Pope Leo has asked the church to undertake a rereading of the documents of the Second Vatican Council to see them in a new light, and at his Wednesday General Audiences throughout 2026, his sermons are gradually making their way through the documents, teaching and interpreting the documents and how they can be applied today.

Dear Friends,

I recently wrote about "The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Love without Measure." This weekend I would like to delve deeper into God's longing for us. God has created us out of Love: our existence, our natural gifts and talents flow from Him, and through Baptism and Eucharist, we receive many individual graces. What a Love!

When one studies Holy Scripture and the teachings of the Church Fathers, one theme emerges with startling clarity: the relationship between God and His people is a divine romance. From Eden to the Cross, from the prophets to the heavenly vision of the New Jerusalem, we see a God who loves His people as a Bridegroom loves His Bride. This nuptial imagery reaches its fulfillment in the Church, the Bride of Christ, and finds its expression in the greatest mystery of the Mass.

Dear Friends,

There is a classic proverb by an unknown author that says: "An old broom sweeps better." This proverb speaks volumes when applied to how we prepare and celebrate the Sacraments in modern times. Before proceeding any further, I would like to remind ourselves of what the Sacraments are and how many there are.

The other week I had the opportunity to once again visit the small hilltop town of Orvieto, Italy, shortly before the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as the Feast of Corpus Christi, which we celebrated last Sunday. This feast was instituted for the Universal Church in 1264 by Pope Urban IV, who was at that time living in Orvieto.

Dear Friends,

A week ago some of our Parish and school staff members surprised me with a humbling Birthday celebration and cake. As I later sat and reflected on this event, I recalled a song we once sang as novices: "What a wonder to be in the Vineyard of the Lord God. He is calling us to become witnesses. Forever, and to teach his word to all nations, here on earth, yes, until the end of time!"

In the Encyclical Mediator Dei, the Venerable Pius XII writes that "the Church is without question a living organism, and as an organism, in respect of the sacred liturgy also, she grows, matures, develops, adapts and accommodates herself to temporal needs and circumstances, provided only that the integrity of her doctrine be safeguarded" (no. 59).

Dear Friends,

The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And this year on June 11th, Most of our Bishops, members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), will consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Heart, as many of us may know or have used and/or read, represents Love. My first tee shirt had the inscription, I ❤ You" on it. I understood it as "I heart you!" until my maternal Aunt Rita corrected my limited childhood knowledge. She told me that the red heart symbolizes Love, and so my T-shirt was an expression of I LOVE YOU.

In the Creed professed at Mass, we affirm our belief in the Holy Spirit, "the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son .... " At once the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, eternally proceeding from both, the Holy Spirit is-as articulated by St. Augustine-the mutual love of the Father and Son. "The Holy Spirit is a certain unutterable communion of the Father and the Son."

Dear friends,

In the recent Annual Priests' retreat at Picture Rocks Redemptorist Spiritual Center, we read, reflected, and shared from the Book, "The Priest: Mystery of Love" by Luis M. Martinez. The place of Love dominated the Spiritual journey. Everything from the Pope, the Bishops, the Priesthood, and indeed the life of every Christian is the fruit of Love. The Love between God the Father and the Son in communion with the Holy Spirit. God is Love.

In the solemn celebration of Pentecost, we are invited to profess our faith in the presence and in the action of the Holy Spirit and to invoke His outpouring upon us, upon the Church, and upon the whole world. With special intensity, let us make our own the Church's invocation: Veni, Sancte Spiritus! It is such a simple and spontaneous invocation, yet also extraordinarily profound, which came first of all from the heart of Christ. The Spirit is indeed the gift that Jesus asked and continues to ask of His Father for His friends: the first and principal gift that He obtained for us through His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.

Dear friends,

One of the greatest joys of standing at the gate of our school each morning for me, apart from welcoming their cheerful faces, is hearing the wonderful questions children often ask me or just letting me know it is their birthday. Recently two of our little first graders, Caleb and Annet, at different times stopped me with questions that have challenged human minds for centuries. "Who made God?" Caleb asked. Then a few minutes later Annet asked, "What is the difference between God and Jesus?"

Our Paschal Candle for this year is hand-decorated by a small Catholic artist based in Washington state. The primary artwork on the candle depicts the scene of John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River from Matthew 3.

Dear friends,

Last week, as I made my way from the airport to a funeral Mass for a dear friend in Dallas, I had an encounter that has stayed with me in a quiet but powerful way. My Uber driver, named Duncan, handed me a simple wristband. On it were the words: "God is big enough." At the time, I received it politely, but it did not resonate immediately with me as my mind was focused on the funeral Mass I was heading to celebrate.

Today, on Mother's Day, we honor our mothers, but an often-overlooked mother to us all is the bride of Christ: Holy Mother Church. The apostles in their writings routinely likened the relationship between Christ and His Church to that of the groom and his bride. Just as God is the father of creation and exercises His authority over it, the Church, as the bride of Christ and flowing forth from Him, is the mother of creation and exercises her nurturing care and oversight of what has been entrusted to her by Him.

Dear friends,

As we journey through the Sixth Sunday of Easter, the Church draws us ever closer to the great celebrations of the Ascension and Pentecost. These coming feasts remind us that Christ does not abandon His people but continues to guide and strengthen us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Easter Proclamation, known as the Exsultet, a beautiful poem which is sung at the start of the Easter Vigil Mass to the praise of the Paschal Candle (a symbol of Christ), contains many references filled with deep theological symbolism, but one in particular stands out as rather odd. This reference is "O certe necessárium Adæ peccátum, quod Christi morte délétum est! O felix culpa, quæ talem ac tantum méruit habére Redemptórem!", often rendered in English as "O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault, that earned for us so great, so glorious a Redeemer!".

Dear friends,

In this weekend's Gospel from the Farewell Discourse, Jesus speaks words of comfort to his disciples as he prepares for his arrest and crucifixion. He invites them to trust in God and to look forward with hope to their reunion in the Father's house. In the ancient world, when travelers needed lodging, one of them would go ahead to prepare a place. Jesus uses this familiar image—but what he promises is far greater than a temporary shelter. He offers an eternal dwelling in the Father's house.