Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and other speakers at a Steubenville Youth Conference inspired 1,800 Catholic teenagers to live their faith openly. Cardinal Dolan charmed the youth with his trademark sense of humor early on in his homily.
"I'm a little uncomfortable today having Mass in a gym," he said, gesturing toward his stomach, "because I don't go to gyms very often. That's all right, because nowhere are we more at home than to gather around the table of Jesus Christ."
The cardinal preached about St. Dominic's work with the Albigensians, a 12th-century sect.
"They had such a lofty concept of God, and they just went off the wrong track," he said. "(They thought), 'How could God leave heaven and enter this stupid, sinful, corrupt, dirty world?' They said, 'This Incarnation is a big, fat lie, and we don't believe it. God could not have been conceived in the womb of a woman. God could not have sweated and cried and been nailed to a cross.'"
Eventually, St. Dominic convinced the Albigensians the Incarnation was real.
St. Dominic also created the rosary, Cardinal Dolan said, to let Mary complete his task for him.
"If we could restore Mary to the minds and imaginations of people, then we'll have no trouble restoring the truth of the Incarnation," he said. "Mary prevents God from being a myth or just a nice idea or a concept."
In the quiet, dusty corners of our hearts, we often harbor blueprint drafts of how we think our lives should unfold. We carefully map out our timelines, hoping for a smooth path, and it is only natural to feel a bit lost or weary when a sudden storm alters our course or a door we prayed would open remains closed. Yet, our Lord does not stand at a distance during these moments of uncertainty; He is a tender Shepherd who walks beside us, gently whispering, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" ( Jeremiah 29:11). When our own plans crumble, it is not a sign that He has abandoned us, but rather an invitation to fold our hands, release our grip on the pen, and offer our own quiet fiat—letting Him guide us into green pastures we could never have found on our own. Placing our trust in His loving providence allows us to breathe deeply and find rest, even when the road ahead is shrouded in mist. E...