Fr. Don’s Weekly Letter ~ 11 January 2026

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

One of the drawbacks of holidays is that bulletins must be prepared so far in advance to meet the printer’s deadlines. Two documents have come from Pope Leo for Christmas and the new year, his Urbi et Orbi message (“to the city and to the world”) and his message for the 59th World Day of Peace, “Peace be with you all: Towards an ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace.”

I have reprinted the first on pages 8-9 of this bulletin, but the World Day of Peace message is too long to publish. So I thought I might mention a few parts of it. You can find the entire text on the Vatican website where all documents are found: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/messages/peace/documents/20251208-messaggio-pace.html.

Peace is what we need so much of right now, and Pope Leo speaks a lot about this authentic, abiding peace that can live alongside life’s ambiguities, uncertainties, even the tragedy of war.

“The contrast between darkness and light is not only a biblical image describing the labor pains of a new world being born; it is also an experience that unsettles us and affects us amid the trials we face in our historical circumstances. In order to overcome the darkness, it is necessary to see the light and believe in it. This is a call that Jesus’ disciples are invited to live in a unique and privileged way; yet it also finds its way into every human heart. “Peace exists; it wants to dwell within us. It has the gentle power to enlighten and expand our understanding; it resists and overcomes violence. Peace is a breath of the eternal: while to evil we cry out ‘Enough,’ to peace we whisper ‘Forever.’ Into this horizon the Risen One has led us. Sustained by this conviction, even amid what Pope Francis called ‘a third world war fought piecemeal,’ peacemakers continue to resist the spread of darkness, standing as sentinels in the night.

Sadly, it is also possible to forget the light. When this happens, we lose our sense of realism and surrender to a partial and distorted view of the world, disfigured by darkness and fear. Many today call ‘realistic’ those narratives devoid of hope, blind to the beauty of others and forgetful of God’s grace, which is always at work in human hearts, even though wounded by sin. Saint Augustine urged Christians to forge an unbreakable bond with peace, so that by cherishing it deeply in their hearts, they would be able to radiate its luminous warmth around them. Addressing his community, he wrote: ‘If you wish to draw others to peace, first have it yourselves; be steadfast in peace yourselves. To inflame others, you must have the flame burning within.’

'Dear brothers and sisters, whether we have the gift of faith or feel we lack it, let us open ourselves to peace! Let us welcome it and recognize it, rather than believing it to be impossible and beyond our reach. Peace is more than just a goal; it is a presence and a journey. Even when it is endangered within us and around us, like a small flame threatened by a storm, we must protect it, never forgetting the names and stories of those who have borne witness to it. Peace is a principle that guides and defines our choices. Even in places where only rubble remains, and despair seems inevitable, we still find people who have not forgotten peace. Just as on the evening of Easter Jesus entered the place where his disciples were gathered in fear and discouragement, so too the peace of the risen Christ continues to pass through doors and barriers in the voices and faces of his witnesses. This gift enables us to remember goodness, to recognize it as victorious, to choose it again, and to do so together.”

The Lord be with you,