Emphasis Preaching Journal

Bishop Sergio Mendez Arceo was greatly loved by the people whom he served in the diocese of Cuernavaca, Mexico. What people loved most was that "he came down with them and stood on a level place." He abandoned most of the loftiness of being a bishop and spent his time and energy working on the "level" of the great multitudes of the poor and hungry.

Bishop Arceo made some changes in the way things were arranged in the cathedral to show people that he wanted to live and work on their level. The bishop's chair was normally placed against the back wall of the chancel, a far distance from the people. Bishop Arceo moved the chair very close to the people so that he could almost touch them as he delivered his homily.

A large wooden cross hung from the ceiling above the altar. It had a long vertical beam and a shorter horizontal beam. Bishop Arceo had the cross lowered and asked the carpenters to make the horizontal beam an equal length to the vertical beam to show that the two dimensions of our Christian life are equally important --our relationship with God, and our relationship with each other.

When he entered the cathedral to begin the mass, he did so bareheaded, wearing a humble robe and a warm smile. There were those who took offense at Bishop Arceo's manner. But he pointed to the example of Jesus and persisted in being on the level of the people.
--Kaul