ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Religious, Seminarians, Families and in particular you
our young people gathered here this evening: Praised be Jesus Christ!

How good it is to be gathered with you this evening, here on the grounds of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, here in this 200th year, this Bicentennial year of our diocese, here with one another, gathered together in the name of Jesus at this Eucharistic celebration. It is indeed good to be here!

Today, a number of you have participated in what has been called "The Amazing Race for Grace." What an amazing day it has been! From our opening ceremony early this afternoon at the Cathedral, to the Quests held in various historic churches and sites within our city, to the Festival of Praise held here on the seminary grounds. Today has indeed been an amazing day of grace in which we have celebrated the gift of our holy Catholic Faith. And now, dear friends, we come to this moment—this moment of God’s special grace as we celebrate this holy Mass, which is the gift and mystery of God’s love for us. It is here that we hear God’s word proclaimed to us, and it is here that we enter into contact with Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word of God made flesh for our salvation. This Mass is the center, the source and summit of our Catholic life because it is the greatest expression of God’s love for us. This love of God is a love that is real and personal. It is revealed in Jesus Christ. This evening, how privileged we are in this Eucharistic Sacrifice to profess His name, to glorify His name and to bear witness to His name. This, dear friends, is the very reason for our existence: to profess, to glorify and to bear witness to the name of Jesus.

We have just heard proclaimed a parable of our Lord Jesus Christ. Two men are referred to: one is called the "rich man," while the other is called "Lazarus," a name which means "God is my help." As we can see, Lazarus needs a lot of help. Lazarus is the poor man, a man who has a sad and unfortunate life. He is a beggar and we are told that he used to lie at the door of the rich man, longing to eat even the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. He was covered with sores and no doubt was a pitiable sight—a sight which the rich man, although close by, failed to notice in his life time. It is only at the end, when both men die that the rich man sees. What is it he sees? He sees Lazarus, the poor beggar, now rich in the glory of God, resting with Abraham in heaven in the company of the angels. And we see the rich man, whose fate is worse than that of Lazarus. And so the irony of the parable is revealed: the rich man is now poor and the poor man is rich. It is for this reason that this parable can be called "the parable of the great reversal." We see that reversal in the end. But in its reference to the rich man, this parable can also be called "the parable of the man who never noticed." And it is this title which can lead us to discover the real hero of the parable, namely, the Man who did notice Lazarus, the Man who had mercy on him, the Man who welcomed him into His Kingdom. We speak of course, of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

At this time, dear friends, and throughout this Bicentennial year, we as Catholic Christians in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, united together, rejoice. We rejoice and celebrate the fact that Christ has noticed us. He has noticed you, He has noticed me. And in His great love and mercy for us, He has called us and given us a name. He has anointed us by the power of His Holy Spirit. He feeds us with His Body and Blood. And He commissions us to exercise a most sacred task: to profess, to glorify and to bear witness to His holy name in our lives. This is our vocation. It is both our sacred duty and our greatest joy. It is because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has noticed. Jesus Christ has not passed us by, but He has noticed you and me. And now is time for us to notice Him: to profess, to glorify and to bear witness to His holy name in our lives.

In celebrating and living this Catholic faith of ours, we have great need to remember who we are. This evening we hear Saint Paul reminding his friend Timothy of that very fact. He calls Timothy, "man of God". As members of the Church, we are the same; we are children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. We are not simply a band of common believers, we are more. We are not a club, an organization or just a gathering of like-minded people, we are more. As members of the Church, we are also members of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we bear His name, we have life in Him and apart from Him we have no life at all.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us, we are members of God’s family—a family that was formed and has taken shape throughout history, in keeping with the Father’s plan. As members of God’s family then, we not only bear the name of His Son, but have certain traits or marks as well. We are the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We share a communion of faith, of sacraments, charisms and love. We are then never alone, never unloved, never unnoticed. The faith we profess is the same faith professed by the Apostles—the faith for which the martyrs died, and men and women of every generation spent their lives in heroic love. In the history of our own Church of Philadelphia, we have two outstanding heroes who have been raised up for our inspiration and whose lives and intercession it is good to recall: Saint Katharine Drexel and Saint John Neumann.

Katharine was born here in our very city, when our diocese was just fifty years old. She was the daughter of a wealthy banker and, although she was rich, Katharine noticed the beggars at her door. When Katharine was 27 years old, she inherited her father’s wealth. She took her share and left home to take notice of those whom few people noticed, namely the Native Americans and the African Americans of our country. Katharine Drexel, a daughter of Philadelphia, professed Jesus; she bore witness to His name and glorified Him in the Holy Eucharist. Her life and love made a difference—a difference that we too try to make as brothers and sisters with Katharine in the one Church, the Body of Christ.

Our other great local hero is Saint John Neumann, the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia. Bishop Neumann was the Bishop of Philadelphia when Katharine was born. Because of his height, he was known as "the short bishop". But John Neuman stood tall in great love. John Neumann, like Katharine, professed Jesus; he bore witness to the name of Jesus and glorified Him in the Holy Eucharist. He was a man who took great notice of others, establishing schools, parishes and Eucharistic devotion throughout our city. His life made a difference, which we as members of the Church in Philadelphia are privileged to share.

Dear friends: these are but two of countless holy people who have graced the Church in our Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Interestingly enough, their lives crossed each other not only in time but also in space. Our lives are meant to do the same. You and I together must fulfill our call to holiness. And now is our time. We must profess, glorify and bear witness to Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.

Six years ago, as the Servant of God Pope John Paul the Great was closing the Jubilee Year 2000, he said the that a "new stage of the Church’s journey was about to begin." He suggested that we begin the New Millennium by heeding the words of Jesus: "Put out into the deep." Peter and his companions trusted those words of Christ and cast their nets. And "when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish" (Luke 5:6). Tonight, these words ring out for us and they encourage us to put out into the deep. As we continue this celebration of our Bicentennial year, let us praise the Son of God who has noticed us. Let us proudly, without fear and with great generosity, profess, glorify and bear witness to the holy name of Jesus. Amen.