Ver este correo electrónico en español: Haga clic aquí para abrir el correo en un navegador y, a continuación, utilice la función de traducción del navegador. | | Welcome to The New Messenger, your weekly archdiocesan newsletter featuring messages from Archbishop Gustavo, news briefs, event previews, and updated information. The Archdiocese of San Antonio's weekly newsletter is published every Friday morning. | | The Holy See | Pope Leo XIV | | On AI art Pope Leo says beyond aesthetics there is an ontological difference | | |
Pope Leo XIV speaks to artists and curators as part of a meeting organized by the Dicastery for Culture and Education in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on Oct. 2, 2026.
Credit: Vatican Media
| | There is a fundamental difference between the art humans create and what artificial intelligence can make based on the work of others, Pope Leo XIV told a group of artists on October 2. | | Message from Archbishop Gustavo
García-Siller, MSpS | |
 | | According to a wine connoisseur, a vineyard tells a story. Long before a single cluster of grapes appears, someone has cleared stones, worked the soil, planted with hope, and waited with love. The Lord does everything necessary for the vineyard to flourish. Yet the fruit He seeks is not measured in abundance, success, or power. He looks for justice, compassion, and reverence for life. He looks for hearts that recognize every human person as His beloved child. The vineyard bears good fruit whenever the dignity of every life is honored, from the child in the womb to the elderly person nearing the end of earthly life, and every vulnerable person in between. Every human life is like a cluster of grapes carefully cultivated by God Himself. The same life-giving God who planted the vineyard leaves traces of His love everywhere. Prayer becomes rain. Gratitude becomes sunlight. Whatever is true, just, pure, and lovely becomes nourishment for the soul. Then the fruits of peace begin to appear. Let us receive Him, then bear fruit: protect one vulnerable life, encourage one struggling person, gather one family member in love, and make room for someone who feels forgotten. And may Our Lady of Guadalupe, the gentle vine in whom the Fruit of Life first blossomed, teach us to bear Jesus joyfully into the world.
| | Your Home is Already a Church | | To every family afraid to leave home, the pastoral letter speaks a tender word: “your home is already a church.” Gather your children around the kitchen table on Sunday, read the Gospel, pray the rosary, and entrust your family to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The archbishop also invites neighbors to form small communities, three to five households meeting for Scripture, prayer, and mutual support, just as the first Christians did. The Pastoral Letter Reflection Guide was made for exactly this. Gather your family, your Bible study, or a few neighbors, and pray with the letter together this fall. | | Around the Archdiocese of San Antonio | | Every Life A Gift: Respect Life Mass in Spanish Sunday, October 11, at 8 a.m., at San Fernando Cathedral | | "You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13, NABRE). This Sunday, Archbishop Gustavo will celebrate a Respect Life Mass in Spanish at San Fernando Cathedral (directions) as the archdiocese continues to observe Respect Life Month. Come give thanks for the gift of every human life, from conception to natural death, and pray with us for mothers and families in need. All are welcome. | |
Strengthen Your Marriage:
LOVESTRONG Weekend Retreats
Weekend Retreats on October 16-18 and October 23-25, at Six Parishes Across the Archdiocese
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Every marriage needs time to rest, reconnect, and grow in Christ. LOVESTRONG Marriage Ministry invites couples to an experience-based weekend retreat that supports, strengthens, and nurtures the Christ-centered bond between husband and wife. Choose the weekend closest to you:
Oct. 16–18
Oct. 23–25 (en español)
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World Mission Sunday is Next Weekend
October 17 and 18
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This is your opportunity to become an agent of evangelization.
Your prayers and donations are just as important as the work of missionaries on the ground! Without them, missionaries face obstacles to the work of evangelization both in the spiritual and physical realm. As Pope Leo XIV states, "Evangelization is achieved when local communities cooperate with one another..." (Message of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV for the 100th World Mission Day 2026). Together, our prayers, donations, and work will help reach the billions of people who wait expectantly for Jesus Christ.
Be part of the global collection next weekend from October 17 and 18.
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For Those Who Care for the Sick
Sunday, October 18, at noon, at St. Luke Church
| | Do you know a nurse, doctor, chaplain, or caregiver whose care has blessed your family? On the feast of St. Luke, patron of physicians, Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak will celebrate the Health Care Professionals Mass at St. Luke Church (directions) and offer a special blessing for all who serve the sick. Share this invitation with those you know in the medical profession, and RSVP today. Admission is free. | |
A Church That Goes Out
Centennial Mass, Saturday, November 7, at 4 p.m., at Nelson W. Wolff Stadium
| | As the Church prepares to celebrate World Mission Sunday, we remember Pope Francis’s enduring call for “a Church which goes forth,” a community of missionary disciples who take the first step (Evangelii Gaudium, 24). Our new Pastoral Vision takes up that same call for the next decade of our local Church. The proclamation on November 7 will not end a process; it will begin one. Every parish, every ministry, every baptized person will be invited to move from maintenance to mission. | |
Young Adults: Register Today
for Brunch with the Bishop
Saturday, November 21, from 9 a.m. - noon, at Holy Spirit Church
| | Registration is now open for Brunch with the Bishop. Young adults ages 18 to 39 are invited to join Archbishop Gustavo at Holy Spirit Church (directions). The morning begins with Mass at 9 a.m., followed by brunch, conversation, and reflection with young adults from across the archdiocese. | | Catholic Television of San Antonio | | Credit: Veronica Markland for Today's Catholic Newspaper | | First responders were honored on the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel at San Fernando Cathedral as the archdiocese celebrated it's annual Blue Mass. We give thanks to God for the courage, sacrifice, and dedication of local first responders. May St. Michael the Archangel, patron and protector, watch over them and their families and keep them safe as they serve the community. | | Credit: Veronica Markland for Today's Catholic Newspaper | | Feast day of St. Thérèse of Lisieux student Mass with youth from Little Flower School and Archbishop Gustavo was held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower on October 1. | |
Today's Catholic Newspaper
| | The next issue of Today's Catholic Newspaper is Friday, October 23. | | Today’s Catholic is grateful to our advertisers for their continued support. To advertise with Today’s Catholic, call (210) 734-1693 or contact Joann Hopkins at jhopkins@archsa.org. | |
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Treasures of the Archdiocese of San Antonio: A Commemorative Book
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Inside Treasures of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, read about San Francesco di Paola, and much more. When you purchase this commemorative book, you will also receive the Today's Catholic 150th anniversary magazine as an added bonus.
Don't let this opportunity slip away. Purchase your book now and take home or pass along a piece of history!
- Published by Editions du Signe | ISBN: 978-2-7468-4515-2
- 9.65” x 11.81”
- Soft cover – glossy paper – 440 pages
- Full color throughout
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Seeking to live in sacramental communion with one another, the Archdiocese of San Antonio exists to make disciples and missionaries of Jesus Christ to prepare for the promise of Eternal Life.
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