Daily Mass on Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

May 30, 2025

Dear friends, today you, legal professionals and activists, gather here not merely as practitioners of statutes and case law, but as witnesses to a divine invitation: “Do not be silent, for I am with you.” In your work – drafting petitions, advocating in courtrooms, adjudicating status – you bring forth solutions that breathe new hope into the lives of families adrift. Legal remedies are much more than technical victories; they are litanies of liberation that restore dignity to those longing for safety.

We recall Saint Paul’s own trials in Corinth, where hostile courts and an indifferent society threatened to silence his message. Yet, strengthened by the Lord’s reassurance – “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking” – he persevered. So, too, in your daily toil, when deadlines loom and systems feel unyielding, Christ whispers to our hearts: “Do not be afraid. Go on… for I am with you” (Acts). This promise transforms every brief, every motion, into an act of grace.

The legal profession demands more than acumen: it calls for social solidarity. For those of us who possess faith, social work becomes a portal to transcendence. When you assist a terrified mother seeking asylum, when you educate a separated child about their rights, you become instruments of God’s mercy. In each interview or client meeting, you stand at the crossroads of justice and compassion, sowing seeds of hope that blossom in new communities.

But there is yet a nobler dimension to your calling. When your work is executed not only with skill and human compassion, but out of love for God and neighbor, it echoes the mystery of the Incarnation. Christ entered our world in vulnerability so that the human might be divinized. Likewise, every case you take on with selfless dedication becomes a living sign: the truth of the Gospel made flesh in corridors of power and courtrooms.

Yes, there will be moments of sorrow – lost appeals, bureaucratic delays, and the heartache of families still waiting. Yet, just as the labor pains of the world yield the joy of new life, so too your struggles bear fruit. Jesus promised that sorrow would turn to joy (Jn), and that no authority could strip away the joy planted in our hearts by His abiding presence.

Dear friends, thank you for witnessing to a duty that belongs to all. As Pope Leo has said, “no one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person, especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.” Continue to labor with excellence, fortified by prayer and camaraderie. Commit your skills to the service of the vulnerable, knowing that each legal victory is a testament to divine love. In doing so, you become Samaritans of hope, heralding a living Gospel in the courts of our time.

May your work always shine, transforming the human into the divine. And may Our Lady of Guadalupe help us to never grow silent, for her Son Jesus walks with us until the end of the age, hidden in the flesh of the vulnerable.