On Dec. 16, Msgr. Louis F. Kihneman III was named Bishop-designate of the Diocese of Biloxi in Mississippi. Bishop Kihneman has served our diocese for 40-years as a priest and for the last six and one half years as Vicar General. In addition, for the past three years he has also served as pastor of St. Philip the Apostle parish in Corpus Christi.

I want to wish a very blessed Advent and happy and holy Christmas to all of you. Over the past few years, and certainly over the past few months, we have witnessed a political, social phenomenon that has caused an unparalleled division among us as Americans—within families, communities, schools and yes even within the Church. At the end of Election Day last month I asked myself what effect this has had among children and young people in our country; what are they thinking? How will the behavior exhibited by adults affect them in the future as leaders in our communities?

Twelve months ago, on Dec. 8, 2015, we—together with the entire Church—began an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. We have both celebrated and lived God's mercy. I hope that throughout this year, we have celebrated God's mercy through the profound experience of the Sacrament of Penance.

In the next few weeks, citizens of our country will participate in the important civic duty of choosing those who will lead and represent us. As is common during an election year, but particularly over the past few months, Catholics ask "how should I vote, for whom?" Though every election cycle brings its own set of challenges and opportunities. Our current political climate seems to bring unique, difficult questions to be discerned by voters who are committed not only to the well-being of our social and political life and to living out the Gospel in all aspects of life (cf. Mk 16:15).

We continue our reflection on faithful citizenship by turning this month to an important bedrock principle of Catholic social teaching that guides our social and political interaction—that of solidarity. The principle of solidarity is the notion that because we all share in the same human nature created in the image and likeness of God, we all share a common humanity and thus have a responsibility for one another. The entire human society, as individuals and all together, has the duty to assist those who are in need, beginning first with those who are closest to us.

As we continue to move more deeply into this election year, it is hard not to notice that there are bitter divides among many. It is precisely in these difficult times in our country’s political and social history that the presence of faithful, informed and discerning Catholic Christians engaged in the political process is most needed.

Every four years, our country embarks on the election of a new president. The process by which a country chooses its leader is a solemn and noble task. At times, in the relatively young history of our country, this process has unfortunately become combative and contentious. Currently, there is no doubt that we are witnessing how disagreeable and oftentimes uncivil we can be to one another throughout this process.

The first Sunday of Advent 2014, 14 months ago, we began a journey of reflection on the lives of consecrated women and men. As the Universal Church we have rejoiced with them and have shown our gratitude for their call to follow Jesus Christ in service to his Body, the Church.

The Holy Father, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has called for an Extraordinary Year of Mercy. It is extraordinary because it is out of sync with the normal 25-five year intervals for holy years, but also because of the EXTRA-ordinary theme of Mercy. We hear the word mercy in the first part of our Liturgy repeated many, many times. "Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy." "May almighty God have mercy on us."

As the Year of Mercy began last month, I initiated the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy with some of the inmates at the McConnell Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Beeville.  Every year, together with a group of priests, I go to the prison to celebrate an Advent Mass with them during which I baptize, confirm and give First Communion to those among them who have embraced or have re-embraced our Catholic Faith.  Every year this is an unbelievably uplifting experience, but in this Year of Mercy it was so in a particular way.  

In September, along with several pilgrims from our diocese, I attended various events connected with the visit of Pope Francis to the United States. When people ask me which of the pope’s addresses was my favorite, I tell them it was the speech the Holy Father gave to the Joint Session of the United States Congress. That speech expressed and identified the contemporary dilemma that we face as a society today, namely, the disconnect we have between our internal spiritual reality and how we express ourselves externally.

The month of October, as Respect Life Month, calls us to focus our attention on the respect of human life in all its stages, moments and situations. All human life, regardless of circumstance, is sacred and worthy of respect. Human dignity is rooted in the nature of the human person made in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gn 1:26) and knowable to us through the natural law.

In the last several weeks, our country has wrestled with the meaning of what is at the heart of human society–the nature of the family and its core, marriage. Challenging questions about the nature of marriage and family have arisen that have confused many, with answers that are often at odds with the very truth about marriage.

Perhaps one of the most prevalent attacks on marriage and family life in our society today is the attempt at redefining marriage to include the so-called same-sex “marriage.” In our own country, as well as in many places in the world, intense political pressure from various interest groups has lobbied for enshrining in law alternative definitions of marriage that go against God’s design for husband and wife.

Bishop Michael Mulvey of the Diocese of Corpus Christi said that the US Supreme Court “ignored the reality that marriage is a union of one man and one woman in a permanent loving relationship.” He urged the faithful in his care to “pray more intensely for our country and its citizens.”

I n the beginning God “created them male and female” (Gn 5:2). These words from the accounts of creation reveal to us a beautiful plan. God crowned his creation with human beings, distinguishing them as male and female and providing them with the gift of generating life in their union.

I take this opportunity to wish each of our readers a very joyful Easter and Easter season. We recall that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son to redeem the world. Christ’s love was made manifest in the most perfect way as he sacrificed himself on the cross.

The vocation of marriage is critical to healthy families, the Church and society. The Church has realized for centuries that the basic relationship in the life of the Church is the covenant relationship between a man and a woman called marriage.

If we are to really make the family "fully alive," as the theme of our just concluded ministry conference suggests, we must focus on the Holy Father's counsel to keep the presence of Jesus Christ at the center of our lives. The family is the critical and fundamental expression of human life. With Christ the family will discover its true future.

In his Apostolic Exhortation, “The Joy the Gospel,” Pope Francis explains the meaning and the place of the homily during our Liturgical celebration, especially on Sundays. He quotes from St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, “that the liturgical proclamation of the word of God, especially in the Eucharistic assembly, is not so much a time for meditation and catechesis as a dialogue between God and his people, a dialogue in which the great deeds of salvation are proclaimed and the demands of the covenant are continually restated.”