Monday Message, October 27, 2025
KNOW
This memo goes to all pastors today, so that you know.
To track your catechists in Catechists 2.0, go to LEAD, then My Learners, then filter by Groups, and choose Catechist 2.0. From there, you can add additional filters and see whether people are authorized to serve (have completed formation and are VIRTUS-compliant) or need a gentle nudge. If you have people who are teaching and are not yet enrolled in formation (you shouldn’t), share this link with them.
All Advent resources are now online, including the digital calendar image for you to print if you missed your share of the 10,000 we printed. Click here for details.
The Bishop will meet with more parents next week. Have you spread the word? So far, more than 300 parents have engaged with the bishop.
Want to learn more about Dilexi te, the new apostolic exhortation by Pope Leo? Look no further than right here.
From our friends at Ave Maria Press—if you are interested in their latest sale (which sounds fantastic), you can read the email they sent here.
Our friends at Luminous (Women’s Health and Wellness) have asked us to share this information about an upcoming event. You can learn more about the great work they are doing here.
All catechists are invited to participate in a Retreat. Spanish in November. English in February. Two locations. Two chances to participate. Details are available on the Institute calendar. To encourage participation in the Spanish retreats this November, please use this ad or this ad in your bulletins.
REFLECT
When he met with the young people last week, Fr. Rob Galea reminded us of something we had either forgotten or perhaps never heard. Psalm 40:11. In some translations, it shows up as 46:10.
We can recite it by heart: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
When we read it, we probably think of being quiet before God, contemplating the many gifts and wonders He has given. We think of the beach or serene landscapes. We think of rest, letting go. We think of peace.
But that is not what the passage means. After hearing Fr. Rob, I did a little more research.
The passage is about war. It starts with the great promise that God is the refuge of His people, where they can find protection from that which endangers them. Read just before this passage, and you will see the nations raging against God before moving to God’s responses of bringing destruction upon the earth and the nations.
The setting is a battlefield. In this war, God protects His people and brings the nations into submission. In this psalm, God enters the fray of the raging nations and tells them to pipe down. Like a parent stopping an argument among the children, he raises His voice (or doesn’t) and speaks.
Shut up. Be quiet. Please stop it.
And let me be God.
That is the literal translation. That is the instruction. It’s not “sit quietly and reflect on the peaceful sunset.” No, it is, “Shut your mouth. I am in charge.”
God rules. God conquers. God enters the battlefield and stops the fighting.
We could do with a little more of that these days.
I hope you have a great week.
LAUGH
