Solemn Lauds for Papal Honors
September 22, 2023
In spite of the storms up and down the East Coast and here in Maryland, we gather today in joy to offer God a sacrifice of praise, as we acknowledge, thank, and honor eighteen missionary disciples of the Archdiocese of Baltimore who have been recognized by our Holy Father, Pope Francis.
Each of those being honored today would be the first to tell you that behind them and alongside them are a host of others who day by day contribute mightily to the building up of Christ’s Body, the Church. In recognizing these honorees, we also recognize a host of others who are at work in our midst, advancing the Church’s mission through works of evangelization, catechesis, Catholic education, Catholic charities, wise stewardship of the Church’s resources, and so much more.
This morning is also a graced opportunity to deepen our communion, our sense of spiritual oneness, with our Holy Father Pope Francis who has bestowed these recognitions upon our honorees. These honors from the Church’s Universal Pastor remind us of the bonds of communion we share, bonds rooted in the Successor of Peter, a communion of life and love that extends to every land and nation, a communion that spans heaven and earth. We are thus co-workers in the vineyard with countless others, locally and universally, with fellow disciples throughout the world and with the cloud of witnesses in heaven. So today, filled with gratitude for the communion we share, let us pray for Pope Francis and for the Church throughout the world, especially as we prepare for the forthcoming Synod in Rome.
The communion of the Church is a communion in mission. Keenly aware of the Church’s past failings and its present challenges, we gather this morning with humility of heart and joyful confidence. Our confidence and joy are rooted in the truth that the Lord will never abandon his Church. On the contrary, the Lord takes delight in his people, a people he has endowed with the Holy Spirit, a people for whom he continually intercedes at the right hand of the Father. Yes, the Lord loves his Church, for it was born from his side as he hung upon the Cross.
And let us be clear. Christ’s presence in the Church and his love of the Church are not an abstraction. Indeed, the Lord’s presence and love are palpably at work in our midst in the living Word of God, in Scripture and Tradition, and the Church’s life of sacramental worship. Because of all this, his presence and love are also at work in the lives of countless women and men, including our honorees, who are doing the Lord’s work in our midst, without fanfare and with quiet persistence.
These are women and men who have encountered the Lord and who have committed themselves to advancing the mission of the Church, especially the mission of bringing the Good News of Salvation to young and old alike, to peers and co-workers, to the unchurched, the perplexed, the poor and vulnerable. For your work in advancing Catholic education, prison ministry, Catholic Charities, evangelization, parish revitalization and priestly formation, we thank you! For your witness as dedicated lay persons, living the vocation of marriage and family, and for your witness as consecrated religious women and men and as priests, we thank you!
In you and in your witness to the Faith, the Incarnate Lord is met and in you, new and beautiful chapters of church history are being written. You exemplify what it means to put one’s life at the service of the Lord and his Church, and no doubt you encourage others to do the same, day in and day out. May all of us, those present in this Cathedral and many others besides, be heartened by your luminous examples of faith and charity, and be encouraged in their own participation in the Church’s life and mission.
Through the intercession of Mary Our Queen, and encouraged by the example of these good and faithful servants whom our Holy Father has honored – may we all continue to work together to build up Christ’s body which is the Church, to journey together as a communion in mission, and to announce to the world the saving love of God, revealed in Jesus Christ: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever!”