ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

It is a joy to welcome you this evening for the Annual Red Mass in the Cathedral Basilica of this historic city, Philadelphia, the birthplace of liberty in the United States of America. This great land is a nation of laws and you as the custodians and servants of the law in this city and state enjoy a privileged proximity to the landmarks of liberty.

The source of all law is the wisdom of God. When God decided to create the universe he left nothing to chance. He did not create out of any necessity. God is perfect in Himself and needed nothing else. He chose, out of the depths of His generosity and love, to create the world. When God created the world He established laws. From the beginning, God has used the instrument of the law to make known His wise and loving design. Hence, God works in and through the dedicated service which you render on a daily basis.

The moment God created light He created the laws to which light conforms: the law that light always travels in a straight line, the laws of reflection and refraction, the laws of light energy and the speed of light. These laws are simple, yet deeply mysterious and inviting. Simply hand a young child a flashlight: the child is enthralled by the beam of light and begins unknowingly to investigate laws—the laws of angles, speed, motion and radiance as the light skirts around the room, bounces back off mirrors, illumines dark corners, and reveals what is hidden. The child quickly learns the proper boundaries of light: not to shine the light in people’s eyes! The child has a natural affinity for the first of God’s creations, which is light.

This evening we join in prayer. We come not to study the laws of light, but to reflect on the light of the law. Gathered here this evening we reflect on the blessings brought to the Church and the world by those who have a special relationship with the law. We think of the words of the psalmist: “Lord, how I love your law; it is ever in my mind” (Ps 119:97). The brilliance of the light of the law is reflected throughout this Cathedral Basilica this evening.

When God created the world, in His wisdom He established laws: the laws of gravity, geometry, time, space, matter and motion. We can discern and study the effects of these laws. When man turned from God in disobedience and sinned, God promised to send a Savior, and then He turned again to laws to prepare us to receive His promise. When God chose Israel as His own people He revealed His Law to them.

This Law was embodied in the Ten Commandments, which reflect the natural moral law, and has come to fulfillment in the New Law, the Law of the Gospel, revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ and expressed in particular in the Sermon on the Mount. As Jesus proclaims the New Law in the Sermon on the Mount, we see the Old Law come to fulfillment as foretold by the prophet Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts” (Ez 36:26).

When the builders of this cathedral set to work, they turned to the light of laws: the laws of architecture, design, weight, depth, engineering, zoning and codes, standards of safety, specifications of size and location. The effects of these laws likewise serve to give honor to the God who created them. Every day we turn to laws: laws of health, traffic, economics, property, protection, civil procedure, self-defense, contracts, labor, immigration, family, inheritance, and even taxes. As we observe customs or encounter conflict, laws guide us to resolution and, we pray, to peace.

This evening we turn to the light of the law again, in particular with regard to the members of the noble legal profession, members of the judiciary, of the legislature, and those who serve in executive office, and to all of their specialized collaborators across local, state and federal jurisdictions, all so crucial to the functioning of civil society. We pray at this time in a particular way for Catholic servants of the law. Yet, because the law is created by God and serves to unite the whole human race, we pray for and extend a warm greeting to all members of the Christian faith, to our Jewish brothers and sisters, to members of the Islamic faith, and to all people of faith and good will. Together, in the light of the law, we see the classical principles and norms, the ordinances of right reason, which serve to advance justice and therefore the common good. In this we are united: that the virtuous scales of justice must always lift the dignity of the human person and lead us to truth and love. The Servant of God Pope John Paul II said, in an address to his own apostolic tribunal, the Roman Rota: “Justice must be practiced in accordance with right reason…according to truth” (“Splendor of Truth and Justice” January 28, 1994.) Addressing this same body some years earlier, Pope Pius XII said, “Awesome indeed are the dignity and power of the judge, which, whether in deciding controversies or repressing crimes, must rise above all passions and prejudices and reflect the justice of God himself” (“Origin and Nature of Judicial Authority in the Church and the State” October 2, 1945.)

This evening we gather to pray that your daily realities may serve to consecrate you to truth and justice. Not only is the concept of the law very familiar to God, but the very vocabulary you use on a daily basis has a rich history in Sacred Scripture, and can serve as a point of meditation. Words such as “judge,” “legislator,” “witness,” “counselor,” “evidence,” and “truth” are familiar to both the legal profession and to the Christian tradition. For example, much of your work is based on evidence, proof, and persuasive signs. The most wondrous and convincing evidence ever found was located in an empty tomb near Jerusalem. The tomb of Jesus, found empty at Easter dawn, along with the words of the reliable witnesses who saw and were invited to touch the Risen Jesus, are the testimony which grounds all the hope of the entire world: evidence that the ancient foe, death, has been destroyed.

