Members of Arizona’s legal community, including attorneys, judges, public officials and others within the profession, joined Bishop John Dolan, Bishop emeritus Thomas Olmsted and Diocese of Phoenix Vicar General Fr. John Muir to pray for God’s strength and guidance as the state embarks on a new legislative year during the annual Red Mass, which took place Jan. 14 at St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix.
This year marked the 55th time the diocese has hosted the Mass in collaboration with the St. Thomas More Society, an organization of Catholic attorneys and legal professionals who seek to inspire and strengthen the faith of the Maricopa County legal community.
The rite also coincided with the early weeks of the Catholic Church’s ordinary Jubilee, declared by Pope Francis for 2025. Held every 25 years, the ordinary Jubilee is a special year celebrated by the Church and marked by forgiveness of sin, conversion and joyful activity. Instituted by Pope Boniface in 1300, the Jubilee’s roots are an Old Testament instruction from God to the Israelites in which they were to free slaves, return property to their original owners and forgive debts. Its details are spelled out in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 25.
The year also coincides with the launch of Bishop Dolan’s sweeping seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization, TILMA, whose first 365 days carry the theme “Year of Hope” in line with Pope Francis’ 2025 Jubilee themes, “pilgrims of hope” and “hope does not disappoint.”
“It is a time for us to recognize the power and the gift of the Holy Spirit, who draws us together and who bestows upon us wisdom and knowledge as we go forth into the new year,” Bishop Dolan said as he welcomed the congregation.
One of God’s ‘Greatest Gifts’
“As lawyers, judges, politicians and members of the legal community we are so often called to help those who are hopeless,” St. Thomas More Society President Andrew Leshko said prior to the opening procession. “We are entrusted with power and authority to fight for and to facilitate their access to justice, and it is in our pursuit of justice that we can help bring hope to those in our community.”
Leshko then noted everyone present was fulfilling one of the primary Jubilee activities called for by the pope and promoted by the bishop, who earlier had named the basilica on Monroe Street one of six Jubilee pilgrimage sites within the 44,000-square-mile diocese.
“You may not have known it, but simply by coming tonight to the basilica, you are all on pilgrimage for this Jubilee, and the graces that come from this visit are available to all,” Leshko said.
As a votive Mass, the celebrant and his concelebrants, which also Fr. Chris Frasier, the diocese’s Judicial Vicar, among others, were vested in red, the liturgical color associated with the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit was a prominent theme within Fr. Muir’s homily.
“We gather here to celebrate and invoke the Holy Spirit upon, especially so many of you here tonight,” he said, calling members of the profession “stewards of one of God’s greatest gifts: the Law.”
“Thank you for your work, year in and year out. Thank you for your presence tonight with your busy schedules,” Fr. Muir continued.
A Pivotal Intersection
“We ask God tonight for the grace for you and all of us that we might see what you do as a sacred mission, a way to bring about God’s mercy and His justice wrapped in His mercy,” continued Fr. Muir.
“As workers in the legal profession, you’re always at the intersection of human conflict and divine grace. So, you’re uniquely blessed to make this hope tangible when you encounter our brothers and sisters in those places.”
Ensuring that justice is not a transaction, Fr. Muir said, but a reflection of God in the community takes a “heart of flesh,” referring to the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel’s words in the evening’s first reading.
“I’m sure it’s tempting at times, when you’re crushed by the sheer weight of cases, by pressures, deadline, public opinion, that it’s tempting to rely on rigid interpretations, but remember, tonight, you pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out afresh on all of us, and in a special way on you – to write the law on our hearts; hearts infused with the Spirit, who sees the technicalities, but can see through [them]; to see people.”
The words resonated with worshippers.
“We need to pray for one another as attorneys not just to do the ethical thing, but our faith calls us to a higher standard…in discerning the Lord’s will as we navigate through [our] daily challenges,” Leshko said outside a reception in the Diocesan Pastoral Center in downtown Phoenix following Mass.
“There can be occasions where the positive law on the books doesn’t reflect God’s law, and in those situations, we have to choose the right path. That could involve declining to represent a client or pursue certain lines of argument,” said Leshko, who practices commercial law.
“There are quite a lot of issues facing us whether in legal world or everyday world,” said attorney, St. Thomas More Society board member and St. Francis Xavier parishioner, Christina Estes-Werther. “God’s presence is always there for us. So, whatever we’re doing – in our daily life or legal work – just knowing we’re not alone…helps us maintain that hope,” she said.
‘Never Lose Hope’
While this is a year of joy, the Jubilee also offers those in the legal community an opportunity to reflect on their work and whether it measures up to the principles articulated by Fr. Muir and a Catholic’s role in producing good law, said Arizona state Supreme Court Justice William G. Montgomery.
“Justice without mercy is tyranny. Mercy without justice is indifference. So, the Jubilee Year that calls Catholics to consider the role that the law plays within our society is an opportunity to reflect on just what that is,” Montgomery said outside the reception.
“Good law is law that properly regulates or governs our relationships between one another, between ourselves and the community, and how our overall community is organized. And, to the extent that we’re able to ensure that our laws are just and we’re able to fulfill our individual calling and vocation within community, I would say that we probably achieve both what it is to enforce just laws and what it is to be good Catholics in a community.”
Arizona state Rep. Neal Carter, the House Speaker Pro Tempore, said the Jubilee Year is a reminder to his colleagues of faith, “that we should occasionally put down our pen and reflect as Christians that we have the Lord, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ and be thankful for that.”
Ron Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Catholic Conference – the public policy respresentative for the Dioceses of Gallup, Phoenix and Tucson and the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix – reflected on the richness, the joy and the love of Fr. Muir’s message and the Jubilee Year.
Noting Arizona voters easily approved measures last November significantly expanding legal access to abortion and making it much easier to arrest and deport anyone who comes into the state illegally, Johnson said the measures were directly at odds with the conference’s bishops.
“We had some serious setbacks on the ballot,” he said. “I just want to encourage people, even though it may seem dark, at times, in politics, God is always there. Never lose hope. We know who wins in the end.”
Feature Photo by Jeff Grant
