By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
Our God of perseverance and encouragement continues to pour out abundant grace during this Jubilee Year of Hope in creative ways. This year’s theme for Catechetical Sunday is “Always be ready to give an explanation … for a reason for your hope,” taken from 1 Peter 3:15. Pilgrims of hope are summoned to do so because the light of Christ that burns within us is intended for the world as well as for the believer who walks by faith.

This verse is from the first of two letters of St. Peter and is wisdom that is ever ancient and ever new. The full verse is one of the New Testament’s finest gems: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

Numerically, 1 Peter 3:15 easily calls to mind John 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” To believe that God so loved the world positions the person of faith to be ready to share the hope that lives within.

As an aside, John and Peter were the first apostles, following the lead of Mary Magdalene, to run to the empty tomb — a foretaste of the hope that was on the horizon for them and for the world.

Therefore, our parish and Catholic school catechists — teachers of religion — have a unique ministry. They not only teach the Catholic faith from Sacred Scripture and tradition but are also empowered to witness to the reason for the hope that is within them.

It is a demanding ministry that requires the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the motivation for ongoing formation in wisdom, knowledge and grace in order to teach the next generation. Asking God’s blessing upon them on our annual Catechetical Sunday harmonizes this honorable ministry with the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith.

The treasures of our faith are inexhaustible, and many in each generation have labored to organize the story of salvation in a comprehensive, systematic and balanced way. The most wide-reaching compact assertion of our faith is the Nicene Creed. At 1,700 years young, and as the centerpiece of our tradition, it is certain to be proclaimed until Christ comes again. As we move through the verses of the Creed at each Mass, in reality we are professing the reason for the hope that lives within.

Gentleness and respect are underscored by St. Peter as the essential dispositions when sharing and teaching the faith. These run counter to the climate of meanness and disrespect that overwhelm so much discourse today in society and the church, and therefore are all the more indispensable in the classrooms of our parishes and schools. They are signs of love. And faith and hope without love, the greatest of the three theological virtues, produce a clanging cymbal — an apt way of visualizing contemporary discourse.

On the other hand, the first scripture reading from the prophet Amos on Catechetical Sunday brings full circle how the love of Christ within impels us to live justly and compassionately outwardly. Amos, Isaiah and Micah come to mind as prophets of social justice, who, like John the Baptist, prepared the way for the Lord in whom they find their fulfillment.

Amos did not mince words in last week’s proclamation: “Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land … Never will I forget a thing they have done.” Where do God’s words through the prophet cry out today?

Recently, on the diocesan level, we hosted a prayer service at the cathedral on behalf of immigrants, refugees and dreamers — to be in prayerful solidarity, raise awareness and inspire more just and compassionate attitudes and actions in our country. Amos can find a niche here, and the prophet Micah further shapes our words and actions: “God has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

All who are baptized in the Lord are called to be pilgrims of hope. May this Jubilee Year, and all commemorations and gatherings, be a time of renewal and a year of favor from the Lord.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, in an inspiring gathering of faith and tradition, the Archdiocese of Mobile celebrated the installation of the Most Rev. Mark S. Rivituso as the third archbishop and the 10th bishop of Mobile. The Diocese of Jackson, along with the dioceses of Biloxi and Birmingham, comprises the Province of Mobile in solidarity with the archdiocese.

During the Mass, Bishops Louis Kihneman, Steven Raica and I were front and center in the sanctuary as a sign of unity and fraternity. The faithful and clergy from Mobile to St. Louis, the home of Archbishop Rivituso, filled the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to overflowing.

Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi, now emeritus, officially welcomed the assembly at the outset and delivered a riveting history of the Archdiocese of Mobile that included ties with the Archdiocese of St. Louis. At the end of the liturgy, the congregation gave a standing ovation to Archbishop Rodi for his 17 years of dedication as their shepherd. May he enjoy the good fruit of retirement under God’s loving gaze.

Following Archbishop Rodi, Christophe Cardinal Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, extended a warm greeting on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, whom the cardinal represents to all the dioceses and archdioceses in the country. He then read the papal bull – the document from the Holy See that made Archbishop Rivituso’s appointment official.

The bull dramatically announces the pope as the “Servant of the Servants of God,” a title first adopted by Gregory the Great in A.D. 590. Sept. 3 happened to be the feast day of this remarkable shepherd and doctor of the church. This surely was a moment of divine providence for the new archbishop as he undertakes his ministry, asking the intercession of St. Gregory and all the saints.

In his homily and closing remarks, Archbishop Rivituso joyfully expressed his gratitude for the honor and gift bestowed upon him to serve in his new home in the church of Mobile.

During my 11 and a half years as bishop of Jackson, I have been blessed to be a concelebrating bishop at the consecration and installation of Bishop Kihneman in Biloxi, the installation of Bishop Raica in Birmingham, and now the installation of Archbishop Rivituso. These are fond memories that are carried along by the rivers of time.

