The following is a portion of a reflection provided by Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on June 16, 2025 on behalf of the bishops of the United States. View the full text at www.usccb.org/news/2025.

“… No one can turn a deaf ear to the palpable cries of anxiety and fear heard in communities throughout the country in the wake of a surge in immigration enforcement actions.

Recently, I came across a short video on YouTube that looked and sounded like Pope Leo, but after checking its authenticity, it turns out to be an AI generated clip. This is just one example of how many of us can be deceived when people and organizations disseminate deceptive messages, untruths, or half-truths to advance their own agenda. It can cause you and I to be suspicious of just about everything we see, hear, and read these days.

Next Sunday, June 22, the Catholic Church around the world will celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, traditionally known as "Corpus Christi" - Latin for the Body of Christ. This feast's origins go back to the 13th century and not long after that, a tradition of processing with the Holy Eucharist was started. In many Catholic countries, it has been a regular practice. However, in our own country, it has not been very common to have a Corpus Christi procession. But, a growing number of parishes here in the U.S. are reviving the practice.

The Sunday, we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, the event when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus’ disciples in a special way to empower them to continue His mission of proclaiming the Good News to the world. Each of us fully initiated Catholics have experienced our own Pentecost event when we received the Sacrament of Confirmation and were bestowed the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord – which means revering God by offering Him due worship and devotion.

We’re fragile, vulnerable people who have a knack for making life look easy. It’s when we’re very young, very old, disabled or we get sick that it becomes difficult to project an image of self-reliance and complete independence. Yet, in reality, we’re all dependent, all subject to weakness when we face our limitations and have to acknowledge that we’re not ultimately in charge, that we’re not perfect. This realization is humbling and yet very healthy for us as Christians. Compassion springs from such awareness; it also engenders a sharpened sensitivity to the needs of others.