From the Archbishop

A friend of mine began discerning priesthood soon after his First Communion. From the age of eight, he dreamed of the day when he could be a priest and celebrate Mass. This was not me. I did not consider a vocation to the priesthood until the end of my junior year in high school. I had been asked by the pastor of my parish if I had ever thought about being a priest. My response? A resounding “no.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, A long-treasured value of our Church, dating back to its earliest days, has been the care for those who are most vulnerable. As Catholics we are called to love one another and accompany one another in moments of blessing and in moments of challenge. When facing any difficulty, we quickly discover our dependency, not only upon God, but upon each other in the exercise of charity and concern for our neighbor.

We live in a culture which increasingly focuses on individuality and the immediacy of the here and now. Rarely do we elevate our gaze to the transcendent. Modern voices proclaim the self-identifying and self-determining individual as important above all else, rather than reserving that distinction for God.

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) . . .

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 . . .

On the evening of Tuesday, December 24, Pope Francis will preside over the celebration of Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Square to officially open the Holy Jubilee Year of 2025, the theme of which is Pilgrims of Hope. The Holy Father begins his solemn Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025 quoting from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans . . .