April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
ANNIVERSARY
Bishop reflects on first year
In reflecting on his first year as leader of the Albany Diocese, the Bishop recounted a particular experience he had during one of the worst winters the Diocese has experienced in many years.
He'd confirmed a group of young Catholics at St. Mary's parish in Cooperstown and stayed for dinner -- "a very good meal" -- and it was 9:30 p.m. by the time he left.
A terrible winter storm had begun, and Bishop Scharfenberger was due in Fort Ann that night to visit St. Ann's parish there.
"Cooperstown to Albany wasn't bad, but when I got on 87, it was icy," he recalled. "There were trucks doing 80 [m.p.h.] and people wanting to do 15. It was harrowing."
The Brooklyn native was proud to say, "I made it by quarter to one. Father Rendell [Torres, the pastor] and I had a cup of tea and talked, and I went to bed."
Ever since, Bishop Scharfenberger has said triumphantly: "Now, I've been from one corner of the Diocese to the other, on a bad night. I can do anything!"
Positive thinking
That "I can do anything" attitude has served the Bishop well during his first year. For one thing, he's put close to 25,000 miles on his car, having stopped his initial practice of letting deacons drive him to various events.
"I love it," he said of crossing the Diocese's 10,000 square miles on a regular basis. "I just put on my Lighthouse [Catholic Media] series CDs or my opera, or I pray the Rosary or the chaplet of Divine Mercy. I'm never bored in the car."
He was quick to say that he has "a marvelous staff" and that Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard has continued to help him, taking on a confirmation ceremony or two when Bishop Scharfenberger has several scheduled in one day.
Overall, Bishop Scharfenberger said, being Bishop is "very much like being a pastor" -- and "maybe a little like being a grandpa: You tuck your [grandchildren] in and go home."
Pastoral planning
The first-year Bishop said he wants to be the model for what he'd like to see pastors do in parishes, especially when it comes to delegating responsibilities.
"A pastor should be a priest first," he explained. Parishioners want a priest available for the sacraments, "to visit them when they're sick; they want to know they have your ear."
He thinks administrators can be hired to take care of parish business.
"It's possible for a priest to be pastor of three parishes, provided he has administrative assistance," the Bishop said. "You don't even necessarily have to merge parishes."
The past year has not been without its challenges. Bishop Scharfenberger dealt with the removal of Rev. J. Michael Taylor from ministry last year over a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child; more recently, he was faced with a difficult decision about the future of Bishop Maginn High School in Albany.
Actually, he said, the Maginn decision was obvious: Moving the school from its too-large campus to the former Cathedral Academy "was the only choice I could make. I was not going to close it. I consulted; I listened; I decided I was going to make the move."
Maginn has "a very good record of getting kids into college," the Bishop said. In its new home, "We're going to stress Catholic identity and academics. I'm going to be with them at every stage."
Saying goodbye
In February, Bishop Scharfenberger had a more personal challenge: He lost his father, Edward, who was 94. The elder Scharfenberger had had a stroke in May 2014 and dealt with what the Bishop called a kind of purgatory on earth in the ensuing months.
"My father formed me in the faith," Bishop Scharfenberger told The Evangelist. "Dad was my mentor."
The Bishop still drives down to Warwick, N.Y., two or three times a month and stays overnight at his mother, Elaine's, house to visit her. He said it doesn't take any more time to get there than it did when he was coming from Brooklyn and had to fight the traffic.
"Brooklyn was so concentrated," he mused. "I do miss it sometimes. But I am not lonely here. I like living here; I'm very, very content. I really want to bring [people] the joy of the Gospel."
He's doing so in an unusual way: It's become a habit for the Bishop to pop in at a parish and celebrate Mass. In recent months, several parish bulletins have noted the surprise and pleasure of parishioners at having their Bishop stop by.
In the loop
"I've been to Middleburgh, Little Falls, Johnstown, Fort Ann, St. Patrick's [in Athens and Catskill] in Greene County," Bishop Scharfenberger recited. "I haven't been to Hancock yet, but I've been to Herkimer. I want to go to Delaware County; I want everybody to feel not left out of the loop."
He's also pleased to use some of his language skills by celebrating Masses in Spanish; he'll head to Columbia County in a few weeks for Mass with the Spanish-speaking community there, since Bishop Emeritus Hubbard has agreed to attend Siena College's commencement ceremony in his stead.
However, just because he'll miss one graduation doesn't mean young Catholics are off the Bishop's radar. "I would like to engage more young people," he stated, pointing to his interest in social media: "That's where they're at. The pope says technology is a gift."
Looking ahead
Another goal for Bishop Scharfenberger is to address the mentality of addiction -- not just to drugs and alcohol, he said, but to any false idol one creates.
"Any thing or person can become an idol," he explained. "Sex and power are the big ones, but you can make an idol of your husband or wife. And no human being can make us 100 percent happy. That all-forgiving friendship: that's what Jesus offers us."
The Bishop is concerned with overly-strict laws around drug use that put addicts in prison instead of getting them help. He said substance abuse binds a person physically, emotionally and spiritually.
He also took note of the rise in internet pornography, citing a statistic that 80 percent of American men are involved with some form of internet porn on a regular basis, and said that contributes to incidents of violence in relationships.
In addition, Bishop Scharfenberger said he plans to focus in the future on the "contraceptive mentality" that separates the sexual component of a relationship from its true, procreative purpose: "Do we see other people as objects of our desire, or as people we're meant to stay with?"
He said same-sex marriage is part of a similar "manifestation of a misunderstanding of what marriage is all about."
On point
With such serious topics on his mind and such a hectic schedule, the Bishop said he keeps his own focus on his relationship with God. "It's very much a challenge to grow spiritually," he said. "I know I have to continue to pray, 'Lord Jesus, what do you want me to do?'
"There are times when you cannot explain" the words or actions that he seems to be channeling, he said: "The Holy Spirit puts you in the right place at the right time. So far, I have felt that powerfully. I feel so much grace coming through."
But "tonight," he said, "I'll do a confirmation, have them bag some cookies, go home and make a plate of pasta." Since last summer, he's been living at the former St. Margaret Mary parish rectory in Albany.
The Bishop did have a pang of sadness at losing track of his beloved New York Mets baseball team lately: "I'm happy to see they're making some progress, but I don't get to the TV."[[In-content Ad]]
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