who had to combat blatant and murderous racism in northeast Minnesota.

Bishop Thomas Welch inherited a diocese in financial crisis. He served our diocese for 33 years and was not only able to successfully overcome the financial hurdles, but he also was responsible for the construction of this beautiful Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, for which we remain deeply grateful.

Bishop Francis Schenk was called upon to guide the diocese through the demanding years of the Second Vatican Council, and Bishop Paul Anderson shepherded the diocese at a time when the church in this country and elsewhere was dealing with the difficult task of accommodating itself to the new realities of the world church in the wake of Vatican II.

Bishops Robert Brom and Roger Schwietz guided the diocese through challenging times that were marked by fewer priests and a smaller Catholic population, which necessitated parish clusterings, parish consolidations and parish closings.

Bishop McGolrick laid the foundation for the Diocese of Duluth, and his successors have built upon that foundation and reconfigured pastoral and spiritual ministry to respond to changing times and changing demographics. To each we are indebted. To each we owe gratitude.

But it was not just the leaders who made the flock what it is today. As we gather today, we also want to recall the generations of faith-filled people, those who “have gone before us marked with the sign of faith,” who brought our families and friends — and more importantly, our faith — to northeast Minnesota. This responsibility, this mission, entrusted to them by Divine Providence, was undoubtedly marked by exhaustion and discouragement. In their own lifetimes, our ancestors in faith must have wondered whether their efforts on behalf of the faith, on behalf of the church, really made that much difference in the eyes of God and whether successive generations would, in fact, reap spiritual benefits from their labors.

Our presence here today testifies to the fact that they did not labor in vain. Our churches and schools are monuments to parents, grandparents, friends and relatives, who, by their sacrifice and good example, steeped our parishes in the faith. They placed their efforts in the hands of the Lord; and their witness to the faith, though humble and what at times undoubtedly seemed ineffective has contributed, beyond human imagining, to the extension of the Kingdom of God in northeast Minnesota well beyond their lifetime.

We do indeed owe a debt of gratitude to those who have gone before us. As we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King today, this reflection on our past brings us to a greater awareness of how wondrously and mysteriously his kingdom is being realized.

That is from where we have come as a diocese. The Diocese of Duluth has a history of great achievements, as far as human wisdom can judge. It also has experienced episodes of struggle and failure. Today, as a diocese, we have our strengths, but we also face challenges whose solutions we do not yet see. Our present is consistent with our past.

And what about the future? There are only two things I can say for certain about the future.

The first is that the future will be consistent with the past and the present. In human terms, there will be successes that bring great joy. There will also be challenges, where the solutions will undoubtedly bring disappointment and sadness to some, and at times even many.

In all instances, however, the successes will be realized and the challenges appropriately addressed only when bishop, priests, deacons, religious and lay people understand that we travel to God together. Jesus gave us the church because we need the church, we need one another, we need to come together as the people of God. In this way — together — we build the kingdom of God.

No one person — clergy, religious or lay person — is equipped to address all of the challenges that the church faces in the world today. No one person — clergy, religious or lay person — can lay claim to the measurable successes or advances of a diocese or parish.

Accomplishments are realized only when, under the guidance of the bishop, all the faithful — clergy, religious and lay people — come together, each contributing their Godgiven talents to the common enterprise.

It is not the role of the pastor to strive to do everything himself, nor is it his responsibility. It is the responsibility of the pastor, however, to recognize the talents that God has entrusted to his people and to call forth those talents in the service of God and his people.

When I came to the Diocese of Duluth, it was my hope and prayer that I would be able to carry out that role as your bishop. To the degree that I have been successful, I thank God for his guidance, and I thank the priests, deacons, religious and laity for your generous collaboration.

As church, together we always have the responsibility to look ahead to make the best use we can of the channels of grace the Lord has provided for us. Moreover, as a pilgrim people, a people journeying back to the God who created us, we must realize that the journey does not end until we see God face-to-face.

This means, it seems to me, that to be alive as church and the people of God, we must be keenly aware that, whether we celebrate successes or grieve over challenges and failure, what we see today is not the finish line. If we are to be the church as Christ intends, we must understand that “status quo” can have no place in our ecclesial vocabulary.

The mission of the church, its role in bringing about the kingdom of God, requires that the church be forever young, forever dynamic, forever moving forward. We must always be asking ourselves, “What in God’s plan must we do next?” Some find that prospect frightening because they are comfortable with the way things are right now. But the church exists in the stream of time, and to want to stay where we are means to be left behind.

That brings me to the other thing I am certain about the future: The Lord will be part of it. I would not dream of trying to describe the Diocese of Duluth in 50 years or even 25 years from now.

Will there be more priests, deacons, religious, or will there be fewer? Will there be more Catholics active in their faith, or will there be fewer? Will the community of faithful be charged with zeal for the Gospel and anxious to share the blessings they have received, or will the faith community be but a handful of believers?

I do not know. The answer to those questions depends upon how responsive each one of us is to the gifts, talents and graces that God has entrusted to us individually and communally. But I do know that the Gospel will be preached, the sacraments will be celebrated, and the Lord will still be in the midst of his people.

Each local church is a part of the Lord’s plan for his people, and that plan cannot fail. The Lord’s love is too powerful for that. It is up to us to rely on that love and to respond to it, as individuals and as members of the one diocesan church.

For me, as I prepare to depart the Diocese of Duluth and its people, who have been so good to me over the years, the bottom line is gratitude.

I am grateful for the past, for the men and women who have made us what we are. I am grateful for our present, for all of the wonderful things that go on in this church of the Diocese of Duluth. I am grateful for the blessing of having been given the opportunity to be a part of the life of this local church for the past seven and a half years. I am grateful for the future, for all the blessings that I know still await this diocese. I am grateful to the Lord Jesus, to his Eternal Father, to the Holy Spirit who give us the church, universal and local, who enliven this community of faith, who have wonderful plans in store for the Diocese of Duluth in time and in eternity.

As I prepared this homily, I found myself recalling the words of a hymn that expresses what I feel on this occasion:

Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom his world rejoices.
Who from our mother’s arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love
And still is ours today!