A grateful diaconal bow to Washington media vet (and all around great gal) Susan Gibbs for alerting me to this.
It’s believed this is the first time a deacon has preached at this historic Mass in the nation’s capital, an annual event that brings together members of the Supreme Court and Congress to mark the beginning of the Supreme Court term.
From The Washington Post:
At Sunday’s mass, Roberts, Kavanaugh and Barrett sat in the first row, a few feet from an inscription marking the spot where President John F. Kennedy’s casket rested during his funeral 61 years ago.
This year’s service occurred less than a month before a divided electorate chooses the country’s next president and as the docket for the Supreme Court’s new term, beginning Monday, includes cases over polarizing issues such as transgender rights, gun rights and the death penalty.
The country’s divisions were not explicitly addressed during Sunday’s service, which included hymns and bible readings. Yet in the homily, Deacon Darryl A. Kelley urged worshipers to unify and hear each other, saying that “history shows that our failure to listen makes things worse.”
“One of the blessings of our legal profession is our community, friendly collegiality in our diversity and the ability and wisdom to resolve disputes peacefully with civil discourse,” said Kelley, a former Maryland delegate from Prince George’s County and the first deacon asked to deliver the homily at the Red Mass. “We understand that just because we’re adversaries in the courtroom, we need not be adversaries in life.”
If that message seemed a touch aspirational in today’s political climate, it struck some in the audience as an important ideal as Americans navigate the last few weeks of a turbulent presidential campaign.
“If the only voice is one of divisiveness, then that’s what wins the day,” said Joe Fraundorfer, an engineer who traveled from Bethesda for the service. The mass, he said, “is a call for more reason, more gentility. It’s important that we have more voices calling for us to get along.”
