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Father Barouyr Shernezian, pastor of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Orthodox Church in San Francisco joined Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone for vespers at Star of the Sea Church in San Francisco June 21. The service began the celebration of Religious Freedom Week June 22-29.

It is my consistent experience and observation that, even aware of the faults and foibles of their priest, people find themselves loving and admiring their priest when they know he is there for them, when they know that his life is characterized by a self-giving love expressed in pastoral presence and attentiveness that is intense.

" ... this is God’s gift to us, a help for us to ready ourselves to receive His greatest gift of all: the Resurrection of His Son from the dead. If we live this gift of God well, the gift of our Christian and personal vocation in the historical circumstances of our life, then we will be prepared for the moment when we will look at the true, unveiled face of His glorified risen Son, and be found fit for sharing his glory in heaven. This is the gift of true Easter joy ... ."

"Lent is now coming to its culmination; it is a reminder to us of our need of constant purification, so that we can more perfectly obey the commandment of following the example of the one who lowered himself for us; a time to repent, return, believe and renew ourselves in living according to our Christian dignity," Archbishop Cordileone said in his homily at Holy Thursday Mass April 18.

"How did this burning building move so many?" Archbishop Cordileone asks in a reflection on the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. "Sacred beauty has a power. It moves us because Beauty is not just a frill or a decoration, it is, along with Truth and Goodness, one of the three faces of God. Standing before the Rose Window, looking up at the awesome Gothic ceilings, praying with people around the world, we are reminded that, as human beings created in God’s image, we do not live by bread alone.  Notre Dame Cathedral calls out to us to remember that we have souls.  It reminds us that God has given us the capacity to create sacred beauty that has lasting value, which points us beyond this world alone."

St. John Vianney is a role model of priestly selflessness, a standard all priests and priests in training can look to in a vocation that risks discouragement as priests discover their own and others' shortcomings, Archbishop Cordileone says. He made the remarks in his homily at a votive Mass of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, March 1, 2019, St. Augustine Church, South San Francisco, with priests of the archdiocese in the presence of a relic of the incorruptible heart of St. John Vianney. Readings: 1 Jn 4:7-16; Ps 34; Jn 10:11-18.

A wise Biblical scholar once said: “The only secure foundation for a kingdom is sacrificial love.”  We hear a lot about “kingdom building” these days, and as long as we keep that in the abstract, it stays safe and comfortable for us.  But if we want to bring that down into the concrete, where it really makes a difference, we have to live it out in the specific communities of our day-to-day life, each according to his or her own vocation in life: family, parish, religious community, school, and so forth.  This is where sacrificial love ceases to be a pious platitude, and takes on flesh – the only way for a community to thrive.

'We sacrifice the most vulnerable life – in the womb – and so we end up destroying marriage," Archbishop Cordileone said. "That is the whole point of marriage, to welcome life into the world, to care and nourish and love that life so that the child might be able to know and be loved by the child's mother and father – the mother and father being connected to each other and together to the children they bring into the world. Marriage thus makes no more sense if the little ones are sacrificed to demons."

Now, at this “acceptable time,” Lent begins. We are called again to stop the ordinary routine, evaluate the areas where we have strayed from the ideals of Christian life, and make a deliberate turning back to God. In these days we only have to turn on the news to see vivid evidence of just how far our culture is from Christian ideals: The passing of horrific laws that permit the killing of full-term infants; family separation resulting from oppressive social and economic forces, affecting especially vulnerable immigrant families; an epidemic of homelessness; revelations of abuse of power even within the hierarchy of the Church; the list goes on and on.

This week we celebrate the mission of Catholic schools and their cherished legacy. We also recommit ourselves to assuring their future because they are critical to the life of the Church. Catholics schools are privileged places for young people to encounter Jesus Christ through Catholic faith, Catholic culture, and the Catholic intellectual tradition on a daily basis as they learn and grow and develop. Because Catholic schools are called to be, as Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, of Vancouver states, “inspired by a supernatural vision, founded on Christian anthropology, animated by communion and community, imbued with a Catholic worldview throughout the curriculum, and sustained by Gospel witness,“ they are the ideal and obvious institutions to help address a growing problem facing the Catholic Church.

As I write this message to you, I am in Baltimore, Maryland, for the plenary assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. I can tell you I came prepared to work with my fellow bishops to move aggressively forward in dealing with the abuse issues that are confronting our Church right now, and will continue to do so.

In a statement here in part, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone praised the courage and sanctity of St. Oscar Romero and urged Christians to imitate his witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “In his final homily, at the hospital chapel Mass where he was mortally shot March 24, 1980, Archbishop Romero said, ‘… one must not love oneself so much as to avoid getting involved in the risks of life that history demands of us.’”

In my letter to you of August 17, 2018, I explained that I would consult the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese and my Cabinet in order to determine how I would designate an act of reparation be conducted in the Archdiocese for the horrendous crimes of clerical sexual abuse. Since then, revelations have continued to unfold – especially with the publication of stories from the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report – which speak to the depth of the evil that occurred.

Last Sunday [Aug. 29, 2018] witnessed what many are calling a “bombshell” in the Church: the publication of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s “Testimony,” alleging corruption and coverup at all levels of the Church based on his long and extensive personal knowledge.

The Catholic Church in the United States traditionally observes Catechetical Sunday each year on the third Sunday of September. This year, on September 16, as the Church calls forth and commissions catechists, the theme for reflection and action will be “Enlisting Witnesses for Jesus Christ.” It will be a joyful occasion to celebrate our participation in the mission of Jesus Christ to teach and call everyone to fullness of life in him.

I recently received a letter from a young Catholic husband and father in which he observed: “Peers of mine who are converts or reverts have specifically cited teachings like ‘Humanae Vitae,’ ‘Familiaris Consortio,’ and ‘Veritatis Splendor’ as beacons that set the church apart from the world and other faiths.” What he suggests might seem counterintuitive, but it is borne out by experience: The church does not grow by going along with the world, but by confidently proclaiming the truth about the human person revealed by Christ.

Catholic Schools Week provides an annual opportunity to remember and appreciate anew the contribution of Catholic schools in the United States. This remarkable school system stands apart from public and other private school systems, and is a source of great pride for the Church. It is fitting for us to recognize and remember the vision and sacrifice of the countless women and men who helped Catholic schools take root in this country and flourish to this day.

In 2003, the Catholic bishops of the United States and Mexico issued a historic binational pastoral letter on immigration, “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope.” The title takes its inspiration from St. Paul, who, in the second chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, states: “. . . you are strangers and aliens no longer. No, you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God.”

In a Thanksgiving week filled with public actions, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone wrote an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle and then joined activists to fill a U.S. immigration courtroom in solidarity with Hugo Mejia, who was seeking bond while fighting a deportation order.

At this significant moment in world history, as we mark the 100th anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, understandably, much attention has been given to this supernatural phenomenon.