FROM THE CARDINAL

SUMMER 2018

ALL FAMILIES HAVE UPS AND DOWNS: joy and grief, harmony and discord. But in the end, the experience of family comes down to a single principle: the power of love. Speaking in Philadelphia during his 2015 visit, our holy father Pope Francis put it this way: “In families, sometimes the plates fly; sometimes the children give us headaches. ... There are difficulties, but these difficulties are overcome with love. Hate doesn’t overcome any difficulty. Division of hearts doesn’t overcome any difficulty. Only love is capable of overcoming difficulties. Love is a festival. Love is joy. Love is to keep moving forward."

As I reflect on the Summer 2018 issue of Archways, with its emphasis on family, I am struck that nearly every page shows signs of love. The love of husband and wife. The love of parents for their children and children for their parents. The love of grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins. Our love for one another in parish communities, as Catholics, as New Yorkers ... as human beings.

Love is evident in the work of volunteers helping neighbors in need, coaches and catechists mentoring and spiritually forming our youth, and pastors, parents, teachers and youth ministers helping teens through difficult times. It’s the job of the Church to nurture love here on earth and make it grow by shining the light of God’s love into every corner of our lives. When families stop participating in their faith – because they’re busy, because it’s inconvenient or it’s hard to get out the door, or even just because they don’t feel like it that week – they are missing out on the light of God’s love. God still loves them, of course! But they are not making the most of that gift and its power to heal and bind the family.

Which means that we here at the Archdiocese of New York have another job: to get the word out to parents that faith is freeing, not burdensome; that it gives us strength and wisdom to deal with challenges and a deep reserve of love to counter conflict and despair. That the time and effort and love that you invest in your parish and your community will be richly rewarded.

I hope that, as you read through this issue, LOVE comes through loud and clear. God is there for you in times of joy and crisis, loss and gain; through marriage, parenthood, and beyond – and so are we. So keep in mind the words of Jesus (John 15:12): “Love each other as I have loved you.”

Don’t be a stranger.
 

Faithfully in Christ,
Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan
Archbishop of New York