The Holy Oils: Marking Ministers of our God
Editor’s note: The following is the homily that Bishop Lucia gave during the Chrism Mass on March 31 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse. “You yourselves shall be named priests of the Lord, ministers of our God shall you be called” (Is. 61:6a)....
Holy Week: ‘We are invited, in this spirit, to feel all that we can feel this week’
I find it hard to believe that Holy Week is almost upon us. Yet, if we feel Lent has passed us by way too fast, we still have time for prayer and reflection. I invite all of us to use next week as a time of retreat, where in the course of eight days, we can...
How can we work for the common good of all humankind in our daily lives?
On Dec. 7, 1965, at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, St. Pope Paul VI promulgated the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et spes). In this moment of grave tension in our world, it is appropriate for us to return to this...
The wisdom and power of God
A few years ago, I was given the opportunity to visit the Holy Land. One thing I noticed as I travelled around was that it was a sandy and rocky place filled with gullies and ravines. In most instances, the gullies and ravines are relatively safe places to build a...
A pastoral message from Bishop Lucia
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Recently, I read a new work of Bishop Erik Varden, a Trappist monk and Bishop-Prelate of the Territorial Prelature of Trondheim, Norway, entitled, Towards Dawn: Essays in Hopefulness (Elk Grove Village, IL: Word on Fire,...
Statement from Bishop Douglas J. Lucia on the immigration crisis
On November 13, 2025, I issued a letter to our diocesan family when the New York State Bishops released their statement, “For You Too Once Were Aliens,” concerning the immigration situation in this country. On that occasion, I made my own these words of the New York...
The roadmap of the beatitudes for life
Dear Reader, This is a homily I prepared on the Beatitudes, and I thought I would share it with you as a steppingstone to the prayer, fasting, and charitable works of the holy season of Lent. Bishop Lucia “Seek the Lord … seek justice … seek humility … ”...
God is present — always
This is a time of year I struggle with — although I am a North Country native — winter is not my favorite time of year. Yes, I skate and ski, but the older I get, the more I mind the cold and having to bundle up so much. I share this with you because in all our lives,...
Jubilee Year of Hope comes to a close … but hope continues
Dear Diocesan Family, For the Closing Mass of the Jubilee Year of Hope on Holy Family Sunday, December 28, 2025, I had prepared a homily that spoke to the role of the family in the current world scene, using the image of a door closing and a window opening. As we open...
Christmas lasts more than one day
As I perused the December 2025 edition of “The Priest” magazine (and sadly, the last of the print edition), I came across the following byline that struck a chord with me: “Celebrating the Nativity doesn’t end by December 26.” As I proceeded, then, to read the opening...
‘For You Too Were Once Aliens …’
Bishop Lucia addresses parishioners, joins Bishops of NYS in statement about immigration Dear Diocesan Family, On Tuesday, November 4, the Church called to mind St. Charles Borromeo, a true pastor of the Church. He was known for his deep humility, zealous service of...
‘Song of Thanksgiving’
I have been on the road over the course of the last few weeks, both within the diocese and outside of it. During October, I celebrated Masses for Life at our Catholic junior/senior high schools for their students and began pastoral visits with the parish priests of...
Grace-filled disciples, bearers of hope
(Editor’s note: The following is Bishop’s homily from the Women’s Conference Mass held on Oct. 25 at the OnCenter in Syracuse) Today, dear sisters and brothers, we have gathered in this place united in our desire to grow closer to God and to one another as bearers of...
In the presence of the divine
Editor’s note: The following is from Bishop Lucia’s Oct. 12 homily, reflecting on Dilexi te and St. Carlo Acutis. In the gospel we just heard, brothers and sisters, Jesus healed 10 people afflicted with leprosy, but only one of them returned to give...
Competing for ‘what’?
(Editor’s note: The following is Bishop Lucia’s homily taken from the Sept. 28 Mass (Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time) “Compete well for the faith …” (1 Tm 6:12) A small college basketball team celebrated a team Mass in preparation for their first venture in the...
