Brothers in Christ,

Years ago, when I had the blessing to coach high-school football, we often lined up against teams with far more natural talent. They were bigger, faster, deeper. On paper, we shouldn’t have had a chance. But like our coaching staff, our boys showed up early, stayed late, learned every assignment, studied game film, and played for one another. What we lacked in raw ability, we made up for in commitment, preparation, and love. Time and again, that preparation changed the outcome.

Advent works the same way. God is not asking us to be the most gifted, but to be the most prepared, men who clear space in their hearts so Christ can work through them.

In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist bursts onto the scene with the same intensity as a strong, no-nonsense football coach, the kind who isn’t there to flatter or entertain but to get his players ready for the game of their lives. John doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He calls the people to repentance, to straighten the crooked paths, to strip away excuses, and to return to God’s plan. Like every good coach, he sees what his people can become and refuses to let them settle for less.

John’s courage went even further: he defended God’s original vision for marriage and family, speaking truth even when it cost him dearly. His entire mission was preparation, getting hearts ready to meet the Messiah.

Brothers, this is our mission as well. The work our office has been advancing these past months, strengthening messages for marriage and family life, building the PEER Support–Resiliency initiative, building unity with apostolates like FOCUS, deepening unity among regions, expanding ongoing formation, instituting our own social media this week, to name a few, is not extra. It is the practical way we “make straight the Lord’s paths” in the Archdiocese.

Most of your ministry happens behind the scenes: baptism prep, marriage accompaniment, hospital visits, funerals, homilies, late-night emergencies, administrative burdens. None of that is wasted. These daily acts, unseen by most, are the very drills, conditioning, and discipline of Advent readiness. They are how God trains us to be faithful servants and prepares His people to encounter Christ.

John the Baptist reminds us that God is not impressed by titles but by fruit, the visible signs of grace at work in our ministry and in the people we serve.

As we move deeper into Advent, may we commit ourselves anew to prepare well, serve boldly, and love fiercely, so that when the Lord comes, He finds us ready for Him.

In Christ the Servant + Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Receive + Believe + Teach + Practice