Our first reading speaks to us of the necessity of being faithful to God in all areas of our lives, but we need a little background information to fully understand this lesson. The two Books of Kings in the Old Testament cover the period of history from the death of King David to the first Babylonian exile. When King David died, his son Solomon succeeded him to the throne. Solomon made the mistake of allowing some of his foreign wives to worship their foreign gods in Israel, a practice which spread and was allowed to continue with each succeeding king. God sent prophets to the kings and the people of Israel to reprimand them for worshipping false gods, and to call them back to worship of Himself, the one true God. In today’s reading, the prophet Elijah is sent by God to Ahab, the King of Israel, to warn him of an impending drought, which will signify God’s displeasure with the people for failing to heed His call to stop worshipping false gods. Elijah, who had been faithful to God, is spared the hardship of the drought, but the people will undergo this punishment as a means to turn their hearts back to God. So often God uses hardships and trials to turn our hearts back to Him when we have strayed, doesn’t He? The Israelites will never completely give up worshipping these false gods, and will eventually be conquered and sent into exile in Babylon — twice — before they truly turn back to God and He restores them to their Promised Land.

We, too, are called to give God the first place in our lives. Because we live in a fallen world and have a fallen human nature, we are continually tempted to worship something other than the living and true God: money, power, beauty, youth, pleasure or fame, to name but several. As ambassadors of Jesus Christ, we must be faithful to the Lord in all areas of our lives and put Him in the first place.

Faithfulness to God, that is, putting God in the first place in our lives, is the first step, but we need an overall philosophy to direct our path. What should that philosophy be? Our Holy Father in his Apostolic Letter on the New Millennium tells us: "It is necessary…to rediscover the full practical significance of chapter 5 of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, dedicated to the ‘universal call to holiness.’ … This objective gift of holiness is offered to all the baptized. But the gift in turn becomes a task, which must shape the whole Christian life. … [I]t might seem almost impractical to recall this elementary truth…at the start of the new millennium [but] … it would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity. … [T]his ideal of perfection must not be misunderstood as if it involved some kind of extraordinary existence, possible only for a few ‘uncommon heroes’ of holiness. The ways of holiness are many, according to the vocation of each individual" (no. 30-31).

In a word, our philosophy must be holiness. Our Gospel reading gives us a very practical guide to personal growth in holiness. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus promulgates a new way of life which flows from the new covenant that He has come to institute. The Beatitudes are revealed to us as paths to holiness and, therefore, happiness, as the very name beatitude implies. And, each path has a corresponding blessing or promise attached to it. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Yes, these beatitudes are the foundation stones and the paths that lead to a holy life. By becoming poor in spirit, merciful, desiring righteousness, keeping our hearts clean of lust, greed, and anger, by becoming peacemakers and allowing ourselves to be exposed to mockery and persecution for God’s sake, we begin to grow in our image and likeness to God, and, thereby, we grow in holiness.

As members of Legatus, you are voluntarily choosing to hold yourselves to a higher standard than you have before. Our Holy Father encourages this growth in holiness through "a genuine ‘training in holiness’, adapted to people’s needs and through groups who mutually support one another in this ongoing training in holiness" (Tertio Millennio Ineunte, 31). Indeed, you are seeking to live your lives more radically for Christ through associating with other like-minded professionals and their spouses in this organization. God has blessed each of you with a special gift. Many of you are very successful businessmen and women, possessing gifts and talents you have received from God and cultivated through His grace. You have profited financially, and have used that wealth to help the less fortunate, to help the Church fulfill her mission and to help the next generation learn to succeed as well. You now seek to take those gifts and talents given to you by God to the next level; you wish to use them in order to become holy and to further His Kingdom here on earth. This, indeed, is very admirable and a sign that the Holy Spirit is working within you.

As you charter the Arlington Chapter of Legatus, I wish to suggest that you take the words of our Holy Father Pope John Paul II as your mission and motto: "Duc in altum! Set out into the deep!" You are called not only to seek personal holiness, but also to fulfill your baptismal commission to build the Kingdom of heaven on earth through preaching Christ and Him crucified. You are Legati Christi — Ambassadors of Christ. May this chapter always be characterized by men and women who put God first in their lives, by personal holiness in each of your members, and by the spirit of evangelization to "Set out into the deep for a catch." You are ambassadors of Christ, you are fishers of men and women, you are lights to the world, you are Christians. What a gift! What a treasure! What a grace! What a responsibility!

I echo the words of our Holy Father in his address to the members of Legatus when he said: "The world needs genuine witnesses to Christian ethics in the field of business, and the Church asks you to fulfill this role publicly and with perseverance." My prayer is that you will fulfill this commission here in the Diocese of Arlington and in the greater Washington area with fidelity and joy.