By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist Placards featuring pictures of aborted babies greeted Supreme Court justices, two Cabinet members and Vice President Joe Biden as they entered the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC for the annual Red Mass.  According to a report by Legal News, five of the six Catholic Supreme Court justices attended the Mass, which is held annually on the day before the opening of the Supreme Court to pray for those with the duty of dispensing justice. Catholic justices included Sonia Sotomayor who attended for the first time as a Supreme Court Justice. Also in attendance were Catholic Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito Jr. The sixth Catholic justice, Clarence Thomas, was attending a wedding and unable to attend. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston was the celebrant. Cardinal DiNardo distinguished himself last spring when he became the first American cardinal to criticize the University of Notre Dame for inviting President Barack Obama to be its commencement speaker, because of his position in favor of abortion rights. However, anyone hoping the Cardinal would address the continuing scandal of pro-abortion Catholic legislators in America was disappointed when the Cardinal made only a brief mention of abortion in his homily. He lamented the fact that the legal profession has become "semi-mechanical," detached from the human need for justice. Clients, he said, "are poor and wealthy, confused and lucid, polite and impolite. In some cases the clients are voiceless for they lack influence; in others, they are literally voiceless, not yet with tongues, and even without names. They too require our most careful attention and radical support." He went on to say that "Even sophisticated knowledgeable human lawyers need reminding, need a divine fire ... both in their personal lives and in their profession itself." If the consciences of the pro-abortion Catholics in the congregation were pricked during the event, it certainly occurred when they entered the Cathedral after having to pass by a roped-off area where demonstrators displayed graphic signs of aborted babies. Using a bullhorn, longtime pro-life activist Randall Terry called out: "How dare you present yourself for Communion with the blood of babies on your hands?"  Terry and the demonstrators focused on Canon 915, which specifically forbids Catholics who are in public scandal - such as Catholic politicians who support child-killing by abortion - from receiving the Holy Eucharist. Before the Mass, Terry told the Christian Newswire: "This Red Mass is a beautiful call to pray for justice amongst judges and statesmen; but in many ways it is a mockery, because many of those attending help kill innocent babies by the millions. While some attend with great devotion, others scoff at Christ by their actions, and commit sacrilege by receiving the Body and Blood of Christ while they hold a knife to the throat of the unborn. "Perhaps Jesus weeps with grief for the babies, His Church, and for the souls of those men and women who dare to approach His Altar while continuing to kill His precious children." The Red Mass has been held since 1953 at the Cathedral by the John Carroll Society, a group of Washington professionals who are Catholic. Chief Justice Roberts and his wife Jane have longstanding connections to the John Carroll Society. The name of the service, which dates back to the 13th century and is conducted to ask for guidance for those who seek justice, comes from the red vestments worn by the celebrants. © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com