You can always count on Francis Cardinal George, OMI, to speak the truth. He is always very clear, always on target when looking at the American cultural situation. On September 30, 2012, he celebrate a votive Mass of the Holy Spirit and delivered a homily for the annual Red Mass, at which he said, "There are times the law is a a cause of scandal." The following paragraphs give a sense of what the Cardinal said. The rest of the homily may be read here.
What is left now to our common life is whatever a legislative majority or the often-manipulated whims of popular majority opinion will tolerate. That is no longer a classical Constitutional legal order. The law has betrayed its own vocation.
The crisis of law today shows the need to go beyond positive law to ask: What does it mean to be a human person? What difference does it make if one believes he has created himself on his own or is, in fact, a creature of God? What does it mean to be a conscientious lawyer, given the state of American civil law today? For the first two questions, the church can be of help. For the last question, I am sure you are of help to one another.
Today, at this Red Mass, let me say only what Scripture brings to us: welcome the good, no matter its source; recognize evil, no matter the actor; and avoid the scandal that comes from betraying relationships that are not only legal but also human and, therefore, sacred. With all my heart, I thank you for your dedicated and conscientious service. May God bless you, your families and friends and co-workers in the service of the law.
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