Kevin Carl Rhoades
KEVIN CARL RHOADES
Born: November 26, 1957
Deceased:
Bishop of Harrisburg, 2004-2009
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, 2010-present
 Bishop of Harrisburg |
 Bishop of ort Wayne-South Bend |
| English | blazon wanted |
Origin/meaning
As common in US episcopal heraldry, the arms show the arms of the diocese impaled with the personal arms of the bishop.
The top portion of the bishop's shield represents the gift of Christ's Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. The deepest heraldic red background commemorates the Blood of Christ poured out for us on the cross and made present in the Eucharistic banquet. The Sacred Host represents the Body of Christ truly present in the Eucharist and is irradiated with the golden rays of the sun as seen from behind, signifying that Jesus is the Light of the World.
The Host is uniquely inscribed with a cipher, or monogram, bearing the initials IHS, the first three letters of the Greek word Jesus (IHCOYC). The use of Greek, the original language of the New Testament and the early language of the Christian church, honors the bishop's maternal Greek heritage.
Bishop Rhoades likewise wished to honor the Mother of God and to invoke her maternal intercession in the mission of the new evangelization to which Pope John Paul II has committed the Church at the beginning of the third millennium. In so doing, he selected the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Tepeyac Hill in present-day Mexico City . There, the Virgin Mary instructed the humble peasant Juan Diego, on whose feast day Kevin C. Rhoades will be consecrated to the episcopacy, to return to his own local bishop to present a sign so that all in the Church could believe her message to him.
When Juan Diego opened his tilma, or humble peasant's poncho, in front of his bishop, even though at that time it was deep in the winter season when nothing in nature was in bloom, the roses that the lady had instructed Juan Diego to collect fell to the ground in a shower of brilliant color and sweet fragrance. At that instant, the glorious image of the Mother of God appeared on his tilma. And so all came to believe. This appearance of Mary had a decisive effect on the evangelization of America and so Our Lady of Guadalupe is invoked today as the Patroness of all America and the Star of the first and new evangelization. The lowly peasant Juan Diego has himself been raised to the Altar of Sainthood.
The bottom field of the personal arms symbolically depicts the opening of Juan Diego's tilma, in the same confident belief in the Blessed Virgin embraced long ago by the humble Mexican peasant, with three roses on a silver field. Bishop Rhoades has selected the Rosa Mystica, the red heraldic rose that centuries ago was set aside as one of the heraldic emblems for Jesus' Mother. The simple silver background of the lower half of his arms represents both spiritual purity and priesthood and the humble cloth of Juan Diego's tilma .
The division line symbolically represents four specific mountain ranges that will forever remain close to his heart: the mountains surrounding his home region of Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania; the imposing Appenines that frame the Eternal City where the bishop prepared for priesthood; the mountains cradling his beloved Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland from whence as rector Bishop Rhoades came to Harrisburg; and the verdant peaks that are the imposing terrain of the See of Harrisburg.
Bishop Rhoades has selected the phrase Veritatem in caritate that translates into English as Truth in Charity. This motto served him well in his leadership as rector of Mount Saint Mary's Seminary where he steadfastly encouraged future priests to always be faithful in proclaiming and living the truth of the Gospel in charity.
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