Welcome Home Sunday!

At this past Wednesday’s General Audience, Pope Leo XIV said, “The liturgical year is not a static representation of past events, but an encounter with Christ Himself, who desires to immerse His people in the mysteries of the history of salvation.” The heart of Welcome Home Sunday isn’t just asking someone back into a building, or even back into a habit. We are inviting everyone into an encounter with the living Christ, who still speaks, heals, nourishes, and sends His people forth. The Holy Father continued: “To sanctify Sunday, it is fundamental to celebrate the Eucharist. Listening to the Word and partaking of the Body of Christ entails … the coming together in one, that is, the joyful gathering of the faithful. In this assembly, the Christian community makes visible its communion with the Lord and bears witness to its belonging to Christ and its fidelity to the Church.”