Dear TLI Family,
He is truly risen, Alleluia.
Recently, during our 2nd Tepeyac Leadership Gala, something significant happened. In a room filled with joy, generosity and faith, we raised $50,000 and publicly launched Leadership for the World, a bold $2,000,000 mission campaign to be completed over the next three years.
But what struck me most were not the numbers.
It was the conviction of our TLI family.
We are stepping into a moment that demands leadership.
Not tomorrow. Not someday. Now.
Over the past few weeks, headlines from around the world have reinforced what we already know. Institutions are being tested. Cultural debates are intensifying. Questions about truth, human dignity, and the common good are no longer abstract. They are shaping policies, workplaces, and communities in real time.
Even within the Church, we see renewed calls to examine how decisions, investments, and public witness align with the Gospel. Recent global initiatives, including efforts at the Vatican to encourage more ethical stewardship of resources, point to a deeper reality. Leadership is never neutral. It either builds up or erodes what is good, true, and beautiful.
In a recent catechesis by Pope Leo on the Documents of the Second Vatican Council, particularly Lumen Gentium, His Holiness reflected on the laity as living stones in the Church and witnesses in the world.
The Pope gave a powerful reminder that the mission of the laity is not optional. It is essential. And that is precisely why this moment matters for us.
Because when Catholics step back, the space does not remain empty. It is filled.
Our $2,000,000 mission campaign is not simply about growth. It is about forming men and women who are ready to step into those spaces with clarity, courage, and competence. Over the next three years, this effort will expand formation, strengthen our infrastructure, and ensure that financial limitations don’t prevent a future leader from saying yes to this call.
At the Gala we celebrated the start of a new chapter for TLI, one that already has momentum.
By June, 500 Tepeyac Leaders will have been formed through TLI, with many now serving in boardrooms, nonprofits, public policy, education, and business. Our annual conference, The Hour of the Laity, continues to gather leaders from across the country and beyond. Our online magazine, The Catholic Professional, continues to speak into the reality of faith in the workplace with clarity and conviction.
And yet, as encouraging as this is, we all know it. The need is far greater.
We are living in a time when leadership is often reduced to influence without responsibility, visibility without virtue, and success without truth. But authentic leadership, the kind the Church calls for, demands something more. It requires formation. It requires interior life. It requires the willingness to stand firm when it would be easier to remain silent.
That is the leadership we are forming together.
And that is the leadership the world needs.
I want to thank each of you who were present at the Gala, who contributed, who prayed, and who continue to walk with us in this mission. Your generosity is not only financial. It is personal. It is a statement that you believe the renewal of society begins with well-formed leaders.
Please know, this campaign is not just about reaching a financial goal.
It is about raising up a generation.
A generation of Catholic professionals who understand that their work is not separate from their faith, but an expression of it. A generation that is willing to enter the public square not with fear, but with confidence rooted in truth. A generation that sees leadership as mission.
Each of us has a role to play. Whether through prayer, mentorship, financial support, or simply by living our vocation with greater intentionality, we are all part of this mission.
The question is not whether leadership is needed.
The question is who will step forward.
Let us continue transforming lives, building up the community and the Church, by investing in tomorrow’s lay Catholic leaders for the world.
In Christ and Our Lady of Guadalupe,
P.S. Discover the place where Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego. See her image. And join Archbishop José Gómez , Bishop Thomas Olmsted and Bishop Timothy Freyer for The Hour of the Laity 2026 in Mexico City.