The Cross: Our hope
(Dear Reader: A central sign of our Catholic faith is the cross. It is a prominent feature in Church architecture and in the Church’s liturgy, indeed in the Church’s life. What follows is my own meditation on the cross for the recent feast of the Exaltation of the...
Memorial of St. Monica, wife and mother
August 27, 2025 Memorial of St. Monica, wife and mother Dear Diocesan Family, For over five years, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse has been pursuing means of making reparation for the pain and mistreatment experienced by the survivors of child and adult sexual...
Who am I after Mass? After receiving Holy Communion?
I know at the end of my last column, I stated that my next writing would focus on the symbols and rituals of the Mass of the Roman Rite. However, I have decided to delay that column to address what I consider to be something that could be easily overlooked: “What...
An overview of the Holy Mass
Part 2 of 2: The liturgical signs and symbols used to signify the working of the Holy Spirit during Mass
Editor’s note: Part 1 of Bishop Lucia’s overview of the Mass was published in the July 31 issue of The Catholic Sun. It can also be found online at TheCatholicSun.com.
An overview of the Holy Mass
Part 1 of 2: The structure of the Mass as the bearer of Christ’s actions In my previous column for The Catholic Sun, I reflected on the “indescribable gift” of the Eucharist. I quoted from paragraph 48 of Vatican II’s Sacrosanctum Concilium (The Constitution on the...
The Bread of Life: A gift not to be taken for granted
Last year at this time, I was privileged to participate in the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana. I approached the event with a certain amount of trepidation, not knowing what to expect. However, I can say, looking back, that it was one of the...
A home for Jesus
Are you someone who hates to throw away things? I can be like that in my own life, not liking to throw something away in case I might need it or use it someday. I admit that in cleaning out the family homestead, especially my father’s workshop and garage, such...
The people of God: A priestly people
Editor’s note: The following is Bishop Lucia’s June 7 Ordination Day homily at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Dear Sisters and Brothers, What an auspicious occasion for us to gather in this “upper room” to invoke the Holy Spirit to come upon John and...
The Deacon: Serving charity, serving at the altar, serving with the Word
Dear sisters and brothers in the Risen Lord Jesus, let me begin my reflections this morning with an experience of St. Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council. As some of you may be aware, every day of the council, the Book of the Gospel was enthroned. The...
We are His People
Editor’s note: The following is Bishop Lucia’s homily from Good Shepherd Sunday. The Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, Commencement Weekend, Mother’s Day, World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the election of Pope Leo XIV, Institution of Acolytes, First...
Statement of Bishop Douglas J. Lucia of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse on the election of Pope
Diocese of Syracuse Election of Pope Leo XIV May 8, 2025 “Habemus papam” – “We have a pope!” I join Catholics throughout the world in welcoming Pope Leo XIV as the 267th Successor of St. Peter. Along with Bishop Robert J. Cunningham, our Bishop-emeritus, and the...
The Church: A tent for all people
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Is. 61:1).
In his General Audience on October 23, 2019, Pope Francis spoke about the Church and her mission in this manner: “The nature of the Church appears from the Book of the Acts; she is not a fortress but a tent able to enlarge her space (cf. Is 54:2) and
Indulgences explained
Our Lenten pilgrimage is approaching Jerusalem and like Peter, James and John, who came down the mountain with Jesus after the Transfiguration, we are gazing at a world where the effects of sin and the harm and death it generates are a stark reality. We know that the chief remedy for sin is the Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, in which he takes away the sin of the world, and that we share in at every Mass, along with the grace of the other Sacraments — especially that of the Sacrament of Penance.
St. Patrick, Apostle & Lamp
“We are called to love even our enemies, and thus walk in God’s ways, following the law of the Lord.” This brief synopsis of the Word of God that we just heard on this Saturday morning, sisters and brothers, for me, epitomizes the life of one whom we gather to remember and celebrate this day in Syracuse — St. Patrick, bishop — Apostle of Ireland.
