ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,

I am delighted to be here with so many of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In this, the Bicentennial Year of the establishment of Philadelphia as a Diocese by Pope Pius VII, it is most fitting that we come on this pilgrimage to this magnificent basilica dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. The Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of the Immaculate Conception, is the Principal Patroness of our Archdiocese, as she is of our Nation. Here in her shrine, I humbly entrust our jubilee celebrations, endeavors and hopes to her Immaculate Heart.

I express my gratitude to Cardinal Bevilacqua for his presence here today. I thank as well my brother Bishops, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, our seminarians, and all who have made this journey today. We remember as well and are in solidarity with those who are unable to be with us today, especially the aged, infirm and homebound whose prayers help to sustain the Church in Philadelphia in her mission of evangelization and sanctification. In a particular way, I thank you for your prayers and support for me in my ministry as your shepherd.

Throughout this Easter season, we have listened to accounts of the Risen Jesus revealing Himself to His Apostles. Today, we listened to the account given by Saint Matthew as Jesus reveals Himself again, just before His Ascension into heaven. Saint Matthew tells us: "When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted" (Mt 28: 17). Even after all that they had seen and heard, even after touching the glorified body of Jesus, they doubted. Nonetheless, Jesus gave them an enormous commission: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt 28:19-20a).

With all of their hesitations, questions, weaknesses and doubts, Jesus entrusted to the Apostles His mission, the proclamation of the Gospel and the transformation of the world. He gave them as well the assurance of His Presence: "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Mt 28:20b).

Saint Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, provides some insight into the climate and culture in which the Apostles were sent to preach: "For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1 Cor 1:22-23). Sent out into the world, the Apostles proclaimed forcibly and lived convincingly the power of the Cross and the love of Jesus Crucified. To many parts of the ancient world, the Apostles traveled and, wherever they went, they taught and lived the love of Jesus. They went to the great and the lowly, to scholars and sinners, to the afflicted and the poor, to the skeptical and to the dissolute. To all they proclaimed Jesus and thus they began to transform the world, the work in which the Church remains ever engaged as she faces challenges both old and new.

Still early in the Third Millennium of Christianity, the Church continues to meet and address the issues, hopes, hardships and even tragedies which affect the world. We rejoice in the recent Supreme Court decision to uphold the ban on the horrific procedure known as partial birth abortion. At the same time, we deplore the wanton violence which plagues our day: the murderous rampage at Virginia Tech; the continued loss of life in the Middle East, especially in Iraq; and the escalating murder rate in the City of Philadelphia. In spite of all this darkness and tragedy, the Church continues to proclaim Christ Crucified and Risen from the dead, and, as long as we proclaim the Gospel, there remains hope for the transformation of our society, of our culture, and of our world.

It is fortunate, therefore, that we gather today, on the Memorial of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, a French priest whose missionary endeavors among his own people led to a spiritual renewal and revitalization in the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century France. Faced with the many challenges of his own day, Saint Louis de Montfort desired to inspire men and women to rekindle within themselves holiness of life and zeal for the word of God, and the desire to correct the errors and sins of the time. For these endeavors, Saint Louis de Montfort pointed to the person of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the model of discipleship and the Chosen Vessel through which the Incarnate Word of God entered the world.

In his masterpiece of Catholic spiritual literature, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, Saint Louis de Montfort wrote: "In Mary and through Mary, God the Holy Spirit wills to form His elect ... When Mary has implanted her roots in a soul, she produces these wonders of grace which she alone can produce, because she alone is the fruitful Virgin who never has had, nor ever shall have, her equal in purity and in fecundity. By the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit , Mary has produced the greatest event which ever was or ever shall be: the birth of the God-Man. Consequently, it is she who will produce the great events which will mark the ending of time; for to her is reserved the formation and education of the great Saints who will then walk the world’s ways. Only this excellent and miraculous Virgin can produce, in union with the Holy Spirit, such mighty and extraordinary events" (Chapter 1, Article 2).

At the core of the teaching of Saint Louis de Montfort is the understanding that devotion to Mary will make the soul more and more like Mary. When a soul reflects the Virgin, the Holy Spirit is always attracted to that soul, communicates with that soul, and fills it with His Presence. Thus, Jesus is formed in the soul of the one who is truly devoted to Mary.

