In this edition:

Liturgy, Community, & Ongoing Events

• Catholic Social Thought in the News: Pope Leo Warns of Risks From A.I. in 42,300-Word Encyclical
• Organ Concert with Raymond Nagem
• Mass to Celebrate the Ecclesial Movements and New Communities
• Eucharistic Procession for Immigrants - Feast of Corpus Christi
• Cathedral Book Club
• Fr. Joe's Selection: An Excerpt from Magnifica Humanitas
• New Online Exhibit: Papal Visits to St. Matthew's Cathedral
• A Special Message from Monsignor Jameson
• Be the Light: The 2026 Annual Catholic Services Appeal

Faith Formation

• Upcoming Confirmations
• Baptism Prep Class
• The unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God: The Letter to the Ephesians
• Meditation Group on Sundays
• Save the Date for the Annual Cathedral Weekend Retreat!
• Mystical Word

Hispanic Ministry

• Santo Rosario por el mes de mayo 
• Grupo de Oración
• Las Confirmaciones
• Las Primeras Comuniones
• Misa de despedida del obispo Evelio Menjivar

Social Justice

• Catholic Social Teaching Fellowship Series
• DuPont Prayer Witness
• Stand with Our Unhoused Neighbors during America250
• Summer ESL Classes
• Feast of Mercy
• Creation Care Corner

Music Ministry

• Schola Cantorum and Summer Choir

Cathedral Young Adults

• Sunday Meeting
• CYA Happy Hour
• CYA Book Club

Catholic Social Thought in the News

Pope Leo Warns of Risks From A.I. in 42,300-Word Encyclical

"Pope Leo XIV on Monday set out a sweeping vision for corporate executives, politicians and individuals who will shape and be shaped by the future of artificial intelligence, warning leaders to safeguard humanity from A.I.'s most disruptive effects."

"Above all he emphasized the importance of retaining a fundamental social role for all human beings. 'A society that guarantees employment to only a small fraction of the population, despite having a high level of technical development, risks exposing many to forced inactivity, a lack of responsibility and the absence of daily tasks and stimuli, resulting in human and cultural impoverishment,' he said."

"Leo expressed concern at how emerging A.I. tools might take over many routine tasks and jobs, implicitly devaluing those who do not have the training or ability to perform the work that remains available to humans. Leo wrote of the importance of preserving human dignity and warned of the 'insidious' ideology that 'suggests that every person must earn or justify his or her own worth, to the point of attributing greater value to those who are more efficient or effective.'"

Read the full text of Magnifica Humanitas here.

–Motoko Rich and Elisabetta Povoledo, New York Times, May 25, 2026

Organ Concert with Raymond Nagem

playing (New York Classical Review) highlights the full expressive range of the pipe organ. He is Minister of Music at The Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, and a member of the organ faculty at Manhattan School of Music. He completed his D.M.A. at The Juilliard School in 2016, where he was a student of Paul Jacobs. Come enjoy a beautiful organ recital by Raymond Nagem, featuring works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Sergei Prokofiev, and Maurice Duruflé.

Sunday, May 31 at 3:30pm in the Cathedral.

Mass to Celebrate the Ecclesial Movements and New Communities

Members of the Ecclesial Movements are warmly invited to a special Mass celebrating your unique charisms, talents, and invaluable contributions to parish life. Join us in thanksgiving for the vitality you bring to the Church and the witness of faith you offer to our communities.

The Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Evelio Menjivar on Saturday, May 30, at 5:15pm at St. Catherine Labouré Catholic Church.

Come together in prayer, unity, and joy as we honor the mission and spirit of Ecclesial Movements in our Archdiocese. All members, families, and friends are welcome!

Find more about this here.

Eucharistic Procession for Immigrants –
Feast of Corpus Christi

On June 7, 2026 there will be a Noon Mass with procession at 1:30pm for the Feast of Corpus Christi. The Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Evelio Menjivar at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart (3211 Sacred Heart Way NW Washington, DC), and afterward we will process to the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle.

Use this sign-up form for additional volunteer opportunities to assist our immigrant neighbors, including legal support, direct material support, accompaniment to immigration court, public witness, and information sharing on the Church’s teaching on migration. 

For more information about this event click here.

Cathedral Book Club

The discussion will take place Thursday, June 4, from 7pm to 8:15pm in the West Conference Room.

