How will your life impact the future of Catholicism?

Saint Sylvester I became a pope at an incredibly important time in history. Constantine had just made Christianity legal, and Sylvester knew what that meant: It was time to get to work.

He began planning and construction on many of the great basilicas of Rome, like the Basilica of Saint Paul and the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. He organized baptisms and ordinations. He fought against heresies like Arianism. He worked tirelessly to spread the faith. 

But the work Sylvester I did isn’t over—the Church still needs people like you to step up, look around, and get to work. 

As we look to the future, there are a great many challenges that face the Church: Our parishes are emptying; we lack real contact with the youth; divorce is destroying families, dividing communities, and alienating whole families from Catholicism for generations to come; vocations to the priesthood and religious life are scarce . . . 

As a Church, we have failed to show so many of our own people how Jesus, the sacraments, the Gospel, the Eucharist, and Catholic spirituality in general can ease their pain, make them whole again, and bring meaning and purpose to their lives.

Certainly, we can become proud and obstinate and put our heads in the sand and say, “That’s their problem.” Or we can seek shallow consolation in the knowledge that “the gates of hell will not prevail.” (Matthew 16:18) 

But God doesn’t just want us to survive. God wants us to thrive. Are you thriving? Or are you just surviving? Is the Church thriving? Or is it just surviving? An honest look at ourselves and our Church is in order. And if we have the courage to take an honest look at the Church, the

role we play in it, and the challenges facing it today, we will discover that Jesus is renewing his Church at this very moment, even if we do not have the eyes to see that. In every place and time, Jesus invites us to live the faith in more personal and intimate ways through vibrant and active community.

Your future, my future, and the future of the Church are all intimately related to one another. It is people like you and me who make up the Church. If the Church is not thriving, it is because you and I are not thriving.

The mission of the Church in this age is to share the life-giving gift of the Gospel with the people of our time. This is your mission. This is our mission together, and now is our time. We are the Church.

Are you willing to do your part?



Feast Day: December 31

Feast Day Shared By: Saints Donata, Paulina, and Hilary, and Saint Melany

Patron Saint of: The Order of the Golden Spur

Symbols: A Bull and Dragon