Archbishop Bernard Hebda gave the following homily Sept. 15 at the Holy Hour for Reparation and Prayers for Healing at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
In my almost three decades of priestly ministry and six decades of life experience, there have been many times when the grief and emotion have been so great, so raw, that words seemed meaningless, when presence has seemed more important than eloquence, when the old familiar prayers and symbols of our faith have spoken to the heart, penetrated the heart, in a way that logic could not.
My fallback, indeed the Church’s fallback, has always been Mary. There’s something primordial, instinctive, in turning to our mother for protection, for a little TLC, in those moments of pain. Having stood at the foot of her son’s cross, there’s nothing that she cannot bear, no pain too great to share. She’s right at home in the trenches, or as the hurricane comes barreling in, or in a cathedral filled with sons and daughters who are angry, devastated, confused and ashamed.
Click here to read the homily in its entirety.