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One of the seven new saints canonized on October 19 is one who, in a powerful manner, conquered evil and turned away from the power of the Evil One to embrace a life of holiness. His name is St. Bartolo Longo.

We should be faithful as St. Dominic was, unfailing in prayer, lifting up the Rosary of Our Mother and then lifting up the torch of truth for all the world to see. In every aspect of our life, we must lift up the truth of Christ.

Pope Leo previously said, “The Rosary is one of the most powerful devotions entrusted to us by Our Lady, and in these turbulent times, it remains a sure path to peace, conversion, and deeper love of Christ.”

Almighty God, true to His identity of Love Himself, always accompanies the Church and us on our pilgrim journey through this life. The victory of His Son, Jesus Christ, has been accomplished in His Passion, His Death on the Cross and His glorious Resurrection.

Our destination is the Kingdom of God. We must never forget that Christ is our King, Savior, and Lord who teaches us how to love one another and how to be heaven-bound as we walk the road of life.

St. Maximilian Kolbe's martyrdom came because evil people wanted to silence him. His proclamation of the truth of the Faith threatened them and their evil ideology. He wished for them no ill or harm. He only wanted to offer them the love of God and the message of the Gospel. He wanted them to know the mercy of Jesus Christ.

On Sunday September 7, a tsunami of grace was sent forth from St. Peter’s Square in Rome by Our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV. He proclaimed by an infallible act of his papal magisterium that Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are enrolled among the canon, or list, of saints officially recognized by the Catholic Church who enjoy the beatific vision, being face-to-face with God in heaven.

“How do we begin the healing of hearts in the wake of such a heart-breaking act?” We know in faith that first we go to the Heart of Jesus who has borne all pain and sorrow for us in His Passion and Death. We open our hearts to His Heart. We confess that He can heal the wounds of all. We pray especially for the healing of the victims and their families. We reaffirm our faith in the victory of Jesus that conquers all evil and death by His dying and rising from the grave.

As we have listened to Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, these last few months, we have noticed that he quotes often the Fathers of the Church and especially St. Augustine. The Fathers were influential theologians and writers, who lived primarily between the second and the seventh centuries. Pope Leo is particularly fond of St. Augustine, perhaps because he is a member of the Order of St. Augustine.

On Mary’s Hill in Ireland and every place where we meet her, she leads us to the altar where her Son’s Eucharistic Sacrifice is offered and where we are fed with the Body and Blood of the Lamb of God at His Paschal Banquet. For there we encounter the open Heart of Jesus where we find grace, mercy and love as we journey through this life.

We look to the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother as she shows the way to our final destination, and we entrust ourselves to her maternal love and powerful intercession. This great truth of her Assumption body and soul into heaven is a source of great hope for us today. It tells us that God has a plan for us.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross is a powerful example for us today because of her tremendous faith and holiness that influenced and continue to influence so many. She provides for us a model of complete fidelity to the teachings of Christ’s Body the Church and the creative genius of women in the Church.

August is marked by beautiful feast days on the Church’s calendar: the Feasts of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Assumption of Our Lady, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. John Vianney, Pope St. Pius X and the Passion of St. John the Baptist, just to mention a few. They are like oases in a desert of ordinary, day-to-day activity and anticipated responsibilities.

In 2021 Pope Francis established in the Catholic Church the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on the fourth Sunday of July. This Sunday was chosen because of its proximity to July 26, the Feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim, grandparents of Jesus. The purpose of this day is to honor the elderly and their role in families and communities.

If we gaze into Mary’s soul, we shall see that grace in her has flowered into a spiritual life of incalculable wealth: a life of recollection, prayer, uninterrupted oblation to God, continual contact, and intimate union with Him…those who want to live their devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel to the full must follow Mary into the depths of her interior life.

It is Simon Peter who clearly declares “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter, who is to be recognized as the first in a long line of popes, makes this pronouncement that is the basis of all the Church’s magisterium – the identity of Our Lord as the true God and true man. If we do not get the identity of Jesus right, we cannot understand anything.

Pope Leo remarked, “The Church is extroverted by nature, as were the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In every Eucharist, you will make his words your own: for you and for all.” He emphasized that priests are called to be “not masters, but guardians of the truth, because the mission belongs to Jesus.”

Pope Leo in his great wisdom and love for the beauty of the treasure of the Faith reechoes what Pope St. John Paul II taught, “The Church breathes with two lungs – that of the East and that of the West.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters, we rejoice in the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV and we thank God that the ministry of Peter continues. We pledge to him our love, our unfailing prayers, our filial obedience, and our support.

Hope triumphs over despair! Faith drives away every doubt! Charity destroys all strife! For Christ has risen, defeating death and darkness! At Mass He feeds us with the fruit of the tree of the Cross, His glorified, risen Body and Blood!