“He [The Lord] calls us to abandon ourselves without hesitation to the adventure that he offers us, with the intelligence and strength that comes from his Spirit, that we can receive to the extent that we empty ourselves of the things and ideas to which we are attached, in order to listen to his word.”
– Pope Leo XIV
I distinctly remember sitting in a Catholic Leadership Institute strategic planning meeting as a summer intern more than 20 years ago. We were dreaming big and asking ourselves how we could have the greatest impact on the Catholic Church. At the time, someone floated the obvious — but outlandish — notion that, to have “real impact” in the Church, one would start with the Pope. When dreams eventually turned to reality, we decided to begin by providing support to our priests, and the rest is history.
This summer, when I received word that I would have the honor of attending a private audience with our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, on an upcoming trip to Rome, I shared the news with very few people, believing that it probably wouldn’t happen. I also began preparing. Scratch that, I began obsessing. How long would I have? What would I say? What did I need to accomplish? I played through scenario after scenario during many sleepless nights. As the date approached, I confided in one mentor that I still wasn’t sure what I needed to say to meet such a momentous occasion. The response? “Dan, maybe it’s not what you need to say to His Holiness but what you need to hear for the sake of YOUR holiness.”
As I left my private audience with Pope Leo XIV and walked through the ancient halls of the Apostolic Palace, still trying to digest what I had just experienced, I couldn’t help but think about how often I want to tell the Church what I believe She needs to hear, forgetting that there’s a lot the Church wants to tell me — a lot I need to hear. Whether from my pastor or bishop, my fellow parishioners, and yes, from the Supreme Pontiff, am I willing to listen to the Church as She seeks to guide me in my life? When I seek to improve the Church, do I believe it begins by working to improve myself? How much do I embrace my own conversion before trying to make converts to my perspective or preferences?
Sitting across the table from the Successor to Peter and sharing with him about Catholic Leadership Institute will forever be a highlight of my life. His intentionality and kindness gave me great excitement for the next chapter of our Church. Let’s pray that our holiness always exceeds our expectations of His Holiness as together we “abandon ourselves without hesitation to the adventure that the Lord offers us.”
Ad multos annos!
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