It is a pleasure and an honor to be able to add to the words of greeting of Cardinal McCarrick, my own personal recognition to all of the dignitaries who have gathered to pray with us this Sunday morning. You are here, as are we all, to invoke God’s blessings upon all those responsible for the administration of justice and upon all our public officials. In doing so, we are recognizing that the exercise of civic authority, the responsibility for the well-being of our citizens, and often of many who are not our citizens, is not merely a work of our own human resources. Rather, it is a cooperative venture with the plan and the will of God Himself.

   Everyone who holds a title of civil office is not simply the beneficiary of honor or privilege, although that may accompany the office. More importantly, they carry the responsibility to exercise wisely, fairly, and in a personally disinterested fashion the call for justice and solidarity that God intends for us during our lives on this earth. Indeed, Christ Himself, in His hour of trial reminded His earthly judge that the power, which was given to be exercised over Him, had been given by Heaven itself. For that reason, it is indeed good that we gather at this year's Red Mass to offer our prayers that God give to every civic and public official the wisdom to recognize His influence in their lives and the grace to carry out well the obligations they have accepted.

   The Second Vatican Council, which is one of the essential guides for our Catholic thought at this turn of the millennium, has reminded us to "read the signs of the times" (GS, 4) so that we might seek to carry out God's plan in the circumstances in which we find ourselves. As we read the signs of our times, we cannot fail to see how demanding they are, to us as individuals and to those who lead us. In fact, in our time these signs have raised questions about our leadership itself, in many aspects of society. 

   We are all living daily with the memory of 9/11 as well as with the future responses to that attack. Questions are rightly raised about changes in our personal lives, and about how to react as a people in a manner that is just and moral. We continue, almost on a daily basis, to read the signs about leadership in business and our Country's economy. What is the meaning of the failures of leadership summed up by names like Enron and WorldCom? And I would be injudicious if I did not mention the doubts about leadership that have arisen in our country as a result of the sex abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church in the United States in recent months, and the terrible personal suffering which it has exposed. From a certain point of view, many of the signs of this time in which we live seem to be those of darkness, like endless clouds from storms that seem unwilling to pass. 

   But we cannot allow matters to remain that way. It is neither our history as Americans, nor our nature as men and women of faith, to give in to pessimism or resignation, somehow burying our heads in the sand, wringing our hands, or doubting the power of God to guide us as we respond to the world in which we live.  Because we are people of faith, we must also live as people of hope. We trust that God is not somehow looking away but even in our difficult moments, He is the reason we look confidently to the future. 

   Do not the signs of this time call for us proudly to acknowledge our roots in faith and to renew our commitment to God in a moment of trial? Moreover, in so doing, we fulfill not only our own personal quest for faith, but we are consistent with the very values upon which this beloved nation was founded. In fact, from the very beginning of our democratic experiment, it was understood that justice, morality and good governance, indeed the essence of leadership, are not the arbitrary re-creations of each generation. Rather they are based in the will of God Himself. 

   George Washington, in his farewell address, described his Presidency as a time of "passions, agitated in every direction, ... liable to mislead; … appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, [and] situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism". Yet following this somber description, which could easily be applied to our own day, Washington observed that in leading the nation through these obstacles, his path had been lighted by the twin torches of religious faith and moral convictions stating: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. ... Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of ... justice?" 

   Our first great President continued, "And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education, … reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." 

   It is the world's experience that true greatness in leadership, be it religious or secular, is a rare commodity. The combination of spirit, intellect, courage and the gift of being able to motivate fellow travelers in this world are often diminished by sin and the human limitations that each of us knows only too well, both in ourselves and in others. 

   It is for that reason that we are gathered here today, and gathered in hope as we pray for our public officials and administrators of justice. We do so at this Mass in which we call upon the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God Himself, and we ask that that Spirit be given to those entrusted with our welfare to strengthen them, purify their vision and guide them. Moreover, that Holy Spirit is ready to help us both to understand and to respond to the signs of our times. 