Next comes the popular mainstay of spiritual life, THE PRESENCE OF GOD, by Father Anselm Moynihan, O.P. His fellow Dominican, Vatican 2 scholar Austin Flannery, sums it all up when he notes, "People still continue to read and re-read and to recommend this booklet which has endured and will continue to endure."

Fr. Joe's Selection

An Excerpt from Magnifica Humanitas

Our relationship with life seems to be in crisis today. Everything that appears as a “limit” — incapacity, illness, old age, suffering, vulnerability — tends to be seen primarily as a defect to be corrected, rather than as a reality through which our humanity matures and opens itself to relationship. And yet we must remember that humanity flourishes not despite limitations, but often through them. The light of faith offers a perspective on reality that helps us recognize what we call the “contingency” of the things of this world. While it is right to strive to alleviate the suffering that marks human life, it is also wise to acknowledge our fundamental finitude, knowing that “religious experience, and in particular Christian faith, propose that we live, without oversimplification, this ambivalence between human greatness and limitation, interpreting it in the light of our original and fundamental relationship with God.” 

It is precisely within our limitations that the following find a place: compassion, as well as a sincere concern for the needs of others; a generosity that can emerge even in the midst of darkness and failure; spiritual experience and the worship of God. We see this at many moments when our limits become tangible: when we face rejection, when we suffer the illness or loss of a loved one, when we encounter our own weakness or failure. Mysteriously, it is precisely in such moments that we can discover a new wisdom, tangibly experience the closeness of others and encounter the presence of the Lord.

Read Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical in its entirety here.

New Online Exhibit: Papal Visits to St. Matthew's Cathedral

A new online exhibit is now available, highlighting the history and significance of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. It features key moments connected to papal visits to the Cathedral and to Washington, D.C., including those of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis—whose 2015 visit coincided with his address to Congress, which is also available to view through a link in the exhibit.

We invite you to view the exhibit online and learn more about the Cathedral’s role in the life of the Church in Washington HERE.

A Special Message from Monsignor Jameson

My dear friends,

Last weekend we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. We are all members of a missionary Church where everyone shares in a priestly calling, where everyone is graced with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Church wants to awaken all of us to our call to be missionaries, to live and preach the Gospel of Joy and Love.

This is in the front of my mind right now because my staff is pulling out its hair preparing the annual budget for me and the Finance Council. Not an easy job. Because of your generous contributions I have hope, hope that the Finance Council will be presented a balanced budget. And many of you are so very generous. I hope you will not see your giving as pouring money into an impersonal institution but as one way for you to live out your role as part of the missionary, priestly People of God. By supporting YOUR parish you are doing a priestly thing, a missionary thing: you are helping to carry out the Church's mission to worship, to teach, and to serve.

I am painfully aware of how untimely any mention of money can be at this time - rising cost of living in all areas, how to make ends meet. You are all having a hard time. But were it not for your support in contributing to the parish we could not serve the poorest and neediest among us; we can't let our faith formation programs for children and adults, including the OCIA, to simply exist; and we can't let our celebrations of the liturgy and other sacraments go by the wayside. Those celebrations with beautiful music help us and our total parish family to praise the Lord who created us and who gives us so much.

This coming year's budget is $75,000 in the red as of today. I am so grateful to you who support the parish so generously. I would like to see more of our families use ParishSOFT Managed Giving. Those who use ParishSOFT, along with our envelope users and PayPal, saved us a few years ago during the pandemic. ParishSOFT is an easy, simple way to contribute. If you do not use it, please think about it. You can sign up easily at this link.

My friends, it is not easy for me to ask for money, especially in hard times. I make it because I believe deeply in the cause, and I make it because I know that you are generous people who own and embrace your calling to be disciples, priestly people, missionaries on fire with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. God bless you.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Be the Light: The 2026 Annual Catholic Services Appeal

We have been asked prayerfully to consider making a gift to the 2026 Annual Catholic Services Appeal. Please complete or take a commitment form from the Cathedral (they are in the pews and placed in the back) or make your gift at give.adw.org. Visit appeal.adw.org to learn more about how the Annual Catholic Services Appeal benefits our parish and serves people in need throughout our community. It is our goal that every parish family will participate this year. All gifts will be credited towards our parish goal. Thank you in advance for your generous response to the 2026 Annual Catholic Services Appeal.

The unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God:
The Letter to the Ephesians

Join a series of classes on the Letter to the Ephesians.

Jesus tells us that eternal life is knowing God. How can any of us say we know God? Do you know God? And, do we know God like we know our loved ones? Knowing God is much more than our normal ways of knowing. We know by our senses, by reason, and by experience. Scripture holds out a deeper reality: knowing by identity. It involves God lavishing the divine love upon us. It is Divine Knowledge and gratuitous grace, and it is the message of the Letter to the Ephesians.

We will reflect on the Letter to the Ephesians chapter by chapter. Each class will have a lecture combined with dynamic conversation. Come experience the liberating grace of Christ!

Tuesday evenings: June 9/16/23/30 7pm – 8:30pm in the East Conference Room. For more information, email the Director of Faith Formation, L.J. Milone here.

Baptism Prep Class

The baptism prep class is held on the first Thursday of the month from 7pm to 8:30pm on Zoom. Registration for the class is required. A registration link for the class is sent upon the completion of the main baptism application/registration, which is a link given by the priest.

The next class will be on June 4, 2026.

Learn more about baptism classes here.

Meditation Group

Are you looking for a way to explore or deepen your relationship with God? Come to the Meditation Group. You will discover a centuries-old prayer method that consists of simply sitting in silence with God - beyond thoughts, words, and emotions - and opening our mind, heart and whole being to the Ultimate Mystery.

If you are new, you will learn the basics of Centering Prayer, a Christian contemplative practice first described in The Cloud of Unknowing, written in the latter half of the 14th Century. It calls one to abandon all thinking and to surrender to God within.

It is a very personal prayer practice but is often practiced in groups. It opens one to God's infinite love and power to heal, and opens the door to other related prayer practices around forgiveness, and dealing with painful situations and emotions.

Meeting Times:

Sundays, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM on Zoom

See the cathedral website for the Zoom link HERE, or email L.J. Milone here for the link.

Save the Date for the Annual Cathedral Weekend Retreat!

Register by clicking here.

Mystical Word

A weekly reflection based on the Sunday Gospel reading, written by L.J. Milone, Director of Faith Formation at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Read this week's reflection HERE.

DuPont Prayer Witness

Join us in an hour of prayer and witness for mothers and babies at risk of abortion violence in DC! Every first Saturday of the month at 10:30am we will gather outside the Cathedral and walk together to DuPont Clinic for an hour of prayer. We’ll head to For Five Coffee for fellowship after. DuPont Clinic is only a 6 minute walk from the Cathedral, and they are aborting babies through 32 weeks. These parents need our prayers, and these children deserve our solidarity!

Stand with Our Unhoused Neighbors during America250

Our unhoused neighbors are living in fear and uncertainty this summer. But you can do something to help. Because of the federal activity around America250 events, we anticipate more attacks on people who are living on the streets. Do you remember last summer when the federal surge began? During the encampment sweeps that ensued, many lost their scant possessions, including documents such as ID. Worse, many people lost touch with links to healthcare, community, and other lifelines. 

Join the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) and an ad hoc group of service providers and advocates in faith communities who are joining together to address the impending crisis for those who are unhoused. 

You and your community can make a difference by contributing one or all of the following:

• DONATE MONEY HERE (below the donation amount, select “Partnership to end homelessness” and leave a comment that this is for community protection)
• PROVIDE SPACE FOR A VARIETY OF NEEDS
• VOLUNTEER
• ADVOCATE

For more information, complete our form here or email Celeste here, Holy Redeemer parishioner and WIN leader.

Start today by signing the petition at this link. We are asking that the DC government reduce the barriers to IDs so that people can access services and spaces necessary for their survival.

Catholic Social Teaching Fellowship Series

"Whoever suffers from mental illness ‘always’ bears God’s image and likeness in himself, as does every human being. In addition, he ‘always’ has the inalienable right not only to be considered as an image of God and therefore as a person, but also to be treated as such."

  —St. Pope John Paul II, 1996, Mentally Ill Are Also Made in God's Image

As part of our ongoing Catholic Social Teaching fellowship series, join us in the North Conference Room on Sunday, June 28 after the 11am Mass to discuss this and other Church teachings on Public Health and Mental Health with guest speaker Christian Bentley of the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. All are welcome.

