News - May 2026 RSS Feed

When looking at the state of young people in the world today, it can be easy to fall into despair. In 2024, the youth ministry organization Lifeteen published a report called “The State of Catholic Youth in America”. According to data gathered for this report, the average attention span of a teenager has fallen under 8 seconds. The average teen spends 4 hours and 15 minutes per day on social media, and watches about 68 videos a day. The stats on mental health and well-being are even more troubling. In 2021, 44% of teens reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless. According to the Wall Street Journal, 4 out of 5 teens lack a sense of purpose in their life. Teens in 2023 spent 70% less time socializing with friends than teens in 2003.

This Spiritual life that we are all called to live is important for us as Christians. It is a gift, a grace of our Baptism and Confirmation. Just as the Holy Spirit dwells in the Soul of Christ Himself, so He dwells within us. The third person of the Holy Trinity is the manifestation of the Love of the Father and Son. A love so complete, where the mutual self-giving from all eternity, bears fruit in the Spirit of that love to all of creation. In Light from Light, all things are.

The Easter Season is coming to a climax—this weekend we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord and next weekend is Pentecost. These two events are closely related as Jesus tells his apostles right before he ascends to heaven: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The apostles probably felt intimidated by this mandate to go “to the end of the earth!” But after they received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost they were, indeed, empowered to give witness to Jesus wherever he sent them. And successive generations of Christians have done the same eventually establishing the Archdiocese of Denver in 1887.

The Book of the Psalms is one of the most loved books of the Old Testament. For centuries, it has served both Jewish and Christian communities as a songbook for public worship, as a prayerbook for personal devotion and as a guidebook for wise living. Today’s responsorial psalm is described as a thanksgiving psalm. Psalm 66 was sung in the Jewish temple annually at the New Year feast when the ark of the Lord was installed anew in its place. This was met with shouts of joy and prayerful gratitude to the Lord.

After reading today's Gospel, I had to be honest with myself: I was just like Thomas. I grew up Catholic my entire life, and I have spent the last 21 years learning and teaching the faith. Yet I still ask almost the same question as Thomas: “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” I even know Jesus’ answer to Thomas’ question, and I still struggle at times to understand how I ought to follow Jesus.