Five Ways – May 25

May 26, 2025

Many thanks to those who responded to the April 30 Five Ways. It was the most ever.

First, a children’s story about Easter. The nun teaching catechism to the fourth graders wanted to impress on them the centrality of Jesus’ Resurrection. So in every class, she stressed how Jesus came out of the tomb. On the final day of class, she gave an oral exam of one question. “What is the most important day in our faith?”
Silence. Finally, one boy raised his hand and said “When we shoot off the firecrackers.” She sadly replied, “No, that’s the Fourth of July.” A girl raised her hand and said “When we eat turkey.” She sadly replied “No, that’s Thanksgiving.” Finally another boy said “It’s when Jesus comes out of the tomb.” She was about to congratulate him when he added “But if he sees his shadow, he goes back in.”

Let us laugh, but also remember that it takes a lifetime to figure out the meaning in our own lives of Jesus’ resurrection.

Secondly, please search on the internet for the remarkable story about Pope Leo breaking all Vatican protocol, for the Swiss Guard Elias Mader. Three days into his papacy, on May 11, the pope noticed one of the Swiss Guards very distraught. He questioned the Guard and discovered that his twelve year old daughter Sophia had gone missing the night before. He also remembered that this guard had worked in Peru during the terrible earthquake of 2010 as a young Swiss Red Cross volunteer, side by side with him for several weeks when he was a missionary priest in Peru.

Pope Leo immediately broke all Vatican protocol, delaying meetings and organizing all the searching units possible. On the first two days, there were several false leads. Then on the third day as a prayer service for her was being held in St. Peter’s Basilica, a man came in with Sophia, explaining he had seen her walking alone by a Roman monument and recognized her from the description on social media. Then he vanished.

Vatican officials were stunned by two facts. First, that the pope recognized the man after fifteen years. And more importantly, that the pope had put the man and his daughter and their need ahead of everything else, so early in his papacy. The item is 27 minutes long and well worth our reading.

As we look forward to Pentecost on June 8, may the Holy Spirit continue to keep Pope Leo safe and inspired.

In God’s love,

Fr. Harry

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I wanted to follow up on the incredible story we referred to in May (above) about Pope Leo helping the Swiss Guard, Elias Mader, find his missing daughter —a beautiful and moving story. The image of a pope putting aside all Vatican protocol to help someone in distress is powerful and speaks to the kind of compassion and leadership we all wish to see in the world.

We did some research because we were curious to learn more. From what we can tell, this story seems to have originated from a creative video circulating online, likely meant to inspire rather than recount an actual event.

I don’t think it makes the message any less meaningful. Stories like this capture something essential about empathy, courage, and prioritizing people over bureaucracy. Whether it’s factual or not, the takeaway is still beautiful.