Saturday of the 2nd Week of Lent
Mass for Consecrated Life
St. Agnes Parish, Catonsville
March 11, 2023
The Saints of Baltimore
In the altar of my private chapel are relics of the saints of Baltimore and those who have an association with the Archdiocese of Baltimore.Chief among them are St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, the founder of the Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg, known for their works of education, healthcare, and charity in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul.
When I think of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, I also think of the Servant of God, Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange who educated young women of color, and this at a time when slavery was still the law of the land, and went on to found the Oblate Sisters of Providence whose works of evangelization, education, racial and social justice continue to strengthen not only this Archdiocese but many other dioceses as well.
Next is St. John Neumann, the great Redemptorist priest and pastor who, in 1852, was ordained a bishop at St. Alphonsus in downtown Baltimore, and who worked closely with my predecessor, Archbishop Kenrick. He was a holy and gentle soul, a great pastor, a missionary in the spirit of St. Alphonsus Ligouri, and a very effective bishop.
Along with St. John Neumann, we naturally think of Blessed Francis Seelos, St. John Neumann’s successor as Pastor of St. Alphonsus. Blessed Francis Seelos’ confessional is still in use but few have used it as efficaciously as he. So great a confessor was he that lines stretched around the block as people waited patiently for him to hear their confession.
Yet another saint whose relics grace the altar in my chapel is St. Teresa of Calcutta. Teresa of Calcutta isn’t exactly a Baltimore saint, but she did visit Baltimore on more than one occasion, and on one occasion, she prayed in my private chapel . . . and, of course, the Missionaries of Charity continue to serve the poorest of the poor in our midst. Mother Teresa also rode in the 1946 elevator in my residence, which is why we’ll never replace it!
Witness to Mercy
So, as I pray or offer Mass in my little chapel, I am surrounded by the relics of religious from institutes that continue to impact the Archdiocese of Baltimore. This reminds me of the foundational role which men and women in consecrated life fulfill in the life of a local church. For the true foundation of the church, and this Archdiocese in particular, does not consist of historic properties or any other material asset, but rather that spirit of holiness that knows how to live in this passing world with one’s gaze fixed on the world that is to come. You who have embraced consecrated life lead lives that are capable of amazing the world by their transfigured lives. Your witness to Christ has the power to unleash the power of the Gospel in our midst, and help the Church to produce the lasting good fruit of the Gospel.
The Second Vatican Council teaches that all the baptized are called to holiness, and while your evangelical style of life does not guarantee a greater degree of holiness, it does encourage both diocesan clergy and the lay faithful to be open to the Holy Spirit, to ask for hearts that are pure, thankful, and receptive to God’s greater gifts… gifts which you and I always experience as overflowing grace and mercy. Indeed, we cannot strive for holiness and we cannot do the work of the Gospel without God’s utterly abundant mercy, his reconciling love and forgiveness, his mercy that cleanses our hearts, gives us renewed strength, and keeps us young in our commitments, no matter how old we may get to be.
The Mercy of God
That is why we rejoiced when we heard today’s reading from the prophet Micah – a reading which is, in fact, a proclamation of God’s mercy. Who of us cannot exult in the life-giving truth that God forgives our sins, that God does not persist in anger, or that he delights in clemency! At times, the struggle to attain perfection, or for that matter, virtue, can seem sterile, … until we remember that the opposite of vice is not virtue but rather life in Christ. As we open our hearts to his truth and love, encounter the Lord in prayer, and in our work with the poor and needy – God’s mercy crowds out our sins, and in the beauty of the evangelical councils you can say in a particular way, “Now, it is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me!”
The theme of God’s mercy grows stronger as we turn to the Gospel, the beautiful Parable of the Prodigal Son. This parable, appearing only in Luke’s Gospel, is a beloved story of mercy. The son is prodigal – reckless – in spending, indeed, wasting his father’ fortune, only to come to his senses when his inheritance was gone, and he was in penury. But the father was equally prodigal – reckless if you were to ask the older brother – in the mercy that he offered to his errant son upon his return. Return he did, and with great rejoicing as the father not only forgave his son, but gave him back his squandered dignity and clasped him to his bosom. Here we have from the lips of our Master a masterpiece of mercy as Jesus portrays what his Father and our Father – the Father of Mercies – is like. What’s more, through the figure of the older brother, Jesus encourages you and me to be “prodigal”, recklessly generous, in extending the mercy we have received from God to others,
This, more than anything else is what the great saints have done – the saints whom we are proud to claim as our own in this country – the saints you are proud to claim as members of your own institutes. Yes, some were great theologians, others were heroic in martyrdom, still others great educators, and missionaries par excellence . . . but all of them, I’ll wager, were recipients of God’s abundant mercy, and in turn, they were lavish ministers of mercy . . . “prodigal” in the love they lavished on immigrants, the sick, the vulnerable and the errant, “prodigal” in their care the poor, the enslaved, and the disadvantaged, “prodigal” in their love and care for those who are addicted and imprisoned. Their lives were a living proclamation of the Gospel of Mercy!
A Word of Thanks
This morning I want to thank you for being “prodigal” in your love for this local church and for its young people, its poor, its needy, and its vulnerable. I thank you for the missions of mercy which you continue to sustain all around us – educating the poor, ministering to the sick and the dying, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry, witnessing to authentic justice . . . I could go on and on and never get close to describing all that you do. You are utterly generous in your ministry, and you have been such for many years. On behalf of all of us who make up this local church I truly thank you.
Like the saints of Baltimore, you, our jubilarians, have set your sights, not on earthly power, money, pleasure, or success – but rather on the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of Mercy, which Jesus came to inaugurate in our midst. Your life of chastity, poverty, and obedience bears striking witness to the Risen Lord and helps us all to entrust our lives to him and to await his coming, united in faith, hope, and charity.
As we celebrate this day dedicated to those in consecrated life, you, our jubilarians, bear witness to the longevity of love, the endless power of mercy, the enduring joy that comes from entrusting one’s whole life to Christ our God. Congratulations! Warmest thanks! And may God bless us and keep us always in his love!