By Jay Sorgi • Posted November 13, 2025

Catholic lawyers throughout Philadelphia experienced an annual tradition of faith that had not been available to them in person since the COVID-19 pandemic, until Thursday, Oct. 30.

About 100 people, many wearing red, which is a color often associated with the Holy Spirit, gathered at St. John the Evangelist Church near City Hall in Philadelphia for the normally annual Red Mass hosted by the St. Thomas More Society of Philadelphia.

“The Red Mass is a traditional way to begin the court year and to ask the Holy Spirit to bless and intervene, to inspire judges and lawyers to work for justice,” said Mike Broadhurst of the society.

The readings for the Mass reflected the movement of the Holy Spirit, calling the lawyers and everyone assembled to discern God’s will for their lives and their professions.

“The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings,” St. Paul wrote in his Letter to the Romans, proclaimed in the second reading by attorney James Dellafiora.

“The one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.”

The Red Mass traditionally has been celebrated at the beginning of the judicial calendar, typically in the month of October. The celebration began in Philadelphia nearly 75 years ago, but was halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Beginning in 2020, we weren’t able to organize it, but we’re coming back around and hoping that this will be an opportunity to reinvigorate the St. Thomas More Society,” said Broadhurst.

“We aspire to help lawyers be stronger, better Catholics. It’s about intellectual development, spiritual development, and learning in general about issues of faith, justice, and morality.”

One lawyer who regularly attends daily Mass at St. John the Evangelist felt a special call to come to the Red Mass.

“I always feel like I need some guidance,” she said, asking not to be identified. “We have a lot of hard decisions we have to make in this profession, different things we have to deal with. Our clients bring different problems to us. Some of them are difficult to sort out. I find it’s helpful to seek guidance from the Lord.”

Retired Auxiliary Bishop Michael J. Fitzgerald, who holds both canon and civil law degrees, was principal celebrant for the Mass. Capuchin Franciscan Father Thomas Betz, also a lawyer and the pastor of St. John the Evangelist, served as the homilist while two other priests who are also lawyers concelebrated.

Robert Chu, the society’s president, says that the event’s focus also sheds light on the call for the legal community to both uphold higher moral standards and represent the economically poor who are under-resourced in their pursuit of justice.

“All too often we lawyers focus on the here and now, but I think that hopefully the Holy Spirit will be with us tonight to guide us in our future dealings with each other, and to encourage us to engage in pro bono efforts,” said Chu.

Father Betz’s homily focused on the same calling to expanding access to opportunities for justice for the poor.

“The principle of justice in the United States, even the principle of justice in the time of Jesus, the listeners of Jesus understood that the system is supposed to give equal justice to everyone,” said Father Betz.

“Throughout the Old Testament there are so many admonitions from God (to) treat everyone fairly, treat everyone equally, do not defer to the rich and do not defer to the poor in certain cases. Simply give everyone what they’re entitled to.”

For Father Betz, that command  requires a concerted effort by the legal community to expand pro bono services, citing the Gospel story of Christ telling the parable of the widow asking for justice from the judge who relented and settled with her due to her persistence.

“The right result seems to be a foregone conclusion, that the woman, this lowly woman, can’t get access to justice. True then, true now. Many people can’t afford justice, so they have to settle for injustice,” said Father Betz.

“It’s a challenge that we lawyers, judges, that we who serve justice on behalf of society, that we would listen to the cries of the poor. We would make time to defend the vulnerable, and we would always let compassion guide our justice.

“Access to justice is not supposed to be a privilege for the few, including the poor, the marginalized, the voiceless, people who in the modern world don’t respond to that voiceless widow in the time of Jesus.”

The assembled attorneys received Christ in the Eucharist, then ended the 90 minutes of prayer by finishing with a plea to recall the words of St. Thomas More:

“Lord, grant that I may be able in argument, accurate in analysis, strict in study, candid with clients, and honest with adversaries.

“Sit with me at my desk and listen with me to my client’s complaints, read with me in my library, and stand beside me in court, so that today I shall not, in order to win a point, lose my soul.”