Blase Cupich was installed as the ninth archbishop of Chicago yesterday. His homily seemed to outline his vision and what his central focus will be in the coming years, and his words were very encouraging. Here are fifteen quotes that caught my attention:

1. “I intend to honor and give thanks for…family and immigrants, Native Americans and religious sisters – all of whom have shaped so much of our faith, our lives and our Church ministries.”
2. “We are to join Christ in seeking out, inviting, and accompanying, by abiding with those to whom he sends us.”
3. “Jesus’ walk across the waters is intentional. He has come to seek out and to save the troubled, those who are lost.”
4. “We face in our day the formidable task of passing on the faith to the next generation, of evangelizing a modern and sometimes skeptical culture, not to mention inspiring young people to serve the Church as priests and religious.”
5. “Bishops and priests find that the Good News is increasingly difficult to proclaim in the midst of great polarization in church and society.”
6. “Jesus tells all of us today to go back to where our journey of faith began, to be in touch with the joyful experience of being transformed by the intimacy God offers us, to be willing to share it with the next generation. Young people have always been attracted to authenticity of life, where words match deeds. Let’s not be afraid to let our young people know about our life with God and how it began.”
7. “Such witness of personal faith many times has made the skeptic take a second look, has inspired vocations, and in my experience, animates our advocacy on behalf of human dignity with joy and compassion, purifying it of anger, harshness and fear.”
8. “Peter’s response is a brave act for an experienced fisherman. But, it is the kind of daring and boldness required today, the courage to leave our comfort zone and take an entirely new step in our faith journey, both personally and as a community.”
9. “Jesus invites us, not only to take the risk of leaving our comfort zone, but also to deal with the tension involved in change, not dismissively but in a creative way, and to challenge each other to do so. Maybe, we hear that challenge today as a call to leave behind our comforting convictions that episodic Sunday Mass attendance is good enough, that we don’t really have to change our habitual bad behavior, our unhealthy dependencies, our inordinate attachments, because we can get by as we are, because they have not gotten us into any serious trouble yet, or just because we are afraid of the unknown.”
10. “(Pope Francis) is challenging us to recognize that Christ is always inviting us to more, to greater things. It is the kind of invitation our bishops’ conference is making to our nation to be what it has always promised to be, to protect the vulnerable, poor and weak, to treat immigrants with justice and dignity, to respect life and to be good stewards of creation. It is the invitation of Jesus, ‘Come, take the risk of being more.’”
11. “His coming to be with us, his communion with us is not for the perfect, but is for the salvation of souls, for the lost, the forlorn, and those who are adrift. His communion is not just a quick visit, but he wants to be with us to the point of making our lives the dwelling place, the home where he and the Father abide.”
12. “It is the grace of mercy, totally undeserved and unearned, that brings about real lasting change and transformation and gives life.”
13. “We as a Church should not fear leaving the security of familiar shores, the peacefulness of the mountaintop of our self-assuredness and walk into the mess.”
14. “Not being afraid is the gift that separates the disciple before and after the resurrection.”
15. “Jesus came back from the dead for us, to be with us. That is the reason we are not afraid – because we are not alone.”

The full homily can be read here.