Dear Christ the King Family,
Blessings on the start of Summer for all of you! We had an incredibly joyful Field Day and last day of school for our students on the first Thursday of the month, and I want to extend many thanks to those HASA members, parents, and teachers who shared their time to make it a memorable sendoff for the kids! I pray for safety in your travels if you’re going on vacation in the upcoming months as well. You probably heard the news already because it was widely publicized even in secular media outlets, that on May 25th, our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV issued his first encyclical letter, titled Magnifica Humanitas. It is a comprehensive encyclical on the emergent technology of Artificial Intelligence which is certainly a pressing topic for us in today’s day and age. I’m grateful that the Pope has chosen to address a topic that has sparked much debate and uncertainty in recent years. Personally, I’m about halfway through reading the encyclical and I have found it to be well-spoken and clear in naming the issues and challenges we’re facing. The first two chapters of the encyclical are also an impressive summary of almost 140 years of Catholic Social Teaching, so this encyclical is a great place to start if this entire branch of Church teaching is new to you.
My biggest encouragement first is to make an effort to take the time to read the encyclical for yourself. More than any news summary or online influencer’s opinion, the most important way Church teaching like this ends up moving hearts and transforming into action is for God’s Church to speak directly to us through our personal reading first. Opinions from others online or in-person are helpful to supplement that, but I think that should always come after we use the gift of our minds and understanding that God has given us to the best of our abilities. I’m excited to say that I’ll be offering an opportunity for a reading group for Magnifica Humanitas starting in July, and more details will come out in a few weeks. If you search ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ online, you’ll find the full text for the encyclical on the Vatican website, and it’s also available to download as a PDF.
Encyclicals aren’t always easy to read and can be packed with a lot to digest and ponder even in each paragraph, but I think it’s actually important to go slow and take time to reflect. We don’t all have to be master theologians to make an effort because the truth is that anyone who, regardless of ability, tries to seek understanding through faith is already a theologian! Even in our Gospel today, we see that the mission of proclaiming the Gospel and ushering forth the Kingdom of God is an abundant harvest that requires many laborers. It can seem like a daunting and insurmountable task, but it is a task that Our Lord shares with and entrusts to all of His disciples, including those he called by name as Apostles. Those Twelve undoubtedly had different gifts, talents, personalities, and abilities—and nevertheless Jesus called them by name. And so it is with you as well. None of us have to feel we need to do it all alone (because, in humility, none of us can do it alone) and trust that our Lord Jesus Christ has called you to share in the harvest of His Gospel, in ways you might not even be able to recognize clearly right now but that the Lord sees and knows in you!
In Christ, Our King,
Fr. David
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