This sacred event in the Archdiocese of Mobile has further personal significance for my ministry. On Sept. 16, I reach the age of 75, when all active bishops are required to submit their letter of resignation to the pope. Although a resignation may be accepted immediately in urgent cases, the usual sequence is an extension of ministry for one or two more years. Nonetheless, it is a milestone in time that requires unambiguous action from a bishop.

What follows is my letter to the Holy Father:

Your Holiness,

On Sept. 16 this year, I will be 75 years old. Abiding by the wisdom of the church as contained in the Code of Canon Law, I am submitting my letter of resignation. Of course, I will continue to serve the Lord Jesus and his church unreservedly as ordinary until I am directed otherwise, or until the day my successor is chosen and in place as the 12th bishop of the Diocese of Jackson.

I give thanks to our loving God for your apostolic ministry as the successor of St. Peter in the first year of your pontificate during this Jubilee of Hope. May the Lord continue to bless and prosper your Petrine ministry for many more years.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
+Joseph R. Kopacz
Bishop of Jackson

Indeed, some birthdays are more significant than others. In a counter-intuitive way, there is a sense of freedom in not knowing when the resignation will be accepted. “Therefore, keep watch, for you know not the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13) is the wisdom of the Lord Jesus in the Gospels.

This is the familiar spirituality of Advent – a blessing and a reminder that the gift of time is finite, and the work in the vineyard of the Lord awaits with the dawn of each new day.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The Jubilee of Hope has defined Pope Leo XIV’s first 100 days and will continue to be front and center in the early stages of his papacy until the Holy Door is closed on the Feast of the Epiphany in 2026. Eventually, the Holy Father will travel to the ends of the Earth, but for now pilgrims from every country where the Catholic Church has pitched its tent are flocking to Rome in Jubilee faith, hope and love.
Throughout May, June and July, Pope Leo embraced them in the love of God. In an extraordinary way, the Jubilee Year has seamlessly witnessed the transition from the Ignatian Francis to the Augustinian Leo.

Recall that Pope Francis departed this world on Easter Monday, the day after the great day of hope, and his last public appearance was his Urbi et Orbi papal blessing on Easter Sunday. Since his installation one month later as the successor of Peter, Leo XIV has wrapped himself in the banner of hope, praying for peace and unity in the world and in the church in order to create a civilization of love.

The Holy Father’s preaching and teaching are directed to the hearts and minds of all people, but especially to those who have been baptized into the body of Christ and are on the path of discipleship. His words are both a message of consolation and encouragement, as well as a call to conversion and mission.

Among his many noteworthy addresses was his message to a packed stadium on the South Side of Chicago. On this occasion, Pope Leo was beamed in from Rome to the faithful gathered at Rate Field – home of the Chicago White Sox – for the celebration of the Eucharist – a Mass of Thanksgiving in the Archdiocese of Chicago for their native son’s emergence as the successor of Peter. Cardinal Cupich imaginatively dubbed his message the “Sermon on the Mound.” The occasion was one of a kind, but his message was universal.

After words of greeting, the Holy Father rejoiced to celebrate on the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the source of all unity, love and peace. “I begin with that because the Trinity is a model of God’s love for us. God: Father, Son and Spirit. Three persons in one God live united in the depth of love, in community, sharing that communion with all of us.”

During his address, the Holy Father spoke directly to the young people gathered in the stadium and to their peers participating online. It is a powerful message of hope, which I quote in large part: “I’d like to send a special word of greeting to all the young people – those of you gathered together today, and many of you who are perhaps watching this greeting through technological means, on the internet. As you grow up together, you may realize, especially having lived through the time of the pandemic – times of isolation, great difficulty, sometimes even difficulties in your families, or in our world today.

“Sometimes it may be that the context of your life has not given you the opportunity to live the faith, to live as participants in a faith community, and I’d like to take this opportunity to invite each one of you to look into your own hearts, to recognize that God is present and that, perhaps in many different ways, God is reaching out to you, calling you, inviting you to know his Son Jesus Christ, through the Scriptures, perhaps through a friend or a relative … a grandparent, who might be a person of faith. But to discover how important it is for each one of us to pay attention to the presence of God in our own hearts, to that longing for love in our lives, for … searching, a true searching, for finding the ways that we may be able to do something with our own lives to serve others.”

In his reflection, Pope Leo addressed every generation in the People of God to know their dignity as God’s children, to personally know the Lord Jesus as a friend, and to embrace the call to be ambassadors for hope in this world. “So, I would like to invite all of you to take a moment, to open up your own hearts to God, to God’s love, to that peace which only the Lord can give us. To feel how deeply beautiful, how strong, how meaningful the love of God is in our lives. And to recognize that while we do nothing to earn God’s love, God in his own generosity continues to pour out his love upon us. And as he gives us his love, he only asks us to be generous and to share what he has given us with others.”

In other words, play ball in the stadium of God’s kingdom.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The celebration of the Lord’s resurrection during the Easter season always bears the marks of resurgent life in the church as well as in the natural world around us. Beginning with the Easter Vigil, the waters of Baptism, the anointing with chrism, the proclamation of the Word of God, and the reception of the Body and Blood of the Lord are the ordinary and extraordinary ways that our parish communities flourish as members of the Body of Christ. The hope and joy that arise from the love of risen Lord take root all around us.

