Photo by Michael Alexander

Bishop-designate David Talley delivers his homily during the evening prayer service on the eve of his episcopal ordination. Photo By Michael Alexander

ATLANTA—“Soul of Christ, sanctify me / Body of Christ, save me / Blood of Christ, inebriate me / Water from Christ’s side, wash me / Passion of Christ, strengthen me / O good Jesus, hear me … ”

The words of the first prayer included in the program for the solemn vespers honoring the new auxiliary bishop for Atlanta are from “Anima Christi,” and the carefully selected medieval prayer reveals a sense of that bishop’s spirituality. Bishop David P. Talley chose prayers meaningful to him for the program, so that those attending the service might also be inspired. A prayer written in the early 14th century, “Anima Christi” is a well-known part of St. Ignatius Loyola’s “Spiritual Exercises.”

On the evening of Easter Monday, April 1, fellow clergy, family and friends gathered quietly and joyfully for the solemn vespers service at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, preceding Bishop Talley’s episcopal ordination the next day as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

The service in the hushed, flower-filled cathedral consisted of traditional hymns and psalms, from Psalms 110 and 114, Revelation 19, and the Canticle of Mary. The reading, from Hebrews 8, spoke of the high priest, “who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.”

Bishop-designate David Talley, second from left, stands with assisting priests (l-r) Monsignor Frank Giusta, Father Stewart Wilber and Monsignor Dan Stack during the solemn vespers service, April 1. Photo By Michael Alexander

Bishop Talley gave the homily, focusing on Jesus and the Resurrection and working in the Kingdom of God: “Though he was crushed for our infirmity, though he offered himself as the true lamb of sacrifice, though he died on the altar of a Roman cross outside the walls of the holy city—He lives! He has been raised from the sleep of death. This is the proclamation of the church on this Easter Monday.”

He said, “We who have come to believe in him and his way of life, we rejoice in the voice of Mary Magdalene and the voices of the disciples who were bound for Emmaus. Their shouts of amazement fuel the Spirit’s fire burning in our hearts tonight: we have seen the Lord. He lives!”

Bishop Talley continued with a call to action for all to serve. “What must unite us tonight—is our service as his instruments on this earth, as we learn to live together and serve together, here and now, as the living Body of Christ, as his hands and his feet and his heart. We are members of his body, connected to him as branches on the vine.”

He said, “We live in the age of the Church, and each of us has been anointed in the Spirit of Christ to go about the work of his church, this fellowship in his love, bringing the fullness of reconciliation to bear in the way we serve him, our Lord, by becoming his light and his love for others.”

Bishop Talley said, “We each have been called—invited—to serve in this ministry of his presence and peace.”

Amy Talley of Columbus, Ga., the sister of Bishop-designate David Talley, attends the solemn vespers service at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, April 1. Photo By Michael Alexander

He had offered a traditional pledge of obedience in front of his fellow priests and deacons the week before at the Chrism Mass and spoke of the fact that he would be ordained a bishop the next day, “for the life of the church in Atlanta, as an instrument of the Lord’s life and love, here and now.” Pope emeritus Benedict XVI had appointed him, he said, and “for this act of fraternal confidence and fatherly concern for the church, I will be forever bound to him.”

He said, “Beginning tomorrow, I will serve in a new way. The episcopacy was and is the gift of the Lord, allowing his followers the care and concern of men set apart for service. As I join these men who are ordained to serve as successors of the first apostles, I pray that I remember this truth: that as the Lord Jesus came to serve and not to be served, I must live each day as your brother and as a servant of his love and an instrument of his ministry of reconciliation.”

Among the 70 or more priests and deacons at the vespers service, were friends from seminary, including Father Thomas Schliessmann, of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, who attended St. Meinrad Seminary with Bishop Talley. Father Schliessmann said that while he had not expected his friend and fellow student to one day become a bishop, when he heard the news, he was surprised, but then he said, “Of course. … With his life experience, his education, his wit, his joy, his intelligence … who else?”

Another friend attending the vespers service was Jesuit Father Christopher Viscardi, chairman of the theology department at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. Father Viscardi said that Bishop Talley had briefly entered the Jesuit novitiate, until he discerned that this was not the right path for him. Later, then-Msgr. Talley briefly worked on a master’s degree in theology under Father Viscardi’s direction.

During a reception following the solemn vespers, Bishop-designate David Talley chats with two classmates from St. Meinrad Seminary, St. Meinrad, Ind., Father Thomas Schliessmann of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, left, and Father Gregory Spencer of the Diocese of Raleigh. (Photo By Michael Alexander)

Father Viscardi spoke of his former student’s spirituality, particularly a Jesuit one. He said, “In his program he shared some little bits of his spirituality,” from the “Anima Christi” to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who also was greatly influenced by the Jesuit spirit. In the program was her prayer: “The fruit of silence is prayer / The fruit of prayer is faith / The fruit of faith is love / The fruit of love is service / The fruit of service is peace.”

Father Viscardi said that these prayers “express some of (Bishop Talley’s) real attraction and commitment to contemplative spirituality … to the action of spirituality in ministry.”

He added that Bishop Talley’s background in the Baptist church led to “his desire to bring this encounter with Christ and God to the people: To be a bishop … to bring the presence of Christ to … the flock. He will be very pastoral, very spiritual.”

Father Stewart Wilber, a friend of Bishop Talley for over 20 years, is a parochial vicar at Holy Family Church, Marietta, and a licensed clinical psychotherapist for Catholic Charities Atlanta. He spoke of his friend’s new role, saying, “I was proud of Archbishop Gregory for recommending him, and delighted for the Church of North Georgia.” He added, “Bishop Talley, like our new pope, is a humble shepherd who prefers to live quietly and modestly, and who always loves his flock. Also like Pope Francis, Bishop Talley’s foremost concerns will always be for justice, especially for the least among us.”

In his homily, Bishop Talley spoke of the love of the Lord that is “with us still … his spirit burning in our ears. And amazingly we have been invited by him, to join him in bringing the Good News of God’s Kingdom to all, starting with those most in need.”

He said, “The living Body of Christ is gathered together in prayer this evening. Let us accept the challenge of this Year of Faith and rededicate ourselves as members of this Body to serve the needs of our neighbor—joyfully, happily, humbly—for the greater glory of God.”