It is Simon Peter who clearly declares “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter, who is to be recognized as the first in a long line of popes, makes this pronouncement that is the basis of all the Church’s magisterium – the identity of Our Lord as the true God and true man. If we do not get the identity of Jesus right, we cannot understand anything.

Pope Leo remarked, “The Church is extroverted by nature, as were the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In every Eucharist, you will make his words your own: for you and for all.” He emphasized that priests are called to be “not masters, but guardians of the truth, because the mission belongs to Jesus.”

Pope Leo in his great wisdom and love for the beauty of the treasure of the Faith reechoes what Pope St. John Paul II taught, “The Church breathes with two lungs – that of the East and that of the West.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters, we rejoice in the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV and we thank God that the ministry of Peter continues. We pledge to him our love, our unfailing prayers, our filial obedience, and our support.

Hope triumphs over despair! Faith drives away every doubt! Charity destroys all strife! For Christ has risen, defeating death and darkness! At Mass He feeds us with the fruit of the tree of the Cross, His glorified, risen Body and Blood!

We can truly say that the Divine Mercy Image is the mirror image of His Passion. He shows Himself in the Image to be the Priest, Victim, Vessel of Merciful love and Redeemer of us all.

By His wounds we are healed and through them the light of the Resurrection shine brilliantly on us and the whole world. It is the Cross that unlocks the meaning of life, our identity and purpose of our suffering.

As we enter into the last weeks of Lent, we walk with our Lord as He set His face toward Jerusalem where He enters into the unfolding of His Paschal Mystery, the outpouring of His love in His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

It is through the Passion and Death of Jesus that the whole world is saved and we are reconciled to the Father. It is by His wounds that we are healed. During Lent and throughout the year we should take up the Passion accounts praying with them entering into the mystery of His love outpoured for us.

Our Lenten Season is punctuated with feasts of light and joy. They show us that life, so often a time of suffering and challenge, is a pilgrim’s way to the glory of heaven.

Our own hands must not be thrown up in despair at the suffering of the world or our own brokenness and sin. Rather we should fold them in adoration and prayer and raise them to reach out for the Savior who forgives us, heals us, and gives us hope.

While it is true that Ash Wednesday comes late this year on March 5, the Season of Lent is just around the corner. In just two weeks we will be going to Mass and having ashes put on our foreheads in the form of a cross as we hear the words taken from the Book of Genesis, “Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.”

In our suffering, we can become “co-redeemers” with Christ. We can become those who from our sick beds, our places of persecution, our loneliness, our hardship, transform the world by our offering of love. Offered to God in love in union with the sufferings of Christ, we can bring love and mercy into lives unknown to us.

Our humanity, each one of us, was created by an all-loving, all-powerful, wise God. Our humanity, each one of us, is sanctified by God who became one of us, Jesus Christ. Our humanity, each one of us, is given life by God.

The theme for the March for Life 2025 that will take place on January 24 is a simple affirming statement, “Life: Why We March”. While this statement may seem an obvious assertion, it is so important to renew the reason we march because it is so greatly misunderstood. Let’s think about it.

Because of the grace of their God-given faith, the Halpin family was able to cry out to the Mother of God with hope that, as sure as Jesus Christ rose from the dead, they too, would rise to new life from the ashes of the fire. May they and all those affected by the California fires be buoyed up by hope.

Every year on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, we hear at Mass the gospel passage from St. Matthew that speaks of the visit of the Magi to the Child Jesus, their falling down in adoration before Him and offering Him the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This passage describes also their journey to find Him and their arrival in Jerusalem asking, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews?”

The nine days before Christmas, from December 16 through December 24, is a time of intense prayer in preparation for the Solemnity of Our Lord’s Birth. During these days, no matter what is happening our life, no matter what may be preoccupying us, what may be giving us stress, or no matter what burdens we are placing on ourselves, peace can be ours if we enter into the preparation that is above all spiritual.

Our Lady is for us the most pure, the most beautiful woman, she who is our Mother and our advocate before God. It is through her that Jesus comes to us, and it is through her that we go to Jesus. The beauty of Mary is the reflection of the holiness of God Himself.

In a world where everyone wants to be propped up, admired, complemented, validated, and valued, stooping down is not a popular activity. Amazingly, we find that it is only by stooping down before God and others that we come to know our true identity and our true purpose in life.