There were plenty of lessons to be learned in that “Year of Mercy” now we are in a “Year of Prayer” — so designated by Pope Francis in anticipation of the 2025 Jubilee Year.

If you’re of an older generation, you may remember being taught that no one got to heaven outside the Catholic Church. Fortunately, the Second Vatican Council helped us get over this narrow approach to God’s mercy.

Perhaps “just-us sessions” initially could lead to discussions of ways to uphold the dignity of others without being torn down for atrocities that took root long before many were born.

To say the Eucharist cannot be Jesus Christ is a denial of several things: the words of Christ, as we hear in today’s Gospel; the tradition of the church; the power of God to become man; and the goodness of the created world itself.

“I think he realized I was troubled as a father. You have to fight for your children,” Don said. “He said, ‘I’m glad you came to me.’ What a fine example of what God calls us to do. He truly was a man of God.”

In our lives as Catholics, we are not only obligated and privileged to partake in the Eucharist, but we are also called to maintain communion with the body of Christ, which is the church, which is united visibly under the teaching authority of the Holy Father in Rome.

Jesus wants to transform all those relationships and situations which cause us pain, and he waits for us to invite him into this redemptive work.

Like Veronica, who wipes Jesus’ face on the way to Calvary, and Simon of Cyrene who helps Jesus carry his cross, people we might not even know – or know well – are ready to walk beside us and lighten our load.

With the Academy Awards right around the corner, here’s my take on how the 10 nominations for best picture hold up in the human dignity department.

It’s a foretaste of heaven to look around Mass and witness the full participation of the people of God.