HOMILY
Opening of the Papal Conclave
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Isaiah 61:1-3a; John 15:9-17
Welcome to our cathedral for this noon time celebration of the Holy Eucharist – a tradition that we have maintained in this sacred space for at least half a century. … Some of you have been coming to this mass for all those years and more. … Others typically join us from your homes thanks to Catholic Television. … And still others have made an effort to be with us this day as we pray for the cardinals of the Holy Catholic Church who, at this very hour in Rome, have begun the sacred task of electing a successor of Saint Peter as our new Pope.
For as familiar as this moment is for most of us, today this Mass assumes a special significance as we reflect upon our place in the universal Catholic Church.
First and foremost, this celebration reminds us of who we are as Catholic Christians. My presence here today as the Bishop of Scranton is not merely to add an element of solemnity to this occasion. No. My presence links us to all the People of God who are a part of over one hundred parishes in the eleven counties of this local Church.
But it also binds us to the broader, world-wide Church – to the college of Bishops – and ultimately to the Bishop of Rome, who stands on the shoulders of countless successors of the Apostles and ultimately Peter himself – who was called by Jesus our Savior to be his instrument in building the Church and proclaiming its message of life and salvation to all. … You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it.
Brothers and sisters, no matter how fiercely independent we may be, we are not an island unto ourselves. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are all brothers and sisters united under the leadership of the Vicar of Christ and successor of Saint Peter.
We belong to a vast community, linking us to the past and the present. Through the mystery and power of God, we are a part of the communion of saints, the saints of this world and the next. We are bound to every soul who has ever been a part of the Church throughout its existence for two millennia. We are bound to our mothers and fathers, to grandparents and great-grandparents, to every heart filled with hope that ever prayed as we do this day. We are bound together because of the Eucharist that we celebrate on this altar and because of the words of faith that we proclaim in its presence: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”
And so, as members of the Body of Christ and with great hope in the power of his resurrection – a hope that permeates this Jubilee Year proclaimed by our late Holy Father, Pope Francis – we pray that the Holy Spirit – the living God – may pour forth wisdom and courage into the hearts of the cardinal-electors who have been set apart to call forth from their midst a new successor of Saint Peter.
As they turn to our God in prayer – as we do at this hour – may they be mindful in their deliberations of the great commandment proclaimed by Jesus in today’s gospel, specially chosen by the Church for the election of a new Pope.
Love one another as I love you. … Not a suggestion – but a command given by the Savior himself – with no qualifications, conditions or limitations. Love one another – even the mean-spirited, the petulant, the ungrateful, the unreasonable, the lives that are different than our own and those lives that live, as Pope Francis so often reminded us, on the margins of our world. Love as we have been loved and bring healing and peace to our world.
This command, brothers and sisters, is given to each of us. We pray that as we feebly seek to make it our own, the one who will be called forth by God in these sacred days to lead our Church will open his heart to power of Holy Spirit. May he, in turn, be for us a firm foundation for the unity of God’s people, a messenger of the truth of the gospel and a vehicle of God’s mercy, forgiveness and peace.