Laetare Sunday, “Rejoice Sunday!”

Homily, 4th Sunday of Lent

Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Rome

March 10, 2013

His Eminence Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan
Today is Laetare Sunday, “Rejoice Sunday!”

This is appropriate because I rejoice to be with all of you here at my titular parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Don Mammoli, brother priests, dear sisters, beloved parishioners, guests: thank you for your warm welcome. I always feel very much at home here.

After St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, this is my favorite church! Please do not tell my people in New York I said that!

Here I am not the Archbishop of New York; here I am not a cardinal; here I am a parish priest, like I wanted to be since my first Holy Communion.

And, of course, it is as a pastor of a parish in Rome, even if only honorary, that I am here to elect a new Bishop of Rome, a new Pope.

We Cardinals feel the support of the prayers of God’s People all over the world. This also makes us rejoice.

We Catholics are really all Romans;

We are God’s children;

We are like the man in today’s Gospel who is always welcome in our father’s house;

We are all redeemed by God’s Son, Jesus, who wants us to live forever in our heavenly Father’s home;

We all look to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as our own spiritual mother, and she assured St. Juan Diego at Guadalupe.

We all look to the Church as our mother, too.

No wonder we rejoice.