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Pope Francis often says that ours is a God of surprises … but if we imagine failure to be inevitable, we make it harder for God to sneak up on us.

Celebrating the feast day of the Apostles Simon and Jude brings us back to that hour when Jesus founded his Church – by his preaching and miracles, by forming disciples and choosing Apostles, by his death and resurrection, and by sending the Spirit upon the Apostles and the Virgin Mary at Pentecost.

Our investiture weekend takes place against the backdrop of the heartbreaking violence and terrorism in the Holy Land. We mourn for those who lost their lives and for those held hostage, and with Pope Francis and the Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pizzaballa, we have observed a day of prayer for peace in the Middle East.

It is a pleasure to be with all of you this morning here at the Church of the Nativity for our annual Pastoral Staff Day.

It is a pleasure to offer Mass with you this evening here in the heart of America’s First Cathedral, our beloved Basilica.

Anniversaries are important to married couples, to priests and religious, to dioceses, and indeed to parish families like St. Ann’s, and I am delighted to take part in your 150th anniversary.

Gathered in convocation, as we renew the promises made on ordination day, let us take heart from faith of those who have gone before us, let us find our joy in the Person of Christ whose heralds we are, and then let us engage those around us with gentle but persistent persuasion, not so much by what we say but especially by what we do, especially by an unfailing charity that bears witness to the One who definitely revealed the God who is love.