   As Isaiah tells us in the reading this morning, this Spirit of the Lord is "a spirit of wisdom and understanding". He therefore assists those who must wrestle with the most complex and conflicting legal arguments and proofs, helping them not to be misled by what is superficial, beguiling or false. Isaiah tells us that this is "a spirit of counsel and of strength", guiding the vision of legislators and administrators to look to the greater good, not responsive merely to momentary influences or transient majorities, but seeking to make us a people in solidarity, brought together by the values and the bonds of truth which God has written on the heart of each one of us. This is, as Isaiah says, "a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord." And that Spirit "shall judge the poor with justice and decide aright for the land's afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked." 

   We must not forget that the Spirit of the Lord for whose presence we pray this morning, that same Spirit, was given to Christ, as we read in the Gospel. And that Spirit brings about a special care, attention and love for those who are in need among us. Christ told His listeners that in their hearing was fulfilled His anointing with the Spirit, so that He might "bring glad tidings to the poor ... proclaim liberty to captives ... recovery of sight to the blind ... and let the oppressed go free".  Obviously no small agenda, but it is one that we too must embrace as part of the work of our time.  And we should not be bashful in proclaiming from the housetops, that in many places, and under many circumstances, it is precisely churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, in short it is religious faith, that has answered the cry of those who are most in need. 

   While there is much more still to do, we can be justly proud of the way religion has shaped our response as individuals and as a society in the United States when confronting the needs of the poor. We also know of the importance of members of different religions developing deeper respect for one another, so as to collaborate in shaping the common good. And as President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, while apologizing once more for the cleansing needed within our own house, I would argue most powerfully that those scandals must not silence nor limit the excellent influence that religious voices have in the formation of our governmental and societal policies, whether they be war and peace, the death penalty, stem cell research or questions of poverty. The truth that underlies faith is not diminished because its messengers are human beings with all their faults and failings.  The miracle of faith is that truth is proclaimed in spite of ourselves. 

   All too often in recent years, it has been a sign of our time that some urge that the role of religion in public life be marginalized and even suppressed. And too frequently, men and women of faith have not challenged the assertion that religion is a strictly private matter and that faith in God, and its accompanying moral and social values, have no role to play in our national life. We are even told that our children should not utter God's name when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, as if that would do them harm or make them less fully Americans. Instead of accepting this claim, our faith in God leads us to another conclusion. As we face the signs of our times -- the moral decline in society, the threats against life both from abroad and from within, and the lack of trust in our leaders -- we recognize that this time, our time, is a time for religious renewal. It is a time for us to recover our sense of God, of the sacredness of human life and of doing what is right, whatever the cost and whatever the circumstance. It is a time for us to be not more reticent, but more courageous in professing our faith in God and acting upon it. 

   Pope John Paul II, the outstanding religious and moral leader in the world today, had this to say to visiting Bishops from the United States in 1998, "The survival of a ... democracy depends not only on its institutions, but to an even greater extent on the spirit which inspires and permeates its procedures for legislating, administering, and judging. The future of democracy, in fact, depends on a culture capable of forming men and women who are prepared to defend certain truths and values. It is imperiled when politics and law are sundered from any connection to the moral law written on the human heart." (Address of Pope John Paul II to the Bishops of Region X, June 27, 1998). 

   In gathering today and offering Mass to invoke the Holy Spirit upon those public servants who bear responsibility for the health and well being of our nation, we are inspired by St. Paul who told Timothy that he urged "supplications, prayer, intercessions and thanksgivings for kings and all who are in high positions so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity" (I Tim. 2:1). In doing so, let us highlight one thing more: our gratitude. 

   The burden of public service, when rightly lived, is indeed a heavy burden. Not all agree to take it up. We need to pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance for our judges, administrators and governmental officials. But as well, we must pray in gratitude for those who have given a life of service to us. That service is a sacred trust and no small contribution to our ability to live the quiet and peaceable life that St. Paul mentioned.