Red Mass honors those in legal professions, military

Friday, Sep. 12, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s diverse legal community came together in unity to reflect on their service at the seventh annual Red Mass in the Cathedral of the Madeleine Sept. 5.

“This Mass was dedicated to all the people who have dedicated their lives to justice in Utah and in a special way, because of the numbers of those judges and U.S. attorneys who are retiring and those [military members] who have served in Afghanistan, and the dedication that that takes,” said Ron Yengich, a criminal defense lawyer and Cathedral of the Madeleine parishioner who helped organize the St. Thomas More Society that sponsored the Red Mass. 

More than 10 judges and eight U.S. attorneys are retiring in Utah this year.

The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, concelebrated the Mass with Cathedral of the Madeleine pastor Father Martin Diaz and Father Langes Silva, J.C.D., diocesan judicial vicar and vice chancellor. 

The Red Mass is an opportunity to come together to pray for those who must make judgments all the time as part of their service to the community: those who enact the laws, those who enforce the laws and those who adjudicate the laws, said Bishop Wester in his homily. Also, those in the military “who defend our basic liberties and freedoms so that we can live in a land where law and order protect the relationships we have with one another, with the rest of the world and with God,” he said.

In the first reading for the Mass (1Cor4:1-5) Paul says that only God can truly judge, Bishop Wester said. “How often have we heard it said to us, ‘Judge not and you will not be judged.’ Yet the reality is, all of us are judged and all of us must make judgments. For people of faith, … only when we see ourselves as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God can we be found trustworthy and able to pass judgment. We must hold ourselves accountable to God and to the law, realizing that we are its servants, not masters.”

The Red Mass brought a moment of reflection, for Sim Gill, Salt Lake County District Attorney, he said; “a moment for us to see what our joint commitment to our community is, and all the people who are in service of that community, and through that reflection, an opportunity for some peace, to recognize that we from different walks, different faiths and from different professions are doing our little bit to serve our community together,” he said. “It is a unifying presence before God and our community, and before each other, to recognize the sacrifices and the support that we are all committed in our own small ways.”

Some of those in attendance were at the Red Mass for the first time; among them was retired Judge Timothy Hanson, who wanted to honor his brother, William Hanson, assistant attorney general, who is retiring. 

“This is a nice honor for him,” said Judge Hanson, who spent 25 years on the bench. “I’m glad I came; I really enjoyed it.” 

Marlene Dazley also attended for the first time to honor Judge Robin Reese, who is retiring this year. Dazley has been Judge Reese’s court clerk for 22 years, and has worked 45 years for the Third District Court. She previously clerked for retired Judge Floyd Gowans for 23 years. 

“This was a special way to honor the judges,” Dazley said. 

The tradition of the Red Mass goes back to Europe in the Middle Ages. In the United States, a Red Mass is celebrated in the nation’s capital on the Sunday before the U.S. Supreme Court opens its new session on the first Monday of October.