"Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and
honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from
me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines
the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:7-9)

_____________

Faith isn't foolish, Scalia tells group
Justice honored by Catholic lawyers

By Angela Rozas
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 22, 2004

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia urged several
hundred lawyers and judges gathered at a Wheaton church on
Sunday to not fear being considered foolish for having
faith.

"We are fools for Christ's sake," Scalia said. "We must
pray for the courage
to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world."

Scalia's speech, a version of one he has given many times
at faith-based gatherings over the past eight years, was
the keynote address of the St.
Thomas More Society of DuPage County's Red Mass. The
judges, lawyers and politicians at the Roman Catholic
service ask for God's blessing in their
pursuit of justice, a tradition that dates to the 13th
Century.

The DuPage society was started last year by about a dozen
lawyers who wanted
to organize the mass and promote the ideals of St. Thomas
More, the patron
saint of lawyers and judges. More, a Roman Catholic lawyer,
was beheaded in
the 16th century for refusing to pledge religious
allegiance to King Henry
VIII as head of the new Church of England.

Scalia, a Roman Catholic who is considered one of the most
conservative
justices on the court, was honored at the event at St.
Daniel the Prophet Catholic Church as the first recipient
of the society's Award of St. Thomas
More.

"He's tough. He's principled, and he's thoroughly honored,"
said U.S. Rep.
Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) in introducing Scalia.

The justice spoke for about 20 minutes, describing the
derision Christians,
and more specifically Catholics, suffer at the hands of the
"sophisticated"
and "wise of the world," terms he used with obvious sarcasm.

The "wise" consider Christian fundamentalists to be
"simple-minded" and irrational because they believe in
miracles and the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, he said. But it is more irrational to reject the
possibility of
both, he said.

Scalia pointed to St. Thomas More as an example of a
Christian who practiced
his beliefs in all measures of his life, despite negative
public perception.

"More was not seeing with the eyes of man, but with the
eyes of faith,"
Scalia said. Everyone should have "the courage to have
their wisdom regarded
as stupidity."

The speech, similar to one that stirred controversy when he
first gave it in 1996, was coolly received by some in the
mixed-faith audience. But the crowd still gave him a
standing ovation when he finished.

The mass, named after the red vestments worn to the
service, was open to
people of all faiths and was intended to encourage dialogue
about
spirituality among legal professionals, said Brian Diamond,
a Wheaton
attorney who helped found the society.

"As a lawyer, it's difficult to do what we do without a
sustaining force,"
said Chicago civil litigation attorney Patricia Wrona, who
attended the
service. "For me, it's my faith. And to be with other
like-minded lawyers,
to see they are fed with their faith in their
administration of justice ...
it's inspiring."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-0411220072nov22,1,3436528.story