In this light it’s evident that the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV have deepened our experience of the rhythms of the Paschal mystery in the Easter season.

The passing of Pope Francis after 12 years as the Holy Father evoked a world-wide outpouring of loving gratitude on behalf of this spiritual leader whose prophetic voice inspired many within the church and beyond. The funeral liturgy and the accompanying solemn rites and processions placed the church on the world stage for an extended period of time proclaiming to all participants and observers the essence of our faith and hope in the one crucified and risen from the dead.

That Francis embodied the mind and heart of the Good Shepherd through words and gestures, through teaching and evangelizing, and through his stature as the voice of conscience and human rights across the globe, was evident in responses from across life’s spectrum, including both heads of state, and homeless. Let our hope-filled prayers from the funeral liturgy accompany this servant of God. “May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come to greet you on the way, and take you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem. May choirs of angels welcome you and lead you to the bosom of Abraham; and where Lazarus is poor no longer may you find eternal rest.”

After pausing for a suitable time of mourning and allowing the cardinal electors the opportunity to settle in and prepare for the conclave, the 24-hour news cycle kicked in once again. From churchmen to Vegas oddsmakers there was considerable speculation over who would emerge as the 267th pope.

The 700-year-old tradition of conclave was explored and dissected in every conceivable way, and indeed it gripped the imagination. Even far more impressive was the reality that the 130+ cardinals represented 71 countries, walking proof of the global Catholic Church. But would the conclave drag on, or would it be over in a matter of two to three days, its duration in recent elections, was a repeated question? The thousands of people who joyfully and prayerfully gathered in St. Peter’s Square to await the white smoke and the pealing bells represented countless others from around the globe who remained vigilant in prayer and joyful hope. At last, the moment arrived. Habemus Papam!

To the surprise of most who were glued to the proceedings, the church is celebrating the first American pope. It seems that the oddsmakers didn’t factor in the impact of the Holy Spirit.

We are at the beginning of a new day in the center of the Catholic Church with the election of Pope Leo XIV, the former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. His Augustinian religious community, and the nations of Peru and the United States along with the entire Catholic world rejoice to welcome him as the successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, the Bishop of Rome, and the Servant of the Servants of God. The name of Leo is profoundly significant for our times and speaks volumes regarding our Holy Father’s hopes and dreams for our church and world.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The following words of the prophet Isaiah resonate throughout the Easter season from the Sunday of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from through to Pentecost. ““Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (43:19)

Sometimes it is difficult to perceive the hand of Providence in our lives because God also said through the prophet, that “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)

Let’s revisit the essential narratives of our Catholic faith. Something new was springing forth at the Last Supper when the Lord did the unthinkable in the washing of his disciples’ feet, followed by the unimaginable in his pronouncement that the bread and wine at the Passover Meal would forever be his body and blood at the Eucharist. Of course, they were unable to perceive it, nor comprehend it, and this was just the beginning of what would be a nightmare to follow. The suffering, torture, and crucifixion of the one who loved them with the heart of God shattered the foundations of their lives and scattered them to the four winds.

For them it was dreadfully obvious that it was the end of an amazing three-year run. Let’s go fishing. Wait! Another shoot from the stump of Jesse was about to break forth. Could they not perceive that God was doing something radically new?

Of course not, at least not at the entrance of an empty tomb. They were still numb, incredulous, non-believing, and afraid for their lives. Then the unexpected began to happen in the Lord’s resurrection appearances. Over time, the apostles and the company of disciples, women and men, became the new creations that God had intended when the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. We have 50 days to savor this miracle and mystery in the beloved appearances to the apostles huddled in fear in the upper room, to Mary Magdalene in the garden, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, to the apostles gone fishing, or on the road back to Galilee, etc.

With the resurrection of the Lord time and eternity embrace. In this divine union Sacred Scriptures proclaim that “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (2Peter 3:8) It’s a blessing to consider that we are only at the beginning of the third day since the crucifixion and resurrection, and that Easter 2025 is as charged with the grandeur of God in the risen Lord as was that first morning.

God is constantly at work on behalf of our salvation inviting us to go from countless shades of shadows and darkness into his own marvelous light. We are called to be pilgrims of hope during this Jubilee Year and the risen Lord seeks to roll away the stone and enter through the locked doors of our minds and hearts in order to be the community of believers God desires. During his time on earth, Pope Francis reminded us that patience and perseverance are the handmaids of hope, especially during difficult times when suffering darkens our senses and spirit. Although the hand of Providence is all around us, we may not perceive the invitation to new life because the seeds have fallen on rocky ground or on the busy footpath or among the thorns that choke the young shoots of faith and hope. Pope Francis reminded that our God is the God of encouragement and perseverance on behalf of our salvation.

On this weekend of Divine Mercy, the culmination of the Easter Octave, praying with and for one another, let us proclaim in Easter faith and hope, Jesus, I trust in you!