Cardinal Levada addresses KofC
PHOENIX (CNS) -- U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called upon the Knights of Columbus Aug. 5 to bear witness to the necessity of God in an increasingly secular America.
"Our nation has been blessed with many gifts and resources, and at times that abundance can blind people to our utter dependence on God and the need to seek to do his will," Cardinal Levada said during a homily at the Knights' 127th annual supreme convention.
More than 80 bishops as well as delegates and their families from around world were attending the Aug. 4-6 convention in Phoenix.
The congregation for the Aug. 5 Mass numbered 2,000, and the evening before 2,200 people attended the States Dinner, where Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, delivered the keynote address.
In his homily Cardinal Levada encouraged his listeners to work with all people of good will "to improve the lots of others," and he exhorted them never to lose their Christian character.
"We must also bear witness to our conviction that the American 'city set on a hill,' no matter how remarkable its scientific accomplishments or technological advances, will always be a barren patch of earth without the life-giving refreshment of the word of God," he said.
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, was the principal celebrant at the morning Mass, which was concelebrated by scores of bishops and priests.
During his homily, Cardinal Levada recognized that the Mass fell on the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
The cardinal told the congregation that in years past the feast was known as the Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of Snows because of a medieval legend that during a Roman summer snow fell and outlined the land where Mary wished her basilica to be built.
In juxtaposition to this historical fable, the cardinal said, the real circumstances behind the existing basilica's founding still have great bearing on Catholics today.
The church was built immediately after the Council of Ephesus in 431. That council "marked a significant milestone in the development of our understanding of who Jesus Christ is," the cardinal said.
At Ephesus, the church approved the title "Mother of God" for Mary, and in doing so made a statement about her son, Jesus.
"The title 'Mother of God' may seem paradoxical, but it is orthodox: paradoxical, because Mary as a creature could not be the mother of God as God," he said. "Orthodox, because to say that Jesus was truly born of Mary and is the eternal son of God effectively proclaims that he is fully human and fully divine," the cardinal said.
He then linked Mary's own cooperation with God to the Knights' calling throughout the world.
"All Christians are called to give over their lives to Christ, to allow him to live through them," Cardinal Levada said.
On Aug. 4 in his keynote address, Cardinal George spoke about Pope Benedict XVI's social encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate" ("Charity in Truth"), and the obligations of all Catholics to practice charity in their personal relationships and in the public sphere.
He said the pope warned against splitting the church's teaching into social questions and moral obligations.
"A main theme of the encyclical is that there is one Catholic teaching which combines the church's moral and social doctrine together with our protection of human life and dignity, the defense of marriage and the family, the protection of the poor, the pursuit of economic justice and the practice of solidarity," the cardinal said.
Observing that the "church's unity today is severely strained," he thanked the Knights for their unwavering support of the pope, bishops and clergy, and asked them to continue to pray for the members of the hierarchy in their efforts, with laypeople, to build a culture of life and a civilization of love.
By Andrew Junker
Catholic News Service
