Ten years ago, when I began my ministry as your archbishop, I called on the image of God working in the midst of dry bones, as the prophet Ezekiel reminded us. In this passage, God brings the prophet through the skeletal remains of his people, asking whether these bones can live. The Lord then has Ezekial command the bones to hear God’s word — and they rattle back to life. How often, I asked, do we sense dryness in our own lives, in our communities, our relationships, our nation: incivility, violence, poverty, bigotry? Where, we sometimes wonder, is God in all this? As I said at the time: “God is at work in giving people a life of stability, a feeling of being at home and of living in an environment that satisfies the desires God has placed in their hearts.” Indeed, Ezekial’s imagery challenges us to be unafraid to walk with people who live at the margins, who find life burdensome, unfulfilling, dry. The reason we should do so, I observed, is because that is where God is, where God begins doing something new. Indeed, we were created to love — to love God, and to love one another, even our enemies. Perhaps especially. As I look back on these 10 years since my installation, I have nothing but gratitude in my heart as I marvel at how our pastors, deacons, religious, lay women and men have stepped up to join me in taking up the mission of Jesus to bring good news to the poor, proclaim freedom to those who are held bound and comfort the oppressed. I think of how we have built stronger parishes and schools through our renewal efforts and how we have helped parishioners meet the demands of the pandemic, how we have reached out to the marginalized and newcomers through Catholic Charities and our parishes, how we have exercised good stewardship of the limited resources, respecting the generosity that sustains the work of the Gospel and how we have stepped forward to advocate for peace in our communities, so often torn by gun violence, racism and polarization. I am grateful too for the many ecumenical and interreligious dialogue partners we have across Chicagoland. These mutually enriching relationships strengthen the fabric of our faith communities, and have been such a blessing during my time in Chicago. The work of building up the kingdom of God in our local church goes on. Further progress needs to be our priority, but we can look back on this decade knowing that we have pursued ways to meet God in moments in which he has called us to do something new, something good. For, as I said at the start of my ministry in this great local church, let us “recognize the enormous opportunity and promise that God is putting before us as we use our connections to help the disconnected, all the while respecting each other’s challenges.” As we take up the challenge of bringing the soothing ointment of God’s presence to our world marked by so much dryness, I give thanks to God for the wonderful people of the Archdiocese of Chicago, for God’s many graces that have allowed us to be faithful to our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ. As we acknowledge the gifts and traditions we inherit as Catholics of the Archdiocese of Chicago, let us look ahead to the ways in which we can bequeath those precious gifts to the next generation, confident that we can do so much when we do it together. That is my prayer on this anniversary. and I ask you to join me in praying that God bring to fulfillment the good work begun in us.