ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear brother Priests,
Dear Deacons,
Dear Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Dear Friends of Mary,

It is a great joy to welcome all of you on this very important anniversary—50 years of existence of the Legion of Mary here in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is truly a moment of praise and thanksgiving to God for all that has been accomplished, and also for a rededication, a recommitment to the great ideals of the Legion of Mary, and, therefore, to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those of you who are involved in the Legion of Mary have made a special effort to follow Jesus. You have made a special effort to hear the charge that Saint Paul gave to Timothy: "I charge you before God... before Jesus Christ...to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ." And the Legion of Mary, dear friends, gives you this opportunity: truly, first of all, to commit yourselves to Jesus as His followers, which is very basic to all your activities; to keep His commandments; and, mindful of what Saint Paul says to Timothy, to give him honor and glory. "To him be honor and eternal power. Amen."

This collaboration of yours, this dedication in the Legion of Mary, is something that is done with great joy and it is a joy that springs from faith. Everything about the Legion of Mary is meant to be an expression of faith and an incitement to zeal. And, therefore, dear friends, you have accepted your role to collaborate with the Divine Sower of the seed. It is He with whom we are honored and privileged to collaborate—our Lord Jesus Christ, presented to us in the Gospel precisely as the great Sower of the seed who gives eternal life to all those who accept His word. And you, in endeavoring to accept His word, have also endeavored to be His collaborators, because you are convinced of the importance of His mission. Very importantly you have accepted to do this—to fulfill this role, in union with our Blessed Mother, with Mary, under her standard, always in union with her Son. You have accepted, with thanksgiving and praise, God’s plan, which is so highlighted in the Legion of Mary, the fact that, in the fullness of time God sent His Son, born of a Virgin. Thus, our Blessed Mother is so much a part of the very structure of the Legion of Mary.

You have accepted this plan, you have acknowledged it and you have seen how it is irreversible. God’s plan is irreversible and all penetrating in the activity of His Church. God came into the world through Mary, and He continues the work of salvation, always with Mary at His side. And you yourselves have endeavored, with God’s grace and only by His grace, to accept the seed that has been sown in your hearts. You have been examples, by God’s grace, of the seed that fell on rich soil, of those who have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance. This is the great challenge of this moment: to persevere.

I remember many years ago, at the time of the Second Vatican Council, speaking with Bishop Timothy Manning, who later became the Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles. Cardinal Manning mentioned that the great emphasis of the Second Vatican Council on the apostolate of the laity was so beautifully anticipated in the impressive activities of Frank Duff. He would hold him up as someone in harmony with the Second Vatican Council, exemplifying the great ideal of the collaboration of the laity in the work of the Church. And we know that there have been other marvelous examples throughout the world. We remember Edel Quinn. We remember our own beloved collaborators here in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the pioneers who worked so hard, and all of you who have, in a spirit of continuity, perpetuated this work of the Legion of Mary..

And so today, dear friends, we gather together in the name of Jesus and in the name of Mary and we know that the Legion of Mary, as it has been founded, as it is accepted by the Church and blessed by her, is very relevant. In particular, it is relevant in the prayer that it requires of its members. It is relevant in the method of working in union with our Blessed Mother. And it is relevant and important in the fact that its members are called to go out and to seek God’s people where they are, and to have contact with them so as to bring them the good news of Jesus Christ. The Legion of Mary is relevant in its method of working closely in the Church, working in collaboration with your priests, working in serving your parishes. All of this is so important and part of the legacy that has been given to you. It is the legacy that you are asked to continue and in which you are asked to collaborate, and it is a formula that has been blessed by the Church. The structure of the Legion of Mary, its major goals and its aims, are all part of this great legacy that we are celebrating today: the 50th anniversary of the Legion of Mary here in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

We hope that this will be a day of joy, dear friends, for all of you—a day of reflection, a day when you will experience, in a very special way, union with our Blessed Mother, her presence, her help, and an added impetus to be faithful to her Son in joy and peace.

Finally, as we listened to the Gospel this morning, we heard about the seed that fell on rich soil—the ones who hear the word of God and embrace it with a generous and good heart. And, dear friends, by God’s grace, you have done this. But the very final sentence of our Gospel is the call to "bear fruit through perseverance." This is the great challenge before you: that God’s work, in Christ, through Mary, go on and on; that it go on always under the guidance of the Church, always with the assistance of the Holy Spirit of God, and that its effectiveness be seen in the fact that you, dear friends, "bear fruit in perseverance."

Saint Paul tells us not to grow tired of doing good. Surely, with our Blessed Mother, surely with her help and sustained by her maternal protection, you have a very wonderful formula to keep alive in the Church. It is the call to work with your pastors and your priests in spreading the word of God with an immense love for Jesus and Mary and for all your brothers and sisters. This love is the font of your zeal as you yourselves endeavor to bear fruit through perseverance. Amen.