Toronto’s Cardinal Francis Leo is reaching out with faith-filled and spiritual reflections to grow the Christian spirit and help strengthen the faith, joy and devotion of Catholics throughout the archdiocese.

In a pastoral letter, titled “That Blessed Upper Room” and released June 17, the Cardinal wants Catholics of the archdiocese to “reflect together on the place and significance of The Upper Room in our lives, our families and in our communities of faith since it is primarily associated with major and pivotal events in the life of Jesus and of the early Church,” he writes in the introduction to the 31-page letter.

The Upper Room of course is the site where the Last Supper took place, on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Today it is one of the major holy sites in the Holy Land, with tradition holding it is located directly above the Tomb of King David near the Abbey of the Formation of Our Lady.

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“(The Upper Room) constituted an array of grace-filled events, an anointed sign of God’s redeeming love, new beginnings in Christ, a series of turning moments in the life of the worshipping Christian community and the unfolding of God’s saving and loving dream for us,” writes Leo. 

There are certain “non-negotiable” aspects to living life as one of Christ’s disciples, he said, and Leo’s intention is “to offer an aid for growing in holiness of life, in Christlikeness — and to offer some tasty and nourishing manna for our common journey to the Kingdom, our Promised Land.”

In this Jubilee year, the Cardinal believes it “to be of great relevance and significance” to take time to “ponder with Mother Mary” nine dimensions of Catholic Christian life as they emerge from Scripture, theologically, spiritually and pastorally. Each is the title of a chapter in Leo’s pastoral letter: The Institution of the Eucharist, The Gift of the Priesthood, The Example and Commandment to Live in Humble Service, The Resurrection - Christ Appears as the Risen One, The Arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, The Disciples Gathered in Communion and Community, They Gathered in Order to Pray, The Received Missionary Zeal: Setting the World on Fire and The Gift of the Mother - “With Mary the Mother of Jesus.” 

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The nine themes are divided into three sections: a reflection for learning and drawing personal connections with lived experience; anecdotal illustrations as an example of witness or a story that typifies an intuition in the first part; and a more active analysis and questions that come to mind while pondering each dimension.

“I pray that this small contribution will help readers and faithful come to a more profound sense of faith, a more mature relationship with the Lord and to a transforming experience of grace,” Leo writes. “In whatever way one chooses to use these ruminations, they are offered to the faithful of the Church of Toronto and beyond.”

In the end, we learn to live for and in Christ by surrendering our hearts to Him, Leo said, and it is understanding Christ more deeply that we are called.

“This reflection on the Upper Room provides the opportunity to take a long, honest look at our walk with the Lord and to seriously consider the quality of our relationship with Him,” he writes. “Hopefully, the illustrated characteristics of the Christian life, and life in community, have reminded us of the victory of Christ over sin and death and the Holy Spirit’s divine animation and vivification of our life. We have received the new life of the Resurrected Lord and live daily in the hope of eternal life once we will have made our contribution to spreading His Kingdom while on Earth.”

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Leo concludes by sharing the words of Pope Leo XIV, who reminds us that God loves us all, “So let us move forward, without fear, together, hand in hand with God and with one another.”

This is Leo’s second pastoral letter since taking over as Archbishop of Toronto, and his first since being elevated to the College of Cardinals just six months ago. His first letter reflected on the theme of the Kingdom of God present and active in our midst.