Then Msgr. Michael Mulvey before the 2009 Chrism Mass in the Diocese of Austin. Bishop Mulvey will celebrate his first Chrism Mass as Bishop on March 30 at 7 p.m. in Corpus Christi Cathedral.

His episcopal motto reflects the importance of having the "attitude of Christ" and his spiritual philosophy is rooted in communion, the basic human need to be "together" with God and other people.

For William Michael Mulvey, who will be ordained and installed as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi on March 25, attitude and communion were first nurtured in his family.

Over the years his "family" blossomed and grew to include his brother priests, those in the Focolare movement and the people he served in the Diocese of Austin.

As his family now encompasses the people of the 11-and-a-half counties of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, he hopes that all may live in communion, which is best illustrated in the Holy Trinity.

As the Trinity is three persons all in one God, so may all people be one, as is expressed in the brief prayer on Bishop Mulvey's prayer card which is a Scripture passage found in the Gospel of John, chapter17, verse 21, "…may they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me."

He prays to do it all with the attitude of Christ as reflected in his episcopal motto; Sententia in Christo Vobis, a Latin phrase, derived from Saint Paul's Letter to the Philippians (Phil. 2:5). It expresses Bishop Mulvey''s deep belief, that in order to be a man of communion, he is to "put on the same attitude that we observe in Christ," or as might be said, "have the same attitude as Christ."

This attitude can be taken on by all, he contends, because all people of goodwill have a common goal.

"We're all serving people, whether it's in a civil way—the city of man, the city of the human person—or the city of God," said the new bishop in a recent interview.

"It's not that there's a dichotomy between public life or city life and church life; these dichotomies have been drawn, perhaps too often, to the detriment of people, because it's almost as if they have to pick and choose."

Although there is a necessary separation be tween church and state, there is still communion. The civic and political bodies can work on the social nature of the human person and the church continues to develop the spiritual side of people, but the two factors are not mutually exclusive and the possibility of them striving for the same outcome is more than a nice dream.

The new bishop believes, "If we can all work together with that same aim, which is the good of the human person, the dignity of the human person, if that was the intent and the goal of all us, we can all come to the table and make for a beautiful city, diocese, world."