ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Today I come, speaking to all of you―especially you young people―as friends:  friends in our Lord Jesus Christ, friends of our Lord Jesus Christ and what I say is this: “Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name” (Ps 34:4). These words of the psalmist, proclaimed only moments ago in the responsorial psalm, capture and express the spirit of these past thirty-five years of Conferences here at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. “Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name.”

There is a palpable eagerness in the words of the psalmist. That same eagerness is present here, today, on the campus of the Franciscan University of Steubenville. I can hear it in your voices, see it in your faces and sense it in your presence.

“Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name.” These words of the psalmist are remarkably similar to those of Saint Paul from the first reading: “…whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31).

And the theme mounts: The words “For the Greater Glory of God” (Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam) are so characteristic of the Christian mission that they form the motto of the Society of Jesus, the religious community founded by the Saint whose memorial we celebrate today, Saint Ignatius of Loyola.  From his place in the Liturgy of heaven at the Supper of the Lamb, united with our Blessed Mother and all the Angels and Saints, Saint Ignatius continues to call out to us, saying:  “Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name.”

The eminent Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar gave considerable and extensive consideration in his theological work to the glory of God as the beauty of Divine Revelation. The splendor of God’s holiness shines forth as the light of his glory which the living God longs to communicate to man through faith. The memorial we celebrate today, along with the words of the first reading and responsorial psalm, invite us to glorify God.

“Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name.” Our contemporary society, formed from the post-modern era, has a different idea about glory. The world of today seeks to sway, pressure, manipulate and persuade our families and friends to buy into the glory of self. And the world is feverishly targeting this generation.

This generation moves quickly. It is not waiting. It experiences the lure of the spotlight, the enticement of pleasure and power, the fast pace of the corporate ladder, the race to get the next promotion, the bigger bonus and the higher status. The world repeatedly tells us that glory is found only in being powerful, in what we own, in how much money we have, how much power we achieve and how popular we are.
 
“Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name.” In the post-modern lifestyle, glory to anyone but the individual self is judged to be a myth. The world tells this generation that the life of faith is outdated, and the difference between right and wrong is hollow and empty. When the Church speaks of avoiding sin and embracing the life of grace, the common reaction of society is to label and attack us. So often today to be a Christian is to be labeled, if not targeted, as “old-fashioned,” “backward,” “reactionary,” “to be against everything.” Yet, a question lingers: If the contemporary society is so convinced of its own way, why is it so eager and determined to oppose the effort to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ?

Saint Paul provides a position for us to take: "Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect" (Rom 12:2). His words are so appropriate as the theme of this 2010 Defending the Faith Conference.

Transformation does not come from our reputation or from what we own. It does not arise from our status, getting our own way or having everything we want. Self-worth does not come from net-worth. Jesus tells us plainly the origin of transformation. At first, His words from the Gospel of Saint Luke seem to sound a somber note: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14:25 ). The words of Jesus at first sound upsetting to us. The maxim of Jesus seems to run counter to the fourth commandment of the Decalogue: “Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you” (Ex 20:12; cf. Deut 5:16).

How different these words of Jesus seem from the words with which we began: “Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name.” How can He who taught us to love our enemies now teach us to hate our families? In fact He does not. Transformation in the Lord may seem on the surface like such a reversal, a contradiction. The great Franciscan Doctor of the Church, Saint Bonaventure, leads us through this apparent contradiction. He teaches that the hatred spoken of in the Gospel does not arise from cruelty, but from love. Commenting on this Gospel passage, Saint Bonaventure tells us that we are commanded to hate our “father, mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even our own life” as far as sin goes. We are to hate any attachment to sin in our relationship to our family and even in regard to our own life. Saint Bonaventure recalled the words of Saint Augustine: “If you have loved badly, then you have hated. If you have hated well, then you have loved.”  Obviously Jesus is telling us, yes, to love our father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, but to love God and His law above everyone else in our lives.

To buy into the world’s definition of glory means to love badly. We, however, are called to love well. There is only one way to love well. That is to accept the invitation of Jesus: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14: 26).  The Cross of the Redeemer is the key which opens the meaning of all of history. Our own cross to which Jesus invites us is never far away: It is in the suffering we share as our spouse, parents, siblings, children or other relatives go through a crisis; it is in the distress we may face as we struggle to love our brothers and sisters from one day to the next; it is in the waiting and discernment to which we dedicate ourselves as we listen while God teaches us the deeper purpose of His will; it is in the pain we feel in our body as our physical health wanes.

Each of these moments is a new opportunity to make a gift of self in love and so join ourselves to the saving action of Jesus. This is what Christianity is all about:  making a gift of self in love.  In the Eucharist we find the nourishment to accept the invitation of Jesus. In the Eucharist we fulfill the summons of the psalmist: “Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name.”

The world, despite all claims to the contrary, is always mystified by the Cross of Jesus. On the Cross, the Son of God reveals his glory as He makes the gift of Himself in the supreme act of love for His Father and for His Church. His obedient and sacrificial outpouring of love is the saving action that reveals the radiant inner depths of His glory. The Cross of our Redeemer Jesus Christ is the great anchor of love that moors all of history.

There is a special person who has stood close to that Cross, and she longs to guide us so that we, like her, may imitate Her Son. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the one who has humbly discerned “the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” Through this Conference, through the preparation, hard work and determination of the presenters, participants, administrators and staff, she has reached out her hands to inspire us, motivate us and teach us to cling to her Son, Jesus, to hold fast to His Cross. The Cross of Jesus  is the leverage by which the Holy Spirit transforms our life.  

Today, as we mark this 35th year of Conferences at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, we reach again for the Cross. With strength that comes from Jesus Christ we lift the Cross high so that this generation may see its radiance and be transformed by its power.  And let us all, in the Communion of the Saints, call out saying: “Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol his name.”  Amen.