Another word common to both the legal profession and the Christian tradition is “trial.” Your work often involves trials. In the most significant trial ever witnessed, Pontius Pilate cross-examines Jesus and asks Him: “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38). Ironically, Pilate asks the only Person in history who can answer completely the question “What is truth?”—the one who, in His very Person, is the answer. Standing before Pilate, Jesus is revealed as the judge, as Pope Benedict XVI says, “before whom all falsehood melts away.” (Spe Salvi, 47). Notice, in the account from the Gospel of Saint John, after asking the question, “What is truth?” Pilate does not wait to hear the answer of Jesus. Pilate chooses to walk away from Jesus, to walk away from the Truth.

Some people in our society walk away from truth as well. The truth is not always easy. Some people walk away from the truth that every human being has inviolable dignity and must be protected from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. Some turn, instead, to abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, and thus turn away from the path of life. Some walk away from the truth that the hungry must be fed; that the laborer has dignity; that the unemployed deserve work; that refugees and immigrants have rights and deserve safe passage and opportunities; that every person deserves adequate and affordable health care and education; that religious freedom must be respected; that the bond of marriage between one man and one woman is utterly unique; that the resources of the world are to be distributed equitably; that the entertainment industry must tune in to high moral standards in programming; that violence and exploitation are affronts to human dignity and that racial prejudice has no place in our society.

You, dear friends, with the many gifts of your profession, are called to extend the light of the law, and to guide society back to its most basic and time-honored truths about the common good, especially the truths about the dignity of human life and the classical understanding of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The common good is the common ground that unites us. This common good and this common ground can never be falsehood. It can only be the truth.

Together we are called to love the truth. We must never walk away from the truth, because the truth alone leads to freedom. The words of the Lord Jesus proclaimed only a few moments ago from the Gospel according to Saint John summon us to the truth, and therefore to freedom: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn 8: 31-32). The light of the law guides us to understand clearly that the truth of the Civilization of Love will only emerge from a Culture of Life.

The word “testimony” so common to the legal profession and juridic structure invites mediation. The greatest testimony the world has ever heard rings true in the words of the disciples: “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” (Lk 24:34). These words are proclaimed after the tremendous suffering of Jesus Christ, in which His Blessed Mother stands by the Cross of Jesus and watches as her Son suffers and dies. The Blessed Virgin Mary testifies to us of the importance of reliance upon God even in the most painful and torturous experiences of life. As Saint Paul the Apostle testifies: “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).

This proof of God’s love is not an abstract theory or baseless presumption. The Holy Spirit testifies to the victory of the Cross. The New Testament refers to the Holy Spirit as “Counselor” or “Advocate.” These terms, too, are common to the legal profession and remind us of one who helps another. The Holy Spirit assists us with His gifts. Jesus tells us: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept because it neither sees nor knows him” (Jn 14:16-17). Jesus also says: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name – he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you” (Jn 14:26). The Holy Spirit pours forth His gifts in special measure on you who work to cast the light of the law so that others may clearly discern the path of truth.

Let us turn now to the One who dwells in unapproachable light, to the One who is Light from Light. It is here that we meet the judge of heaven and earth. Jesus in the Eucharist is the One who has stood in our place and accepted the sentence that was meant for us. Here, at this altar, we experience the love of Jesus Christ. Pope Benedict XVI teaches us that the Eucharist “impels us to work courageously within our world to bring that renewal of relationships which has its inexhaustible source in God’s gift” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 91). In the Eucharist, the Lord gives us Himself to strengthen us in our trials, so that we can take the side of the innocent, stand up for the down-trodden, speak for the voiceless, visit those who are imprisoned, counsel justice and serve the common good. In the Gospel passage proclaimed a few moments ago, the Lord Jesus says: “So if the son frees you, then you will truly be free” (Jn 8:36). The Son of God has freed us, and given us Himself in the Eucharist to strengthen us. The Holy Father teaches us that the Eucharist is the “food of truth” which leads us to “the concrete practice of love” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 90, 82). Justice draws its strength from love.

Tonight, as we commemorate and bless your service to justice we also acknowledge your commitment to love. Pope John Paul II, in his second encyclical letter, Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy), stated: “The experience of the past and of our own time demonstrates that justice alone is not enough, that it can even lead to the negation and destruction of itself, if that deeper power, which is love, is not allowed to shape human life in its various dimensions” (Dives in Misericordia, 12). Dear friends: think this evening of how many years of study and scholarly pursuit are represented in this Cathedral. Recall the years of rigorous and diligent preparation. Consider the many long hours spent in the office, board rooms, court rooms, law libraries and travel. Think of the long hours spent away from the family, and the many sacrifices of each one here. You prove, with extraordinary precision, the words of our late Holy Father Pope John Paul II that “justice alone is not enough.” Continue then to allow “that deeper power, which is love … to shape” your life and motivate your service to humanity. And as you do, you will also find the greatest measure of human and Christian fulfillment in your noble work.

Friends and colleagues in the service of humanity: it is a joy to be with you in prayer. May our Lady, under her title “Mother of Good Counsel,” sustain and deepen your commitment to truth, freedom and justice. May the Lord God direct you by the light of His law. May He bless you and your families, this great city of Philadelphia, and the United States of America. Amen.