In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence. I beg your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my Father and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my Father and Lord,

my guardian angel, intercede for me.

On April 20th, in Opus Day, we will celebrate a special anniversary, which is that of the election of our prelate, whom we affectionally call the Father.

As in any diocese, the anniversary of the election of the ordinary is a very special day.

It is a motive for joy.

The reason is that

wherever the bishop is,

there is Christ.

As the father of the church put it,

Ubi episcopus, I be ecclesia, I be trinitas. There, where the bishop is,

there is the church, there is the Trinity, there is God right there. The bishop represents Christ. He makes Christ present in the circumscription that has been entrusted to him.

And in the prelature of Opus day, that is the prelate.

And he happens to be a bishop, so he also has the sacramental power to make Christ present in a special sacramental way,

through the fullness of the sacrament of orders.

The bishop, or really the authority in the local church, and in this case in the prelature,

he makes the fatherhood of God present.

Listen to these words of St. Paul, which speak to this effect.

When he's speaking to the Corinthians, in his first letter he says,

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