Download PDF Version – English | Download PDF Version – Spanish

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In his October 2004 apostolic letter Mane Nobiscum Domine, Pope St. John Paul II wrote: “[B]y our mutual love and, in particular, by our concern for those in need we will be recognized as true followers of Christ (cf. Jn. 13:35; Mt. 25:31-46). This will be the criterion by which the authenticity of our Eucharistic celebrations is judged” (28).  With these words, the Holy Father underscored the divine connection between the Body and Blood of Christ that we freely receive and what we do as a result.

Like two sides of the same coin, there is an inseparable relationship for our path to salvation between God’s gift of the Eucharist and our willingness to selflessly give of ourselves to others.  To believe in a God that is love is also to assent that “each of us is truly called, together with Jesus, to be bread broken for the life of the world,” especially for the most vulnerable among us (Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 88).

The Catholic Church in the United States has embarked upon the third and final stage of our Eucharistic Revival: the Year of Mission.  After having so joyfully and publicly welcomed the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage to the archdiocese last year, we now remind ourselves of the mission to be Christ for others.  The world needs us to shine as examples of God’s love and compassion.  The unborn, mothers in need, immigrants, homeless, and so many other vulnerable people long for us to see them with the eyes of Jesus, who has a special place for the poor in His heart.

In the context of Beacons of Light, the Eucharistic Revival’s Year of Mission is well-expressed through the Love in Action principle.  This principle encompasses our parish ministries of charity and social justice that organize our time, treasure and talents to respect human life from conception until natural death, serve those in need, welcome migrants, advocate for a more just and peaceful world, promote solidarity through global missions, create spaces of belonging for those with disabilities and care for God’s creation.

The Eucharist is also a source of unity.  In these relentlessly polarized times, our Love in Action ministries present a unique and prophetic witness to how we as Catholics overcome ideological, racial and social differences to advance the life and dignity of everyone.  Likewise, the Eucharistic Revival Year of Mission is a welcomed opportunity for us to remind ourselves and our communities of how powerfully this Sacrament motivates us to see all people as beloved members of one human family.

It is also fitting that the universal Church is celebrating the Jubilee Year 2025 with the theme Pilgrims of Hope.  Motivated by the Eucharist to put our love into action in a divided and violent world, we all need a limitless source of hope.  In his Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee, Pope Francis assures us that our Christian faith offers us in all circumstances hope in God, a hope that does not fade.  “May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require,” the Holy Father prays, “in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation” (Spes Non Confundit, 25).

Therefore, for this Eucharistic Revival Year of Mission during the Jubilee Year of Hope, I encourage all Families of Parishes, schools and other Catholic entities in the archdiocese to put a special emphasis on advancing Love in Action over the next five months.  More details regarding ways to do this are available through the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Social Action at https://catholicaoc.org/yearofmission.  We will conclude the Eucharistic Revival’s Year of Mission with a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains on the Feast of the Ascension, Sunday, June 1, 2025, to which all of you are invited.

Thank you for all you do to be ever transformed by the Body of Christ to put God’s love into action.  By doing so, you are a pilgrim of hope for the local Church and all the world.

 

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr

Archbishop of Cincinnati

Download PDF Version – English | Download PDF Version – Spanish

Gathered with His disciples around a table the evening before He would lay down His life for our salvation, Jesus said to Thomas, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6). Each December we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, both Son of God and Son of Man. God became one of us to teach us who He created us to be and to show us how to restore our relationship with Him, with each other and even with the world around us. Before sin, these relationships existed in perfect harmony, but since the Fall we live in a wounded world in need of redemption. Jesus has come to show us the way back to the Father, and that is a journey we cannot complete alone.

Jesus left us the gift of His Church so that we can work together for the salvation of all. God has entrusted to each of us gifts and talents that He intends us to use for the common good and not just keep to ourselves. Even before our birth, God infused each person’s soul with particular gifts and talents. Over time, as these gifts mature, we learn how to use them most effectively so that they may eventually yield the fruits which God intended all along. This is a process in which each of us as individuals plays an important role. It is also the goal of education, especially Catholic education which seeks to form the whole person after the model of Jesus Christ.

During his 2008 pastoral visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI addressed a group of educators about this fundamental aspect of education. He said, “Education is integral to the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News. First and foremost, every Catholic educational institution is a place to encounter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals His transforming love and truth. This relationship elicits a desire to grow in the knowledge and understanding of Christ and His teaching. In this way those who meet Him are drawn by the very power of the Gospel to lead a new life characterized by all that is beautiful, good and true; a life of Christian witness nurtured and strengthened within the community of our Lord’s disciples, the Church” (Address at The Catholic University of America, April 17, 2008).

The mission, then, of our Catholic Schools is to provide a space where each individual can encounter the Lord and, through this encounter, learn who the Lord created him or her to be. It is a place where the desires and aspirations of one’s heart, placed there first by God Himself, are drawn out from each person and shaped and nurtured according to the truths of God’s created order. This formative experience is of life-long benefit for the tens of thousands of young people enrolled as students in the Catholic schools throughout our archdiocese. It is also a benefit for the greater community in which we live. The young people we form as disciples of Jesus will one day go out and make their contribution to society – in whatever vocational and career path they discover God has prepared for them.

As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week at the end of this month, it is fitting to take a moment to thank all those engaged in this endeavor: parents, teachers, administrators, staff, countless volunteers and, of course, our students. Together we are accomplishing a great work with the Lord! May He who has begun this good work bring it to fulfillment (cf. Phil.1:6).