"Quienquiera que padezca una enfermedad mental lleva 'siempre' en sí la imagen y semejanza de Dios, al igual que todo ser humano. Además, tiene 'siempre' el derecho inalienable no solo a ser considerado como imagen de Dios —y, por tanto, como persona—, sino también a ser tratado como tal."

 —San Papa Juan Pablo II, 1996, Los enfermos mentales también están hechos a imagen de Dios

¿Le interesa el tema? Como parte de nuestra serie de convivios sobre la Doctrina Social de la Iglesia, los invitamos a la sala de conferencias norte el domingo 28 de junio al mediodía para una charla y discusión sobre las enseñanzas de la iglesia sobre la salud pública y salud mental con el ponente invitado Christian Bentley de la Sociedad de San José del Sagrado Corazón. Sean todos bienvenidos! 

Summer ESL Classes

St. Matthew’s will continue our English as a Second Language (ESL) Classes for a 9 week Summer Semester. Classes will begin on Tuesday, June 2 through Wednesday, July 29. All classes are held every Tuesday and Wednesday from 6:30pm-8:30pm in the St. Matthew’s Education Building at 1726 N St. NW, 20036. Language instruction will be provided at Level 1 (Beginner) through Level 4 (Advanced).

If you would like to register, fill out our online registration form HERE!

Interested in volunteering as a teacher, substitute, or tutor? Fill out our interest form HERE.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mr. Anthony Arreaga.

San Mateo continuará ofreciendo nuestras clases de inglés como segundo idioma (ESL) durante un semestre de verano de 9 semanas. Las clases comenzarán el martes 2 de junio y continuarán hasta el miércoles 29 de julio. Todas las clases se llevarán a cabo todos los martes y miércoles de 6:30pm a 8:30pm en el Edificio de Educación de San Mateo, ubicado en 1726 N St. NW, 20036. La instrucción del idioma se ofrecerá desde el Nivel 1 (Principiante) hasta el Nivel 4 (Avanzado).

Si desea inscribirse, complete nuestro formulario de inscripción en línea AQUÍ.

También puede inscribirse en persona el miércoles 27 de mayo a las 6:30pm.

¿Le interesa ser voluntario como maestro, suplente o tutor? Complete nuestro formulario de interés AQUÍ.

 Si tiene alguna pregunta o inquietud, comuníquese con el Sr. Anthony Arreaga.

Feast of Mercy

On Saturday, June 13, from 12:30pm to 5pm, join the Social Justice Committee for its Feast of Mercy, an afternoon of food, fellowship, and hospitality for our neighbors who are homeless, hungry, or otherwise in need. This afternoon event brings the community together to prepare and serve a welcoming meal with dignity and care, with many ways to help. That includes:

• Prepare or donate a main dish, salad, dessert, fruit, bread, or other meal items
• Volunteer with setup, meal service, or cleanup
• Make a financial donation to support supplies, drinks, and guest care items

Click here for the volunteer and donation sign-up link.

Schola Cantorum and a Summer Choir

The Schola Cantorum, the Cathedral’s semi-professional choir will begin its summer hiatus June 14. It will resume September 20, for the feast of St Matthew the Apostle.

Assuming we have a good response, we plan to form a Summer Choir of auditioned volunteers who will sing occasionally throughout the summer, principally at the 11am Mass. If you have significant adult choral experience and would like to participate in the summer choir, please contact Tom Stehle here or call 202-587-5141 to set up an audition.

The Cathedral Young Adult ministry (C†YA) serves the community of Catholic adults ages 21 - 39 who live and work in DC, supporting them in the continued growth of their faith, discernment of their vocations, and development as stewards of the Church through opportunities for socializing, community service, and spiritual reflection.

Sundays with CYA

Sunday, May 31, after the 5:30pm Mass, join us in the North Conference Room.

CYA Happy Hour

CYA will be having its bi-weekly happy hour on Tuesday, June 9 (location TBD but to be announced in next week’s newsletter).

CYA Book Club

Join the CYA Book Club to discuss The Inferno by Dante, Tuesday, June 30, at 7pm in the West Conference Room, as part of our plan to read the whole Divine Comedy over the next 3 months.

Meet other Catholics, talk about the faith, and build friendships! C†YA uses a WhatsApp Community to plan future events, post updates, and stay in touch. Please follow the links for information about how to join and the latest details about upcoming events. You can follow C†YA on Instagram and Facebook for events and news from our community!