Prophets Of A Future Not Our Own
In an age of ego-driven activism, the Gospel reminds us that Christians are not the protagonists of history — Jesus is.
Dear friends —
To my surprise, the Advent Reflection Series became one of the most widely read and shared parts of Letters from Leo in 2025.
Many of you wrote to tell me that these reflections helped steady your hearts during a difficult year for our nation — one marked by political division, anxiety, and real moral uncertainty.
Because of that response, I’ve decided to make these reflections a permanent part of this work.
Beginning this year, I’m publishing a weekly Sunday reflection grounded in the Mass readings — offering a clear-eyed way to follow Jesus amid today’s political realities, not by retreating from public life or baptizing any ideology, but by letting the Gospel shape our conscience, courage, and compassion.
These reflections will be available to all paid subscribers, as a small but sincere way of saying thank you for making Letters from Leo possible.
Letters from Leo is open to anyone who wants to be informed and inspired by our pope — and to turn that inspiration into action that leaves America and the world more just, less cold, and more alive with hope.
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Thank you for reading. I’ll see you on the road.
“Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. — (cf. Psalm 40:7-8)
As we return to Ordinary Time, the Church has us revisit Jesus’ baptism. We celebrated that event last Sunday, yet today we hear it again — this time through John the Baptist’s eyes. This repetition shows that it is foundational: the gateway of our faith and the start of Jesus’ public mission.
It only gives us a sense of how we too are to exercise of our own public ministry.
John the Baptist’s humility is striking. After completing his mission of preparing the way, John steps aside for Jesus. One might expect someone so close to the Messiah to have a place of honor, but John never seeks that.
He did not join Jesus’s Twelve; instead, he stayed in the wilderness, content to decrease so that Christ might increase. John did not cling to status or bind people to himself. He instead pointed others to Jesus, then stepped off the stage.
John’s example teaches the freedom in self-giving service. It’s natural to get attached to our roles and the recognition that comes with doing good. When we work for justice or serve in ministry, we often cast ourselves as protagonists. But truly following Jesus means remembering that we are not the lead actors — Jesus is.
We are witnesses to a mission greater than ourselves. Like the Baptist, our calling is to point others to Christ, not to make a name for ourselves but to be collaborators in his mission to remake the world into God’s kingdom of justice, mercy, and peace.
Today’s responsorial psalm sums it up: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”
But John also shows us something more — a deeper way of recognizing who Jesus truly is, and how his mission reshapes our own public witness in concrete, demanding ways.
That’s where today’s Gospel presses hardest. Here’s what I mean.
