My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 

Since my public schedule is printed in Catholic Times, many people are aware of my many activities as a bishop and comment on the number of commitments that I have every week. Nevertheless, I thought it would be good to do a year in review to give an overview of my ministry during this past calendar year.

A good deal of my time as diocesan bishop involves working behind the scenes, such as  meeting with our various consultative bodies. For example, we have a Presbyteral Council (whose members are all priests), a Diocesan Pastoral Council (whose members are mostly lay people), and a Diocesan Finance Council (with both clergy and laity as members). I meet with our Priests Personnel Board to make sure that we have priests assigned to provide for the pastoral care of all of our parishes and special ministries. There is also an endless stream of email messages and correspondence.

In terms of my public ministry, one of my most important duties that I perform throughout the year is administering the sacraments of confirmation and first holy Communion, with most of them taking place now at our Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield. I celebrated 21 of these Masses for 99 of our parishes during calendar year 2024, during which I confirmed and gave first holy Communion to 1,129 people, mostly children in third grade, who are now fully initiated members of the Catholic Church. I also confirmed 30 adults from across our diocese at the Cathedral on Pentecost Sunday.

Throughout the year I made pastoral visits to 15 parishes and administered confirmation and first holy Communion at seven of these parishes. In addition to celebrating the regular Sunday Masses and greeting parishioners, my parish pastoral visits also include a joint meeting with the parish pastoral council, finance council, and school board (if the parish has a school). These pastoral visits give me an excellent opportunity to hear about all the good things that are happening in our parishes to implement our Fourth Diocesan Synod. My parish pastoral visits also provide an opportunity for me to share my hopes and my vision as your bishop for the future of our diocese, building on and implementing our Diocesan Synod held in 2017 on the theme of discipleship and stewardship.

As a successor of the Apostles, a bishop also has responsibilities for the universal Church beyond the local diocese. I started the year in January attending the SEEK24 Conference of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students with nearly 20,000 participants in St. Louis. Then I travelled to Nigeria to visit the family of Father Peter Chineke, whom I ordained to the priesthood for our diocese in 2020. It was my first time in Africa, and it was a wonderful and memorable experience.

In May, I ordained five fine new priests for our diocese: Fathers Alex McCullough, Daniel McGrath, Troy Niemerg, Bruce Scott, and Jayke White. 

In June, our meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops took place in Louisville, Ky. 

In July, the western leg of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage came through our diocese the week before the National Eucharistic Congress, which was attended by 60,000 people in Indianapolis. Also in July, I spoke at the Napa Institute Summer Conference in Napa, Calif.

In August, I was with 2,500 people at the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention in Québec City, Canada. 

In October, Father Dominic Rankin and I traveled to Portland, Ore., where he ran the full marathon, and I ran the half-marathon with the LIFE Runners. Then I was back in Louisville to deliver the St. John Fisher Lecture at the Annual Conference of the Catholic Bar Association. The following week I was in Albuquerque, N.M., to speak at the Annual Meeting of the Canon Law Society of America, where I received their Role of Law Award. Also in October, I went to Burlington, Vt., for the Board of Directors meeting of the Bishops’ Plan Insurance Company, for which I serve as Episcopal Moderator. 

Our November meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops took place as usual in Baltimore, as I continued into the second year of my three-year term as Chairman of the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance.

This fall semester, I taught Health Care Issues in Canon Law for Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Fla.; however, I taught this class online and unfortunately not in person!

As we approach a new year, our nation is deeply divided. During our nation’s Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was asked which side God was on since both sides were praying to God. Lincoln answered, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” That is good advice to keep in mind as our nation and our world seek to heal our current divisions.

I pray that the Holy Family of Nazareth will bring peace to the world, especially the Holy Land and Ukraine. May God bless you and your family this Christmas and throughout the New Year!  

May God give us this grace. Amen.