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We stand on holy ground because the soil is soaked by the blood of martyrs, including that of St. Peter, those who witnessed to Christ with their very lives during the persecution of the Emperor Nero.

We find ourselves today in an ancient structure, a surviving portion of the old St. Peter’s most of which was taken down in 1505 to make way for the present Basilica, in my world view, the “new” St. Peter’s!

We’ve gathered in this chapel named for Pope Clement VII, among the most sacred places in this Basilica, positioned as it is so close to the relics of St. Peter.

On this Feast of the Epiphany, let us rejoice as the light of Christ, shining in our midst, lights the way to a future full of hope for St. Ignatius Parish, for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and for the Church throughout the world.

As you discern God’s will prayerfully, particularly regarding the possibility of a priestly vocation, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and on the beauty of God’s inner life and love revealed at his Baptism.

The Feast of the Holy Family celebrates a wonderful mystery. It celebrates the fact that the Son of God really did become one of us, except for sin.

Mary and Joseph’s unique vocation was to form the humanity the Son of God assumed, to prepare him for the mission for which his Heavenly Father sent him, a mission that Mary and Joseph, at the time, could not have fully comprehended.

One way to discover Mary’s love for us is to pray the Rosary regularly.

Let us, then, humbly ask to see how God is working in and through situations we face in our world, in our nation, in our Church, and in our personal lives – whether it is interior darkness, or the conflicts and violence that threaten us, or illness and death, or material and spiritual poverty, or struggles with our faith.

In today’s Gospel, we see how the plans of the Divine Architect unfold. See how the Angel comes ‘to the Virgin Mary betrothed to a man name Joseph of the House of David.

I know you are indeed seeking to travel through the hill country, not merely to get a job done but in the power of the Holy Spirit, to create a culture of encounter, dialog, and cooperation – all in the service of the Church’s mission of evangelization.