News - January 2024

Nearly eight years ago, on an apostolic pilgrimage to Mexico, Pope Francis went to the border between Mexico and the United States to profess his faith in the grace of God that transcends all borders. On the high platform beneath a towering black cross decorated with an image of the Holy Family in their flight to Egypt, raised in memory of the many migrants who have died attempting to cross the border, he looked across the border fence at the people of El Paso, and waved to them in friendship. As usual, he was dressed in his threadbare white soutane and worn black shoes, and showed a strength that belied his days of travel. Then he placed a bouquet of flowers before the cross and raised his hand to his forehead to begin the prayer, “En el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo.”

Though the trappings have disappeared, I hope that the memories of Christmas 2023 still warm your hearts and that the graces of the season continue to bring light into your lives as we settle into what the Church calls Ordinary Time. (So called because of the use of ordinal numbers: the Second Sunday of Ordinary time, for example.)

One of the great joys of my ministerial life is celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation: being grace with the opportunity to tell a person that he is loved by God in a quite absolute way, that she is absolved of her sins because she is beloved of Christ Jesus. To be able to do this on behalf of the Church—i.e., not through my power, but through God’s grace—can be truly overwhelming.