Bishop Kemme asks the Holy Spirit to inspire those attending the Red Mass

Bishop Carl A. Kemme asked the Holy Spirit to inspire, strengthen, and encourage those in the legal profession taking part in the Red Mass Thursday, Sept. 26, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita.

“Yours is often a thankless service, but one that is ever so necessary to provide stability, order, and justice in society,” he said in his homily. “We thank you for providing this service and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you along the difficult paths you must walk in order to fulfill your duties.”

After thanking those who helped organize the Mass and banquet that followed, the bishop reflected on a talk he heard by Jesuit Fr. Robert Spitzer about the role of the church to be a light in the darkness of our times and a guide to truth.

The church proclaims truth

“The church and by that, I mean the Christian faith, has a moral obligation to proclaim the truth in spite of the many voices in our society that are intent on silencing it. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the church to work for a more just society, where all are treated with dignity and all who are human are endowed with certain inalienable rights.”

Recalling a speech to members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, of which Bishop Kemme is a member, the bishop said Fr. Spitzer encouraged them “not be afraid to stand for truth and to work diligently to enact just laws as well as to work to free our society from unjust laws. For as St. Augustine once said, an unjust law is no law at all.”

The church encourages the faithful to participate in society by voting, working for the common good, and, for some, to enter into civil service, Bishop Kemme said.

“So that endowed with a thoroughly Christian worldview, the world and her societies would become more and more communities of life, liberty, and justice, reflecting God’s will for us. Far too many, it seems to me, have shrunk away from this moral responsibility and have buried their heads in the sand, living a life of complacency and disregard for others.”

Truth held in high esteem

The Vatican II document The Church in the Modern World spoke beautifully about this duty, the bishop said. “Whatever truth, goodness, and justice is to be found in past or present human institutions is held in high esteem by the Council. In addition, the Council declares that the Church is anxious to help and foster these institutions insofar as it depends on it and is compatible with its mission,” he said quoting the document.

“The church desires nothing more ardently than to develop itself untrammeled in the service of all men under any regime, which recognizes the basic rights of the person and the family and the needs of the common good. The Council exhorts Christians, as citizens of both cities, the earthly city, and the heavenly city, to perform their duties faithfully in the spirit of the Gospel.”

A daunting task

Working toward a more just society is a daunting task, Bishop Kemme said, especially when objective truth and natural law are viewed with suspicion at best and disdain at worst.

“This is why Pope Benedict so wisely and so courageously described our times as a dictatorship of relativism. To fight this dictatorship, it is our conviction that the Christian church and her faith have much to offer society, for ours is a Gospel of truth, the truth that God has bestowed upon each human being, at every stage of life, a dignity that must not be discarded or denied.

“This is why we must proclaim in season and out of season that marriage which is a substantial good for our society, as created by God, can only be between one man and one woman and that each person is created by a loving all-knowing God in his image, as male and female, he created them.”

Bishop Kemme said he prays that the Spirit of Truth and Life would flood the minds and hearts of those attending and give them courage, reorient them when temptations attack, and grant them a vision that is eternal.

St. Thomas More’s example

He closed his homily by recalling how St. Thomas More, the Lord High Chancellor of England, adhered to his faith when in 1535 at age 57, he defied King Henry VIII’s demand to sign the 1534 Oath of Succession.

“He combined an equal love for God and country, which inspired him to work for justice and truth in spite of the high cost he was forced to pay, to always speak and act according to his properly formed conscience no matter what that would cost him, all because he knew that a far greater life awaited him. If we undertake our civil duties with such clarity of vision, as he had, then we, too, will fulfill our God-given mandate to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.”

A banquet followed the Mass in Good Shepherd Hall. Former Illinois Congressman Dan Lapinski was the speaker.