What the Pope Told Me

As a member of the Catholic Charities USA Board of Directors, I had the opportunity to travel to Rome this spring for a private audience with our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. It was my first time traveling to the Vatican, to Rome, or even to Italy. In his address, the Holy Father shared a message of hope and encouragement for the work of Catholic Charities across the United States, as we continue the essential tradition of our faith: caring for the poor. He reminded us that "love for our neighbor is tangible proof of the authenticity of our love for God" (Dilexi Te, 26).

Three times in his address, he returned to the words of Christ: “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20). Those words have stayed with me as a point of reflection over these last few months, in particular the way Christ remains with us in the lives of the poor, and the way Pope Leo, in that audience, so clearly named the work of Catholic Charities as part of Christ’s ongoing presence in the world.

I share this reflection because I believe this truth belongs to all of us: the donors whose generosity makes our mission possible, the volunteers who give their hands and hours, and the staff who show up for our neighbors in need every single day.

I Am With You Always: The Poor

On May 4th, our Catholic Charities USA Board of Directors had the privilege of a private audience with Pope Leo XIV in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, where he delivered a message directly to us about the work we carry out in his name across the United States. He told us plainly that our work matters, not just as a social service, but as an extension of Christ’s own presence in the world. He said, “The practical assistance that you and your partner agencies offer the disadvantaged allows them to experience God’s love through you, and opens a path for them to enter into a lasting relationship with God. At the same time, it enables you to come into contact with the flesh of Christ by seeking to see and serve him in our brothers and sisters (cf. Mt 25:31–46). In this way, your works of charity become a mutual encounter with the Lord who is present among us.”

He did not speak to us in vague generalities. He named plainly how hard this work actually is.

Drawing on the account of the early Church in Acts 6, he acknowledged that the proclamation of the Gospel through caring for the poor will always present “certain difficulties on both the personal and the institutional levels”: finding sufficient resources, demonstrating to others that this type of service is an integral part of authentic Christian living, and not giving way to discouragement, particularly when we meet those whom we cannot help in the way that we would like. He told us directly that he is “fully aware that the Catholic Charities agencies in the United States of America are by no means immune from these challenges.”

I have to admit, hearing the Holy Father speak so candidly about the weight our staff and volunteers carry, about the days when the need outpaces what we can give, was itself a kind of grace. He was not romanticizing our work. He was standing with us in it.

And it is precisely when we are confronted with such obstacles, he said, that we must learn to hear Christ’s voice again: “I am with you always!” He reminded us that Christ still draws near to accompany his disciples “especially in moments of frustration and doubt, as he did with Saint Thomas the Apostle, with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.” Christ meeting people not in their strength, but in their struggle. That is a word for every staff member managing a caseload too large for one person, every volunteer who wonders if what they’re doing is enough, and every donor unsure if a single gift can really make a difference. It can. And Christ is present in it.

Pope Leo went on to say that it must be “the charity of Christ” that compels us in our daily work (cf. 2 Cor 5:14), not obligation, not even goodwill alone, but “the desire to bring to others material aid with the love of the heart of Jesus, for it is in that love that they will find genuine rest and their dignity will be respected.” He reminded us that authentically loving our neighbor means offering more than assistance; it means “offering them the possibility of a true encounter with God.” That is what happens every day at Catholic Charities of Acadiana, through the hands of the people who make our mission possible.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that our final judgment will rest on how much or how little we did for him in the disguise of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. Pope Leo pointed our board to that same passage (cf. Mt 25:31–46): Christ’s continued presence in our lives today comes through the lives of the poor, and it is our privilege, not merely our obligation, to seek him out there.

He closed by returning once more to Christ’s promise, urging us to “allow the hope of Easter to break into our lives and to guide our service.”

And then he did something I will not forget: he imparted his Apostolic Blessing and extended it “to all the agencies associated with Catholic Charities USA,” which means to Catholic Charities of Acadiana, and to every staff member, volunteer, and donor who carries out this mission alongside us. The Holy Father blessed you, specifically, that day in Rome, even though he may never meet you. That is how seriously the universal Church regards this work, your work.

This is the truth I most want to share with our donors, volunteers, and staff. Every meal served, every family housed, and every home repaired through Catholic Charities of Acadiana is not simply a service delivered; it is an encounter with Christ himself. When you give, when you volunteer your time, when you show up to do this work day after day, you are not just helping people in need. You are meeting Jesus, present among us, exactly where he promised he would be, and Pope Leo wanted us to know that the universal Church sees and treasures that work.

What I Personally Carried Home

I returned home to the work of Catholic Charities of Acadiana with a renewed sense of gratitude for the chance to be part of this ministry, caring for the suffering of Christ in the poor of our own community.

I returned with the consolation that our work here is united with Pope Leo and the universal Church, and that what we do locally is part of something much larger than ourselves.

I returned refreshed by the fraternity I felt with fellow board members and counterparts who carry out this same ministry in communities across the United States and across the world through Caritas Internationalis.

I returned with a deepened joy, having encountered God in a new way that enriched my own faith, and that I hope, through this reflection, to share with you.

And I returned with a renewed sense of responsibility: to those in our care, and to the staff, volunteers, and donors who make that care possible. This mission is not mine alone, or even Pope Leo’s alone. It belongs to all of us: everyone who gives, everyone who serves, everyone who believes that Christ is present in the poor and asks to be sought out there. 

Thank you for being part of it, and for allowing Christ to remain with us always, through you.