The Servant of God Pope John Paul II, as a young man, studied and lived the True Devotion. Of this work, he wrote: "There I found the answers to my questions. Yes, Mary does bring us closer to Christ.... The author was an outstanding theologian. His Mariological thought is rooted in the mystery of the Trinity and in the truth of the Incarnation of the Word of God" (Gift and Mystery, Chapter III). The profound impact which the True Devotion had on Pope John Paul II is reflected in his motto, Totus Tuus, "All Yours," an abbreviation of a form of entrustment to the Mother of God composed by Saint Louis Marie de Montfort.

At the beginning of our Bicentennial Jubilee, here in this sacred place and on the memorial of a great missionary, we are called to renew within our Archdiocese and within ourselves Christ’s mission mandate: "Make disciples of all nations." We begin with ourselves, praying for the grace of daily conversation and, in a special way, a more complete dedication to Mary. I invite everyone to join me in entrusting our call to continuing renewal to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, Queen of Apostles and Help of Christians. I especially ask everyone to pray the Rosary, that marvelous devotion through which, with Mary, we contemplate the face of Jesus.

I ask your assistance in inviting to the Church your family members and neighbors who are seeking Jesus, but, perhaps, have never been invited to come and learn about our Catholic Faith. I ask also that you invite back to the Church, to Mass and to the Sacraments, those who perhaps have become neglectful of or indifferent to the practice of the Faith. Invite them to encounter again the mercy of God in the Sacrament of Penance that they may lovingly and worthily receive Jesus in Holy Communion.

I ask everyone here to draw closer to Jesus through Eucharistic Adoration. I renew my request that pastors do everything possible to make available increasing opportunities for this Adoration. I ask the faithful to come and experience the unique nearness of Jesus who dwells in the monstrance and in the Tabernacle. Time spent in adoration of Christ present in the Eucharist increases our longing to participate in the Mass and Holy Communion, just as each Holy Communion increases our desire to remain close to Jesus through Eucharistic Adoration. The more lovingly we celebrate the Sacred Mysteries and the more closely we draw to the Eucharistic Presence, the more deeply we will love Jesus and the more readily we will respond to His call to work together to spread His Kingdom. Philadelphia’s two beloved Saints, John Nepomucene Neumann and Katharine Drexel, both give vibrant testimony to the transforming power of the Eucharist in our lives, as well as the sustenance it provides for our mission to evangelize.

Furthermore, I ask that, through Eucharistic Adoration and devotion to the Rosary, you will join with me in praying for our young people. Within the hearts of our youth there is a longing for adventure, a desire to embark on exciting journeys, a craving to accomplish great things. Pray that our youth will find the fulfillment of all their desires in intimate friendship with Jesus, and pray that many will respond wholeheartedly to commit themselves to the service of Jesus through the Priesthood for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and in the Consecrated Life.

The most evident fruit of deeper devotion to our Eucharistic Lord and to the Blessed Virgin Mary is love, genuine Christ-like charity. It is in His great love for us that Jesus redeemed the world. Love was likewise the motivating factor in the lives and example of the saints. It is love, therefore, which will, at the beginning of our Jubilee Year, draw many to God.

Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in his first Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, reminds us: "The entire activity of the Church is an expression of love that seeks the integral good of man: it seeks his evangelization through Word and sacrament, an undertaking that is often heroic in the way it is acted out in history; and it seeks to promote man in the various arenas of life and human activity. Love is therefore the service that the Church carries out in order to attend constantly to man’s sufferings and his needs" (no 19).

As we begin our Jubilee observance, I wish to recall the words with which I began my episcopal ministry on October 7, 2003 in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul:

"In this new moment in the life of this Archdiocese of Philadelphia, we set our hope on the living God (cf. Tm 4:10), on His Son Jesus Christ and on the power of the Holy Spirit. We humbly pray: ‘Jesus, we trust in you!’ And we confidently invoke Mary, His Mother and ours, under her title of the Immaculate Conception.

"Finally, permit me, as your...Archbishop, to entrust you all to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the pastoral act which I ask you to ratify personally in consecrating [once again] your own lives to her and, through her, to her beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."