Homily on the occasion of the Red Mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

 

I would like to welcome all the members of the Judiciary and the Bar who have gathered for this celebration of the Red Mass. The Red Mass is a special occasion in our liturgical year. Annually we gather, at the start of the legal year, to invoke the guidance of the Holy Spirit on the legal profession, the judiciary and associate groups.

We gather today on this the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. We are still within the Season of Christmas. This is when we celebrate how God who is infinitely distant from us has come intimately close to us in the birth of a child. Infinity has taken the form of Infancy! The all powerful has become all vulnerable! And the vulnerable has become lovable, as lovable as a new-born baby. This is but the beginning of the story of our Redemption.

In sharing our human nature God has raised up each of us, without exception, to a dignity which no one can measure and no one can take away. That is what Christmas celebrates.

Now, this event took place once in Royal David's City. But what took place in that one time and that one place, has relevance and significance for every time and every place.

The Christ-child is revealed as the Redeemer of all peoples. That is what Epiphany celebrates. That is why in art and iconography the Magi, the wise men in today's gospel, are depicted as three kings of different races. They represent all races and cultures of the world. Christ is Savior of every time and every place, every nation and every race. The Feast of the Epiphany announces just that.

On this Feast of Epiphany, it was an ancient custom when calendars were not readily available, for the Church to announce the date of Easter and the other movable Feasts for the current year. The text of the announcement was chanted, not read! I will share that text with you. However, wisdom suggests that I spare you the chant and simply read. And so ...

Know dear brothers and sisters that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so by leave of God's mercy we announce to you also the joy of his Resurrection, who is our Savior. On the sixth day of March will fall Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the fast of the most sacred Lenten Season.

On the twenty-first day of April you will celebrate with joy Easter Day, the Paschal feast of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the thirtieth day of May will be the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the ninth day of June, the feast of Pentecost. On the twenty-third of June, the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, (Corpus Christi). On the first day of December, the First Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Such is the announcement of the major feasts for this year according to the ancient custom of Epiphany.

We find ourselves at the start of a New Year. At this time there is often an optimism which comes with a new beginning. Thus some speak of New Year resolutions. This optimism of a new beginning is wonderfully affirmed by the words of the first reading for the first day of the New Year. It is from the Book of Numbers. It is the priestly blessing from the Sixth Chapter of that book.

"The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you kindly

and give you peace! (Numbers 6: 24-26)

The optimism at the start of a New Year is helpful for looking in a new light at the enduring challenges we face, from crime to climate change. Encouraging are the words of our first reading today, from Isaiah.

"Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem. Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See darkness covers the earth and thick clouds cover the peoples but upon you the Lord shines and over you appears his glory." (Isaiah 60:1-6)

As the weeks and months of this New Year unfold and as you rise each day to face the stubborn challenges of life in our community may you never become hopeless or uncaring. Let me propose something you may find helpful as you move through your responsibilities this year.

It is the idea of the Social Mortgage. John Paul II conceived of it. He first mentioned the idea in a speech to the bishops of Latin America gathered in Mexico on January 28, 1979. I mention that date because shortly thereafter he visited Nassau on his way back to Rome.

He had seen first-hand, countries with populations far greater than ours and with social problems far more entrenched and daunting than ours. He invited everyone with means and ability to accept that they also have a Social Obligation for the good of all. The idea, a Social Obligation, he developed in greater detail in his 1981 encyclical "On Human Work" (Laborem Exercens).

Then, in his encyclical of 1987 titled "On Social Concern" (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis) he gave this idea the name the "Social Mortgage." One commentator explains it this way.

Just as a conventional mortgage binds the homeowner to repay the institution that made ownership of that home possible, a social mortgage obligates the owner of private property to give back to the community so that those with no private property holdings have access to the same basic services such as health care, education, transportation, and police and fire protection that helped make possible the personal development of that property owner.1 (O'Boyle)

This is not a political ideology. This is not an economic theory. This is not a strategy for winning a popular vote. This is a vision for a just and peaceful society. The kind of society in which we all would like to live.

Its roots run as deep as the Book of Genesis. When the Lord asks Cain: "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain, in a classic attempt at deception and evasion answers the question with a question. "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9) His question is a self-rebuke. Of course he is his brother's keeper. We all are our brothers and sisters keepers.

John Paul II, who has now be raised to the altar as a saint, was no socialist. The scriptures simply spoke through him. In the Gospel when Jesus is told that his mother and brothers and sisters are asking for him, says this. "Whoever does the will of my heavenly father is brother and sister and mother to me." (Mark 3:31-35//Matthew 12:46-50//Luke 8:19-21)

The Social Mortgage, in which we all share, is another name for human solidarity. Solidarity is not simply a matter of taking from those who have and giving to those who do not have. That is what Robin Hood did. Rather, solidarity is more properly described by the saying: "No one is to too poor to give. No one is too rich to receive." Thus the dignity of everyone is preserved.

The Social Mortgage which John Paul II taught us is a potent vision for our Commonwealth and for our common future. We should remember it on days when we feel weighed down and defeated by the same old human problems and challenges which we seem unable to solve or remedy or move beyond.

A vision enlivened by the idea of a Social Mortgage and of human solidarity, places a special obligation on members of the legal profession and the judiciary.

You weigh the fate of so many on the scales of justice each year. Remember that all who have fallen short are in some measure salvageable. They, like us, Christ came to redeem. All human life, no matter how degraded by choice or circumstance, is precious to God and must be held sacred to us. That is the point of the Incarnation. That is the core message of Christmas, the very reason for the Season.

As you begin this new legal year and must rise to your responsibilities as judge or advocate may the vision of our Social Mortgage serve you as a guiding light even and especially in dark moments.

May those words of blessing preserved in the Book of Numbers always bring you comfort and peace.

"The Lord bless you and keep you!

The Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you!

The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace! (Numbers 6:24-26)
 

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1 See JOHN PAUL II ON SOCIAL MORTGAGE: ORIGINS, QUESTIONS, NORMS by Edward J. O'Boyle, Ph.D. Mayo Research Institute

 

Readings

Isaiah 60:1-6

[Psalm 72]

Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6

Matthew 2:1-12