Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 291

the unity of the Father, the Son and the Spirit'',2 is called to proclaim the gift

of life, to serve life, and to promote a culture of life. Here in this cathedral,

our thoughts turn naturally to the heroic witness to the Gospel of life borne

by the late Cardinals Cooke and O'Connor. The proclamation of life, life in

abundance, must be the heart of the new evangelization. For true life - our

salvation - can only be found in the reconciliation, freedom and love which

are God's gracious gift.

This is the message of hope we are called to proclaim and embody in a

world where self-centeredness, greed, violence, and cynicism so often seem to

choke the fragile growth of grace in people's hearts. Saint Irenaeus, with

great insight, understood that the command which Moses enjoined upon

the people of Israel: ''Choose life!'' 3 was the ultimate reason for our obedience

to all God's commandments.4 Perhaps we have lost sight of this: in a society

where the Church seems legalistic and ''institutional'' to many people, our

most urgent challenge is to communicate the joy born of faith and the ex-

perience of God's love.

I am particularly happy that we have gathered in Saint Patrick's Cathe-

dral. Perhaps more than any other church in the United States, this place is

known and loved as ''a house of prayer for all peoples''.5 Each day thousands

of men, women and children enter its doors and find peace within its walls.

Archbishop John Hughes, who - as Cardinal Egan has reminded us - was

responsible for building this venerable edifice, wished it to rise in pure Gothic

style. He wanted this cathedral to remind the young Church in America of

the great spiritual tradition to which it was heir, and to inspire it to bring the

best of that heritage to the building up of Christ's body in this land. I would

like to draw your attention to a few aspects of this beautiful structure which

I think can serve as a starting point for a reflection on our particular voca-

tions within the unity of the Mystical Body.

The first has to do with the stained glass windows, which flood the inter-

ior with mystic light. From the outside, those windows are dark, heavy, even

dreary. But once one enters the church, they suddenly come alive; reflecting

the light passing through them, they reveal all their splendor. Many writers

2 Cf. Lumen Gentium, 4. 3 Dt 30:19. 4 Cf. Adv. Haer. IV, 16, 2-5. 5 Cf. Is 56:7; Mk 11:17.