As many of you know, Pope Francis inaugurated a new jubilee year in the Catholic Church on the Feast of the Holy Family, this past December. The Basilica of Saint Mary was honored to have Archbishop Hebda at The Basilica to open this jubilee year in our local archdiocese. Archbishop Hebda spoke about the goodness, mercy, and reconciling love of of God. The jubilee year is a time for renewal and restoration, not only in our archdiocese, but also at The Basilica of Saint Mary. Our efforts toward the restoration of our historic church are also aimed at the renewal of our parish community, so that we may faithfully and confidently announce the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please consult our schedule for our hope series at The Basilica which accompanies our jubilee year.
The theme for the jubilee year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” This theme communicates that we are on a journey – the people of God, the Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and The Basilica of Saint Mary. We are disciples, called and formed by Jesus to be a light and leaven in the world. Our witness is so important today! Rather than capitulate to the modern trends toward utilitarianism and libertarianism, we must hold fast to enduring values and principles: all people have dignity and value, the ends do not always justify the means, Christians are called to be people of justice and peace, we are called to embrace and inaugurate the Kingdom of God – as Luke exhorts today.
Many years ago I met a man named Tom Johnson. Tom was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes and we became close friends during my pastorate at Lourdes. Tom was raised in Northern Minnesota and his mother once lamented that she named him Thomas, as in “Doubting Thomas.” Tom decided to not be confirmed in the Lutheran church as a young man – as he was concerned about the gap between religious leaders who proclaimed one thing and lived another. At 69, Tom decided to become Catholic and pointed to Pope Francis as a religious leader who was authentic and manifested a genuine and compassionate care for the poor and marginalized. As some of you may recognize, Tom was the three-term county attorney of Hennepin County. He was a gem of a man, and I miss him dearly.
The psalm for this Sunday is the psalm 1 – “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.” Tom and others who I have known, those who have gone before us in the Lord, were Christians of hope. While they lamented the gap between how we are called to live as Christians and how we actually live, Tom and others before us, never gave up hope. Our hope is never in ourselves but always in the God who made heaven and earth, the God who sustains and guides us. People of hope, and I hope am counted among them, are the ones who will lead us into the future – as a Church, as a nation, and as one humanity desiring goodness and fulfillment.
My hope for The Basilica in the coming weeks and months ahead, is that we would be rooted in the virtue of hope – not in ourselves – but hope in the Lord who made us, redeemed us, and calls us to salvation. Our hope is in the Lord who made heaven and earth and died so that we might live. We are called in this age to be pilgrims of hope – this is the place where we can be a leaven and a light for a nation and world in need.