The World Has Changed - Get Ready!
Last year, I started this update with “The world changed in 2024,” referring to the historic National Eucharistic Procession in which Jesus Christ was processed across America, coast-to-coast and border-to-border, as Our Lord, King, and Savior. Then He arrived at the Eucharistic Congress held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Divine Presence changes the world; the effects are already apparent. Many dioceses are reporting record conversions and returns to the faith. Here in Rome City, St. Gaspar Parish is expanding facilities to meet demand. This year’s headline:
A Call to America’s Youth — Our Lady’s Plan Affirmed
A little over a year after the 2024 Eucharistic Congress, during the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC), our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, called the youth of America to follow the path Our Lady, the Immaculate Virgin, Patroness of America, laid out in 1956. He did this in the very spot and in the same Indianapolis arena where last year, the Eucharist was adored and loved by Our Lady’s children.
While he did not use the title Our Lady, Patroness of America, he touched on all the essential elements of the devotion in his call and challenge to the youth of America and the world.
Recalling the Request of Our Lady
"Our Lady made known to me that she is particularly interested in the youth of our nation. It is they who are to be the leaders of this movement of renewal on the face of the earth… This is the great desire of her Divine Son, and it is to the youth of America that she is holding out this challenge."
Pope Leo XIV Speaks with the Youth of America
“Today is also a special day for the church, as it is the memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We remember how Mary, even from her youth, offered her whole life to God. She invites us to do the same: to entrust everything to him. So as we begin our time together, let us ask Our Lady to watch over this digital gathering and to protect our families and friends.”
“You are not only the future of the church, you are the present. Your voices, they matter right now. The church needs you.” He also encouraged them toward ongoing conversion in their lives, saying, “If you want to change the world, begin by letting God change you.”
“Seek the real friendship that Jesus offers you. Listen to him in prayer and let him shape your life. When you do this, you carry His (Divine) Presence into the world with joy, hope, with creativity.”
Pope Leo’s response to the last question of the day is best summarized in this recap by M,C. Katie Prejean McGrady: Thank you so much for your wisdom and insight. I know that we all really appreciate it. Holy Father, I want to repeat those three questions you just challenged us to pray through. What can I offer the Church right now? How can I help others know Christ? And how can I build peace in the world?
That last line echoes the plea of Our Lady of America: “I need your help to bring peace into the world. Do not disappoint me.” (Our Lady, November 8, 1954.)
That last line echoes the plea of Our Lady of America: “I need your help to bring peace into the world. Do not disappoint me.” (Our Lady, November 8, 1954.)
Heaven's Plan Unfolding Before Our Eyes
Pope Leo is clearly calling the youth of America to help her lead the world to the peace of Christ. I firmly believe that we are seeing Heaven’s plan unfold right before us.
The Patroness of America Center was a sponsor and hosted an exhibit booth at NCYC, marking our first time participating in a national event. Our team of five engaged with over 2,000 youth in three days. At this event, we saw Our Lady’s hope for America come to life.
Clearly, many of America’s youth are prepared and eager to take on this challenge. As we explained the devotion to the high school students visiting our booth, we received many expressions of joy and hope when they realized that Our Lady has a plan for them and a way to overcome the toxic culture in which we live.
Since the National Eucharistic Procession and Congress in 2024, the inspiration I’ve received in prayer has been clear: “Get ready!” The election of a US-born Pope who grew up just a few hours away, along with his focus on America’s youth and his message to them, confirms that we need to get ready—now!
We must be ready to explain and share Heaven’s plan, support a multitude of pilgrims, and preserve and enhance our campus as a place where Our Lady will call her children
A Serious Challenge: Protecting Our Public Charity Status
But success can create new challenges:
Over the last couple of years, we have been fortunate to be joined by new major donors whose generosity has driven recent progress. However, this has skewed our total donations profile heavily toward major donors, placing our Public Charity status at risk.
As a 501(c) (3) public charity, maintaining a diverse donor base is required by federal law. If we do not secure at least one-third of our support from everyday donors and less than two-thirds from major donors (those giving more than $10,000 annually), we risk losing our public charity status. Losing that status would threaten our future funding opportunities from grants, IRAs, foundations and Donor Advised Charitable Trusts. It would also disrupt program continuity and ultimately affect the progress we have worked hard to achieve together.
Our Lady needs your help now more than ever. If we can’t grow our support base in both numbers and average donation size, we might have to do the unthinkable—ask our major donors to reduce their support, which would frustrate Our Lady’s plans for America and the world. Please, please help. Please donate now!
Our Lady needs your help now more than ever. If we can’t grow our support base in both numbers and average donation size, we might have to do the unthinkable—ask our major donors to reduce their support, which would frustrate Our Lady’s plans for America and the world. Please, please help. Please donate now!
Our Hope for 2026?
The core message of Our Lady now acts as the antidote to cultural decline, as the family is attacked and its God-given structure is redefined through law. Meanwhile, the individual is being redefined in law, moving away from the image-and-likeness-of-God understanding toward the likeness and image of whatever.
The rise in pilgrims, the response at NCYC, and Pope Leo’s focus on youth clearly show that we must act quickly and diligently to promote Our Lady to young people and the world. Now is the time to widely share this God-given hope for our nation.
At the same time, we need to attract pilgrims, develop programs, and upgrade and maintain our facilities.
Now that our campus plan is almost complete (more on that in the future), it’s clear where we need to address deferred maintenance and what we can leave to nature. This year, we focused on roofing, gutters, and drainage to preserve the Oratory and the buildings we are maintaining. We installed heating and air conditioning in the Sisters’ private chapel and the Bishop’s wing. Unexpectedly, we spent nearly $25,000 on a failed retaining wall and a blowout of a 24-inch main drain line, and $13,000 on a new roof for the historic farm manager’s house.
We are beginning to exceed indoor capacity for hosting pilgrim groups during the colder months. Essentially, we are limited to 130 pilgrims, and we exceeded that when Fr. Glenn Sudano, C.S.R., spoke in November. We could address this by installing an elevator to serve the second and third floors, with an estimated cost of around $350,000.
As you can see, “Get ready” is expensive!
As we stand at this extraordinary moment in salvation history, it is clear that Our Lady is once again moving powerfully in our nation. She is gathering her children, especially the young, and preparing us to bring Christ’s peace into a world longing for healing and Truth. Here, at the Patroness of America Center, she has entrusted us with a sacred duty: to welcome her pilgrims, to comfort their hearts in Christ’s Peace, and to protect the very ground where she continues to call her children.
Please consider offering a generous gift in honor of Our Lady, the Immaculate Virgin, Patroness of America. In doing so, you place yourself in her hands and help her carry out the plan Heaven has revealed so clearly. Together, let us not allow this moment of grace to pass unanswered. Let us, her children, rise with confidence and devotion to assist our Mother in bringing Christ’s peace to America and to the world.
Thank you for responding to her call. Thank you for helping us “Get ready.”
Please pray for America and that Our Lady’s hope for our Nation be accepted by her children
May Our Lady, Patroness of America, keep you always under her mantle.
Thank you for this newsletter. I would like to donate but currently unable. So glad donation time until Divine Mercy Sunday. Hopefully funds will be available by then. But, my main focus is this: Please, process Our Lady of America into Her Basilica as she requested. Our Lady has promised to help return our USA to God, which, it sorely needs! Please, oh please follow Our Mothers’ request–that also is a major point in this “Get Ready” campaign. Thank you for listening