My Beloved People of God:

Grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Pope Leo XIV recently said, “God invites us to share in His own holiness. When He calls us to be holy as He is holy, he indicates that the path we must follow involves being fashioned after His own heart.” When Solomon was asked by God what he wanted, he did not say I want a bigger house, or more land, more attendants, or a better car. Solomon asked for an understanding heart; he asked God to help him to be holy, to fashion himself after God’s own heart.

Pope Leo XIV says that this is a radical request. He is so right! God understood that what Solomon asked was radical; that it was not of the earth, but of the heavens. Our own humanity leads us to ask for things which are of the earth; more income, a bigger house, a better car, or other desires of the flesh. The holiness for which Solomon asked and for which we are called is a trustful abandonment, allowing ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. This union with the heart of God is a sacramental, Eucharistic journey that unfolds each day of our life, if we allow God to transfigure us in the most extreme way. God calls us His beloved. How do we live that we show others the image of this extraordinary title?

Let us begin our day with prayer. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours, offering our day and all within it to God, helps us to know that nothing we have is ours alone, but all that we have is given from God for God. We are called to flourish our gifts that all know His goodness. Reception of the Sacraments, particularly the Sacrament of Penance and Holy Communion, nourish our soul that we might grow in one with God’s heart. We belong to a community of faith; we are not alone. We join this community to gather for the celebration of Mass; to listen to God’s Word and receive the Bread of Life that we are able to go forth to love and serve God. If we only eat the food made for the nourishment of our body, we cannot sustain God’s love throughout our daily prayer.

God calls us to be compassionate, and to reveal His mercy by our thoughts, words and deeds. We cannot only stay within the sanctuary of the church. We must go out to proclaim the Good News, to be the light of the world, as Jesus shows us. We are called to love, as Pope Leo XIV said, “that gives itself even to the point of being wounded and so can become a source of mercy and life. . . It is an all-powerful love precisely because it is capable of being vulnerable and of transforming sorrow into grace and suffering into hope.”

This proclamation then, is not standing still, but evergiving. We are called to pray for those who are our enemies; to minister to the sick; to feed the hungry. For each one of us, this takes on a different action. Some of us may visit those in prison; others may pray for their enemies; others may seek the Sacrament of Penance because of their anger toward another; others may ask for forgiveness and be repentant. Some may serve as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and Ministers to the Sick that they bring the Bread of Life to the homebound. Others may make a phone call to someone who is ill or bring them a basket of food.

Many of you volunteer for Catholic Charities of Central Florida or serve those without homes with the offering of food supplies and essential home goods. Some of you look within your own homes and minister to your spouses and children in a different way, because of the revelation of God’s wisdom which you now understand. With school beginning in a few weeks, some of you have assisted with “Back to School Supplies” drives.

Holiness is manifested as closeness and tenderness. We are called to a relationship with God that does not distance us from others but brings us closer to everyone we encounter. Let us begin each day with the prayer of King Solomon, “Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong” (1 Kings 3:9).