Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
Basilica of the Assumption
April 10, 2024
Little Did He Know…
First let me say what a joy it is to welcome you here to the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, America’s First Cathedral. Over the years in the many times I have visited Poland, I experienced the kindness and hospitality of my brother priests in Poland. Today it is my joy to be able to offer you, in return, some measure of that kindness and hospitality.
In these days, you have been travelling in the footsteps of the holy founder of our Order, Blessed Michael McGivney. You have been able to pray at his tomb, to visit the Churches where he lived out his ministry as a priest, and stand in the very place where he, along with faithful laymen, founded the Knights of Columbus.
Today you have come to place where that priestly ministry began. It was here in this Basilica Cathedral, a site of great historic importance for the Church in this Country, the first Metropolitan Cathedral in the United States – it was here that Blessed Michael McGivney’s life was forever changed. It was in this sanctuary, on December 22, 1877, That the soul of this faithful servant of Christ and son of the Church was changed in the very depths of his being, conformed to Christ the Priest, by the imposition of hands and the invocation of the Holy Spirit.
The celebrant that morning was the legendary James Cardinal Gibbons, a towering figure in the history of the American Church. The Cardinal, though short in stature, was a truly towering figure, a powerful voice for the faith of our fathers in this new land. Placing his hands on the head of the young Deacon Michael McGivney, little could the Archbishop have imagined what this new priest would do, or better said, what Christ would do through this new priest.
Man of Zeal
Here in this Basilica, Blessed Michael was ordained to share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, extending the saving work of Christ in history. In our first reading today we encounter the Apostles, those first priests, who, despite the warnings and threats from the leaders of the people, cannot stop preaching the Gospel, announcing the triumph of Jesus Christ and inviting people to share in his life. Their zeal is in obedience to a call, a response to what it is that God has asked them to do.
As priests we are called, in everything we do, to announce the victory of Jesus Christ against the power of sin and death. This announcement is often made in a world that is forgetful of God or a world that has grown hostile to his saving love and truth. This announcement is often made to people who, in their daily lives, experience difficulty and suffering, people who may find it hard to see how it is God is making all things new.
Priests like Blessed Michael give us an example of the way in which apostolic zeal can transform all things. In each parish where he served, in the face of a culture hostile to the Church, aware of the many needs of those around him, Blessed Michael announced the victory of Christ. Today, in this place where his priestly life began, let us beg the Lord to fill us with the zeal of his servant Blessed Michael McGivney.
Little Did We Know…
On the morning of his ordination, laying on the marble floor of this Cathedral, invoking the intercession of the angels and saints, little could Blessed Michael have imagined what that Lord would call him to do. Aware as he was, from his own experience, of the hardships many of the faithful experienced, little could he have seen the creative ways the Holy Spirit would act, in and through him, to lead families to Christ, and to defend the widow and orphan in their time of need.
As you walk in this pilgrimage in the footsteps of Father McGivney, perhaps this is a moment to reflect back on your own ordination day, to recall the joy and beauty of that day. To see ourselves with the eyes we had that day, eyes looking ahead to a life of ministry that lay ahead. If we have faced challenges or grown slack in some way, perhaps we can, in remembering our ordination day, rekindle a bit of that fire that burned within our heart that morning. If we face challenges in our ministry, if we see struggles among our people, perhaps we can pray to once again approach these with a sense of newness. Above all else let us take this opportunity to think back and to express our gratitude to God for having called us to share in his priesthood, for inviting us to give our lives at the service of announcing the Good News of Salvation, and beg him for the grace to continue to live out this call faithfully, that we might imitate what we celebrate and conform our lives to the mystery of the Lord’s Cross.
May God who has begun this good work in you, bring it to fulfillment.
Vivat Jesus!