ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Monsignor Shoemaker,
Father Kennedy,
Monsignor Statkus,
Dear Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ, 

Like Catholics for the last 2000 years, we come together on Sunday, in this church and in every church throughout the world, for a specific purpose.

We come together to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Resurrection is itself the culmination of His whole Paschal Mystery of death and life. In doing this we celebrate the power of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered His Passion and Death to overcome evil, to forgive our sins and all the sins of the world, and to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

This power of our Lord Jesus Christ is actuated every time the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered, when the people of God come together to participate in the victory of Jesus over sin and death.

This is particularly important and comforting for us during these days when we are reminded of great sins-the sins of sexual abuse committed by some priests against minors. These are sins that have caused immense harm to children, their families, to our parish communities, to the Church in general. These sins have deeply offended God. Indeed, every sin against our neighbor, and especially against children, is first and foremost an offense against God Himself. We cannot forget these sins. As the Archbishop of Philadelphia I wish to express, once again, my profound sorrow to the victims for the pain they have endured and continue to endure. I also express again deep regret for whatever harm resulted from the handling of these matters in the past by anyone in administration.

At the present time every effort is being made by the Archdiocese to ensure that these abuses will not be repeated, indeed that they be rooted out wherever they are found, first among the clergy, but also in every other place, in our families, our organizations, our community.

Restoring peace of mind and heart can only completely come about through the gift of God Himself. Our Christian faith assures us that our Lord Jesus Christ has the power to make all things new. Through the power of His Paschal Mystery, Jesus Christ , the Crucified and Risen Lord, can, in every situation, reach into the hearts and souls of all of us to comfort us, heal us, forgive us, purify us and strengthen us.

Dear friends, Jesus Christ does this through the power of His Death and the victory of His Resurrection. And this is what we are involved in today. As Catholic people we come together with our weaknesses, our hopes, our anxieties, our joys, in union with our Lord Jesus Christ to renew in the Mass His great Sacrifice on Calvary and the triumph of His Resurrection.

Surely this role of ours as Christians requires of us an ever deeper conversion of heart and purification of our lives. We were all taught in our catechism that the Mass, the Eucharistic Sacrifice is offered for four ends, four intentions: to adore God, to thank Him, to make reparation for sins and to ask Him for what we and all our brothers and sisters throughout the world need for our lives.

As I have mentioned in my recent letter to the Archdiocesan family, the present moment calls us all to purification, reparation and renewal.

Our Sunday Mass, every Sunday Mass, is about reparation, just as it is about adoration, thanksgiving and petition. We are called to make reparation to God for the great sins of sexual abuse of minors by priests, and by anyone else. We are called to make reparation for all our own personal sins-throughout our life-and, in imitation of Christ, for the sins of the whole world. As we make reparation, we implore God's forgiveness for ourselves and for others.

Let us remember that in the Mass at the consecration of the wine into the Blood of Christ, the priest says these words: "This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven." Forgiveness of sins is at the heart of our Lord's Passion and Death, which are renewed in the Eucharist. The forgiveness of sins prolongs the triumph of Christ's Resurrection.

We know, dear friends, and it applies to all of us, that God's forgiveness implies, among other things, true sorrow on our part and a resolution to avoid sin in the future.

Sunday after Sunday, when we hear the word of God we are constantly challenged-each one of us-to turn toward God, to reject sin, and to strive to live according to God's laws, loving one another, and giving good example by our Christian lives.

In the Gospel today, Jesus forcefully challenges the Scribes and the Pharisees of His time. He repudiates the example that they give. They did not practice what they preached. This challenge of Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees is a challenge to me and to you-to all of us as Christian people, as followers of Jesus.

In our second reading, Saint Paul shares with us, giving us an example, of what he was able to accomplish by the grace of God, how he was able to serve his brothers and sisters-those to whom he ministered. He was gentle among the flock, as a nursing mother cares for her children. He shared not only the Gospel of God, but he also gave his very life in service for his brothers and sisters. His record in the New Testament shows just how much he sacrificed in order to serve the Church. His generosity and dedication remained for all of us too a strong incentive for our Christian lives.

One of the great challenges that face this parish family and the whole Archdiocese of Philadelphia is to turn toward our Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead for all of us. We are challenged to trust in His mercy and His power to make all things new in our lives, in our homes, our families, our parishes and our local Church.

His commandments are demanding, especially when He tells us: "Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you" (Lk 6:31). His call to conversion of life is unremitting, but His mercy and forgiveness are without end.

Dear friends, just last Sunday, the entire Catholic Church completed her celebration of the Year of the Eucharist. But our Eucharistic journey never ends; rather it has been given a new impetus. Celebrating the Eucharist together, we will continue to make reparation for our sins and offer adoration, thanksgiving and petition to God. Celebrating the Eucharist together with the proper dispositions we will realize more and more the necessity to reach out to our brothers and sisters in need, those affected by all the natural catastrophes in our own country as well as, in other countries like the two to three million homeless people of Pakistan. In this context we remember Saint Paul's words: "Bear one another's burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2). Celebrating the Eucharist together we will realize that we are meant to be "one body, one spirit in Christ."

This coming week we shall see how incredibly important the unity of the whole Church is, as we celebrate the communion of Saints, including all the saints in heaven, on November 1st, and all the souls in Purgatory on November 2nd.

Meanwhile, dear friends, we praise God, who in His great mercy and power, offers all of us forgiveness of our sins, support for our weaknesses and the total conversion of our hearts. Amen.