The world was full of magic and wonder, and God—God was everywhere. And he was certainly with us on the beach, welcoming us into a new day, inviting us to see it for the gift it is.

The elevation of Robert Prevost brings the Catholic Church its second pope from the New World, its first U.S. pontiff and the first pope to hold Peruvian citizenship – making him both the first North and South American pope. 

Perhaps not everyone finds the need to launch into the latest tech trend; however, the church herself must be present in the culture to be able to evangelize it from within.

These brothers, Arabs and Jews alike, must face the fact that as they spill each other’s blood and destroy their own family they’re perpetuating the age-old curse of rootless dispossession down the decades. They must admit their culpability for miseries, past and present.

We know that God is infinitely loving and merciful, so I believe that Jesus would have readily and joyfully forgiven Judas if he had only turned back to God and sought reconciliation.

Twenty-five years after World Youth Day 2000, the world watched as another pope came to meet the youth of the church, again at Tor Vergata. Leo XIV, just a few months into his pontificate, stepped onto the world stage on a summer evening in 2025.

Our family histories vary widely. But all of us share a lineage of spiritual fathers and mothers whose words and deeds also make us what we are.

I’m inspired by the old adage, “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” I’m called to ask, what saints have influenced me? How am I called to be a saint? And how do “my” saints walk with me on that journey?

The optional memorial of the Dedication of St. Mary Major, celebrated on Aug. 5, recalls the importance of Mary in the life of the church. But it also calls to mind the Marian title of “Our Lady of the Snows.”

For a moment, as I reached for the church door, I hesitated. I could go back to the car for an umbrella.