By Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Rutilio del Riego
In my homily at the Diocesan Mass for the 25th Anniversary of Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Gerald R. Barnes I expressed how I have seen him exercise his ministry, trying to be faithful to his calling from God and the motto he chose for his coat of arms, “Amar es Entregarse.”
As his Auxiliary Bishop for over ten years, I have seen Bishop Barnes from a close perspective.
I have seen Bishop Barnes exercising his episcopal ministry as providing a service to all the faithful of the Diocese and to all members of society. The basin and the towel on his coat of arms express this quite well.
Bishop Barnes has always looked beyond whatever was accomplished. Complacency is not one his faults neither in relationship to himself nor in relationship to others. I often remember how, after an event that seemed to me well attended and in my view, successful, he would point out that some people, who were expected to be there, were missing.
CHINO HILLS—Bishop Gerald Barnes celebrated his 25th Episcopal Anniversary with a Diocesan Mass on March 18 at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Chino Hills. 
His priests serenaded him.
There are 50 U.S. states, but for Bishop Gerald R. Barnes, the majority of his life has revolved around only two—California and Texas.