Cardinal Dolan, one of world’s most influential people

Jesus Christ received a toast at the Time 100 Gala last month. New York’s Cardinal Dolan was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine, and he was given the opportunity to cite Jesus Christ as one of the people who had the most impact on in his life:

I admit that he is a bewildering person—true God, yet true man; God’s Son, yet born in a stable; architect to the world yet without a home of his own; creator of the world’s resources, yet himself possessing only the seamless garments he wore for which the executioners cast lots; a king whose throne was a cross and whose crown was of thorns coming to bring mercy but himself condemned to death; dead at a mere 33 yet alive forever; a man of peace whose followers have tragically waged violence in his most holy name; a man of love whose heart is still broken by the sin, the hatred and division in the members of the Church he founded—even in its leaders, myself included.

Yet, he never gives up on us, asking only our love, our faith and our trust.

So I toast him this evening, in this very distinguished company, as my Lord and Savior. I toast him as well as my best friend, the most influential person in my life.

What a great gift for the Church and the New Evangelization! Cardinal Dolan works tirelessly to make Christ more approachable and relevant in today’s world, and he does it with such charity and poise.

At the opening Mass of the International Congress on Catechesis last week, another Church leader, Cardinal Piacenza, said:

The methodological questions, dear friends, are fully overcome by the saints who, with their simplicity and their lives, are the most effective living catechesis that God himself offers to his people.

Cardinal Dolan is one of those saints, bringing the living catechesis to his flock in the American Church.