ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”

Your Eminences Cardinal McCarrick, Cardinal Egan and Cardinal Foley,
Brother Bishops,
My Brother Priests,
Dear Deacons, Religious, Seminarians, Lay Faithful,
Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Back in the fourth century the Bishop of Jerusalem Saint Cyril wrote these words: “The Catholic Church glories in every action of Christ but her greatest glory is the Cross.”

As Catholics, as followers of Jesus Christ, all of us together make up that Church whose greatest glory is the Cross.

Today, September 14th, is a special day in the life of the Church, the day the Church celebrates in a particular way the triumph that was accomplished on the Cross, and who it was that brought about that triumph: the crucified Christ. Today we glorify and exalt the Cross. Our feast itself is called the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

The first reading in our Mass explains how in the Old Testament the people complained against God and against Moses. In punishment the Lord sent serpents among them; many of the people were bitten and died. We see how the people then came to Moses and repented, saying: “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray the Lord to take the serpents from us.” The reading tells us that Moses prayed for the people and that the Lord instructed him to make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. God then told Moses that those who were bitten would live if they looked upon the serpent. And this is what happened.

In the Gospel Jesus Himself explains how this situation of the Old Testament prefigured His own crucifixion on the Cross. Jesus said: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” It was on the Cross that Jesus triumphed over sin and death and accomplished the redemption of the world, which He brought to conclusion by His Resurrection. This is why we look up to Him on the Cross, why we so often proclaim these words in the Liturgy: “Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life.” This is why we are so grateful for Christ’s loving act of sacrifice offered for us on the Cross. This is why our greatest glory is the Cross. This is why we joyfully celebrate today’s feast, calling it the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

It is also on this feast that I am privileged to celebrate my anniversary as a Bishop, having been ordained to the episcopacy by Pope John Paul II twenty-five years ago today. On that day Pope John Paul II drew my attention to the need for me, as a Bishop, to bear witness to the mystery of the Cross. He said to me: “You are called to serve the mystery of the triumph of the Holy Cross.” And he added: “...you are called to serve and proclaim this inexpressible mystery:...the mystery of salvific love; the mystery of merciful love. ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him’ (Jn 3:17).”

I am deeply grateful, dear friends, for this calling to be a Bishop, a calling that came from our Lord Jesus Christ through the Church and through the Pope, for the service of God’s people. I am so happy that you are here to join in this Mass, which is a sublime act of gratitude to the Most Blessed Trinity.

During these past twenty-five years, at every turn I have been assisted and supported with extraordinary kindness and love in all my five major assignments as a Bishop. After my episcopal ordination I was privileged to serve first as President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, where young priests from all over the world are trained for service to the Holy See and the universal Church. I recall with deep affection those priests with whom I lived and worked, many of whom are now stationed in the different continents of the world. Just a few days ago, one of them was named the Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq and Jordan.

My second assignment was as Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops, where I was privileged to work personally with so many Bishops of the Church and with the Holy Father himself, Pope John Paul II.

Then, after completing almost thirty years in Rome and three and a half years on the island of Madagascar, in 1994 I was named the Archbishop of St. Louis. What an immense privilege it was to serve for nine and a half years as Pastor of that local Church, with the opportunity to work closely with the priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful entrusted to my pastoral care!

The joy and privilege of serving a local Church, of celebrating the Paschal Mystery of the Lord Jesus in word and sacrament, of sharing intimately the joys and sorrows, the hopes and sufferings and the aspirations of God’s people—all this was given to me again as I was called seven years ago, in 2003, to serve as Archbishop of Philadelphia.

And finally, last year, while remaining the Archbishop of Philadelphia, I was named the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Scranton. There also for a number of months I was privileged, in the name of the Holy Father, to serve the people of God and to be close to them in their journey of discipleship. How edifying for me to be in contact with yet another community of Christ’s faithful striving to live their faith generously and to share it with others.

Here in Philadelphia, as in Scranton, in St. Louis and in Rome, I have never been alone as a Bishop in proclaiming the triumph of the Cross or in bearing the burdens of the Gospel. Like so many Bishops, I have been blessed in experiencing the vitality of the Church and the goodness of all the categories of God’s people. I give thanks for the numerous gifts with which the Holy Spirit has enriched our communities.

I am profoundly grateful to God for my Auxiliary Bishops and my priests, who have been my closest collaborators and partners in the Gospel, both in St. Louis and here in Philadelphia, as well as in Scranton. Within the limitations of the humanity common to us all, the vast majority of priests has shown superb fidelity to Jesus Christ, to the mission of His Church and to the people whom they serve with love, joy, respect and perseverance. We pray that the upright and dedicated lives of our priests will always be an inspiration especially for our seminarians, who are joyfully aspiring to offer their lives to God in the sacred priesthood.

I also acknowledge the splendid contribution of our zealous deacons as they endeavor to assist the priests and aspire only to fulfill the humble ministry of Christ, the Servant of all.

And what can I say at this time to express sufficient gratitude for decades of service on the part of our consecrated women and men religious? So much of the history of the Church has been an expression of their generous labor and love. Their names are written in the book of life.

Bishops, priests, deacons, religious and seminarians pray and serve together with the lay faithful who, by God’s plan, will always make up the very highest percentage of Christ’s disciples. The lay faithful will always be called to contribute the supreme measure of holiness and collaboration in the mission of the Church. We acknowledge just how much the laity “are” the Church in their vocation and condition as married and single persons, as spouses, parents, children, widows and widowers, young and old, all baptized members of the Body of Christ. Today I voice deep gratitude to so many of the laity, a number of whom are present here, who over the years have so generously assisted me as a Bishop of the Church, but, even more, have faithfully and sacrificially contributed to the mission of the Church, especially in the Archdioceses of St. Louis and Philadelphia and in the Diocese of Scranton.

As we gather together at this Eucharistic Sacrifice we see ever more clearly the beauty of the community of the Church that assembles in the name of Jesus Christ. We acknowledge the importance and contribution of every individual, the need for all the many and diverse talents and gifts of God’s people, coming from every race and background—everyone striving amidst human weakness to be faithful as disciples of the Lord.

To understand, however, our full identity as the Church we need to realize that our Archdiocese can only exist if it is in full communion with all the other local Churches throughout the world. On a personal level one of the great blessings I have had as a Bishop is the constant fraternal support and help of my brother Bishops in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, so many of whom are here today. To all of them I express my profound thanks.

Finally, our Catholic identity is marked, and always will be, by the fact that we live in communion of faith and love with the Bishop of Rome, whom we honor and obey as the Successor of Peter and Vicar of Christ for the universal Church. I gratefully acknowledge his spiritual presence with us today and thank him for the beautiful personal letter that he sent to me for this occasion.

And so, dear friends, our hearts return to the Cross of Christ through which we enter into the mystery of salvific love, the mystery of merciful love. We thank our Lord Jesus Christ for having triumphed on this tree of life, with His Virgin Mother Mary standing next to Him and offering Him her loving support. We thank Him for having given her to us as our Mother, as the one who helps us, her children, to understand and live the mystery of the Cross in our own lives. United with her and with all the members of the universal Church, we once again proclaim: “We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.” Amen.