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September 25, 2026Dear Parish Family,
Today, Pope Leo XIV spoke to UNESCO, the United Nations body for education, science and culture. Before diplomats and scholars from around the world, he asked a question that sounds simple but isn't: What does it mean to be human? His answer is meant for us as much as for them.
He begins here: to be human is to be a child. None of us chose our birth. We came into the world naked and in need, depending on the love of others. Because we all received life as a gift, we are all brothers and sisters, and we owe one another care. When we forget where we came from, we start treating people as commodities: valued for what they produce, and discarded when they stop producing.
The Holy Father names what drives this today: war, exploitation, and technologies that judge people by efficiency. He also names a world full of information but short on wisdom. These harms are real. But he is just as honest about where they begin: "The corruption of the law begins with the corruption of the heart." The problem is not only out there. It is also in here, in each of us.
He then turns to two stories from Scripture. At the Tower of Babel, people tried to reach heaven by their own power and forced everyone into one mold, and the tower collapsed into confusion and division. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down, and everyone heard the Good News of the Resurrection in their own language. Babel is unity by domination. Pentecost is communion that honors each person. The Church is meant to be a Pentecost people.
How do we know whether we are? Pope Leo gives us a test: how we treat "the littlest and the poor." He means the unborn, children caught in war, people with disabilities, the elderly, migrants and refugees, and anyone written off as unproductive. He doesn't let us choose among them. Together they are one test.
Here are a few ways to respond this month:
- Examine your heart. Ask where you have treated someone as useful or useless, and bring it to Confession.
- Protect the vulnerable close to home. Visit someone who is homebound, call an elderly relative, or welcome a newcomer at Mass.
- Guard your family's digital life. Talk with your children about what they see online, put the phones away at dinner, and check that something is true before you share it.
- Reconcile. If there is someone you have stopped speaking to, take one step toward them.
- Pray for peace, especially in places at war.
This message rings true for us at St. Benedict the Moor. Our history teaches what it costs when a person's dignity is denied. Our honesty also tells us we are not yet where we need to be, as a parish or as individuals. Both are true, and neither is the last word. The last word belongs to the Risen Christ, who "fully reveals humanity to itself" and whose grace is stronger than any grievance or shame.
"We are not journeying toward oblivion," the Pope said. We are children of one Father, on our way home. Let's walk that road together.
In Christ,
Fr. Matthew Hawkins
Pastor, St. Benedict the Moor Parish