My dear brothers and sisters,

The Diocese of Duluth stands at a significant moment in our history. Like the disciples waiting between Calvary and Easter morning, we find ourselves in a season of transition, marked by both loss and possibility. Familiar forms of Catholic life in our diocese that shaped generations of faithful believers are changing. Yet our faith teaches us that change need not be feared. The Cross always precedes the Resurrection. 

For many years, Catholic identity was strengthened through close-knit families, thriving parishes, and traditions passed naturally from one generation to the next. Today, the reality is different. Baptisms, marriages, and participation in parish life have declined. The cultural assumptions that once supported faith can no longer be taken for granted. 

At first glance, these trends can seem discouraging. Yet they do not tell the whole story. 

Across the country and within our own diocese, adults are increasingly seeking full communion with the Catholic Church. People who once felt distant from faith are searching for meaning, truth, and belonging. In a culture often marked by uncertainty and loneliness, many are discovering Christ and His Church in deeply personal ways. 

This is the paradox of the Gospel. What appears to be loss may actually be preparation. What seems like decline may be pruning for future growth. The Holy Spirit has not ceased His work. In fact, signs of a Catholic revival are already emerging around us. 

As a diocese, we cannot create revival through programs alone. Revival is always a gift from God. What we can do is prepare the soil. This is what revival readiness means: shaping our communities, ministries and hearts to receive the fruition and growth the Holy Spirit desires to bring to us. 

If the Holy Spirit is stirring new hunger for faith, then our diocese must prepare our mission fields, parishes, priests, deacons, staff, Catholic schools and laity to receive that hunger with healing, hope and joy. If adults are seeking Jesus Christ and His Church, then we must be ready to welcome and accompany them. If families are fragile, then we must be ready to support the domestic church. If priests are overburdened, then all of us, as the Body of Christ, must share the responsibility for carrying out the mission of bringing all people to the healing, hope and joy of Jesus. If the old pipeline has weakened, then we must become more relational, more intentional and more evangelical. 

In the coming months, we will be attentive to the Holy Spirit and to act on its promptings with an eye toward revival. The Holy Spirit is moving in our diocese, inviting us to prepare for a new awakening. This is not a matter of “if” but “when” — and as missionary disciples, our fields must be prepared when the rain begins to fall.