This month marks the one-year anniversary of the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope. It has been exciting following our very own American-born Pope through his first year – although what has most edified me is that Leo XIV has not allowed himself to be pigeonholed as an “American Pope.” He is a missionary who belongs first to the Lord and, for his sake, to the entire world.

It is in faith that we learn of the hidden, invisible dynamics of the supernatural realm, the divine wind that breathes heaven through our soul into creation, and the most important reality of our lives: God loves us, God is with us, God will never give up on us.

I was struck by the pressures and anxieties experienced by young people today, and by the number of times the speakers tried to convince them to believe in God’s personal, unconditional love. I started to wonder why this message was being repeated with such insistence. It seemed a little cheesy. Doesn’t God’s love go without saying?