Pastor's Letter of May 18
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May 18, 2025This past Thursday, we received a new pope, Pope Leo XIV. Did you ever think you would live to see an American Pope? The Sacred College of Cardinals elected His Eminence Robert Cardinal Prevost, as the 267th Pope and bishop of Rome. He chose the name Leo XIV. Perhaps after Leo the Great, the great reformer, the one who stopped Attila the Hun at the gates of Rome from destroying the City? Leo the Great wrote beautiful sermons, which we still have and read in our daily prayers. Or did he choose the name for the last Pope Leo who died in 1903? The Pope of the working man, who wrote the famous Catholic social justice document Rerum Novarum.
Leo XIV is the first American Pope, a native of Chicago; he became a member of the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977, and served as the superior general from 2001-13. He was ordained a priest in 1982 and most of his priesthood was spent in the missions of Peru. He then served as bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, until his appointment to the Curia. He was in charge of the office that appoints bishops throughout the world.
So we pray in thanksgiving to God as we pray for our new Holy Father:
O God, shepherd and ruler of all the faithful, look mercifully upon Your servant Leo, whom You have willed to rule over Your Church as its shepherd; grant him, we ask, to advance in the word and example by which he rules, that together with the flock entrusted to him, he may come to everlasting life.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Over these past four Saturdays, 81 of our children received their First Holy Communion. Their names appear on the front cover. Everyone remembers his or her First Holy Communion Day, even Napoleon. The story is told when asked of Napoleon, what was his happiest and most memorable day, he reportedly said, his First Communion Day. What makes that day so special? I think it is the realization that our Lord comes to visit us within our heart, our soul and our body. To know we can receive our Lord, true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity every day, if we wish. It is the greatest treasure that our Lord gave us, Himself. We are never alone in this world, since our baptism day, the Holy Trinity abides in us; we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. It is important to remember that, it is more important to remind our children of the Divine Presence within us. We all need nourishment to survive especially spiritually. We need the Divine Food for our souls to keep us strong in our faith. We need the Eucharist.
Parents gave their children the gift of faith when they had their child baptized; now they saw them walk up the aisle and kneel and be fed like a newborn, with the Bread of Life. It is also a special day for the parents as well. Their sense of love and pride knowing that God has the confidence in them as parents entrusting God’s children to them. Parents receive the gift of God and must take care of that gift. Children are not a right to a marriage; it is a free gift of God to the world and the Church. Teaching them of what is most important in life: faith, hope and love, and not wanting success for them, rather holiness.
Congratulations to the grandparents, parents, family, their teachers, Mrs. Lattuca and
Mrs. Maldonado, Mrs. Horgan and all who have the privilege of being in our children’s lives.