“What strikes me is that this is an opportunity for everybody to come together not only to give thanks for Bishop Barnes and his leadership but also an appreciation for how we’ve grown during his tenure,” says Sue Long, Principal of Our Lady of the Assumption School and a member of the Ad Hoc Committee that is planning the anniversary celebrations. “It’s vision in action and he has given it legs.”
Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Rutilio del Riego is the Honorary Chair of the Committee while Monsignor Gerard Lopez, S.T.L., Vicar General, and Sister Sara Kane, CSJ, Chancellor, are serving as Co-Chairs.
A Mass to celebrate Bishop Barnes’ 25th Anniversary will be held on March 18 at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Chino Hills. A 25th Anniversary Dinner will be held in Ontario the night before, March 17, where the Bishop’s family, friends and colleagues will honor him. This event will take the place of the annual Bishop’s Dinner in 2017.
Other events and promotions will be offered throughout the year to help the faithful of the Diocese focus on the pastoral vision of Bishop Barnes. Anniversary events focusing on youth and young adults, ethnic communities, adult faith formation and ministry to the elderly have been proposed. Bishop Barnes Episcopal Motto, Amar Es Entregarse (“Love is the total giving of oneself”) will be the theme of events surrounding his 25th Anniversary. A special Rosary has been designed in honor of Bishop Barnes’ anniversary.
Msgr. Lopez said that when the anniversary was discussed in October by the Presbyteral Council, Bishop Barnes’ top advisory body of priests, it was noted that the anniversary should also be a learning opportunity for the people of the Diocese.
“It’s really a celebration of the individual, of his talents and gifts, but also the Office of the Bishop, which is a source of continuity from Jesus’ ministry 2,000 years ago to our Church today,” Msgr. Lopez said. “To be a bishop means you’re a successor of the Apostles.”
Bishop Barnes is the second Ordinary in the young Diocese of San Bernardino’s history, succeeding the founding Bishop, Phillip Straling, in 1996. He was ordained a Bishop on March 18, 1992 and served as the first Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of San Bernardino until his appointment as Ordinary Bishop by St. John Paul II on December 28, 1995.