“Walk with Those on the Margins”

Judges, attorneys, and paralegals gathered at St. Patrick’s to celebrate the Red Mass, a tradition dating back to the 13th century. Always at the beginning of a new judicial year, all those working in the field would celebrate a Mass and pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance in the decisions that needed to be made. 

“This year, it seems that the world is imploding,” Bishop Mulvey started his homily. With wars and violence everywhere, and migrants looking for safety, it seems that we live in a difficult time. Yet it is also the Jubilee Year of Hope, and God is asking us to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you( (Mt 7:12). The first Jubilee Year was celebrated by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300: “It was a time of great suffering – war, diseases like the plague were raging, but it was a year of grace and forgiveness, inviting people to return to God.”

Every time we celebrate Mass, God expresses His Love for us: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (Jn 3:16), “and in each Mass, we bring this to life.” God cannot not love, the bishop continued. A Spanish mystic once said, “Where there is no love, put love and you will find love.” This means, in the field of justice, giving the accused a chance to be heard and the victims a chance to speak. 

Jesus showed a Christian attitude in the bible, when they brought a woman caught in adultery to him: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7). “Today, society and social media want us to cast guilt, they portray an improper sense of justice,” explained Bishop Mulvey. However, Jesus treated Zacchaeus, the tax collector, with love. He went to his house, and this led to Zacchaeus’ change of heart: “Walk with those on the margins, the poor, the unwelcomed … do we approach each one of them as a brother or a sister? God loves each one of them.” 

The bishop recalled his last visit to the McConnell Unit in Beeville, where he met a young man, 23 years old, who was sentenced to 66 years in prison, “And yet he had hope, because he found a community of faith in prison.” The Beatitudes, as read previously in the Gospel of Matthew, can offer guidance: “Peace is possible, forgiveness is possible, mercy is possible, if we believe.” He thanked the judges and all those working in the legal profession for their service to the community. 

After Mass, everyone gathered in the parish hall for a reception to deepen connections.