“ For I know the plans I have for you…”—Jeremiah 29:11

My writing life might have continued like a lost balloon soaring aimlessly into the evening sky, but the 2019 Florida Eucharistic Congress in Jacksonville changed its course. Thanks are long overdue to the Most Reverend Felipe J. Estevez, S.T.D., retired Bishop of St. Augustine. Back then, during his busy tenure, he took the time to read my newly published book, Everywhere Hope, and penned a treasured letter about it shortly after the Congress, of which the theme was “Hope.” 

Bishop Estevez’s warm encouragement spurred me to continue writing, but with a clearer purpose.  I went on to define my author mission—“to be God’s instrument in building up the Body of Christ”—and was content to define my audience as primarily Catholic. My desire changed from pursuing publication to simply encouraging the faithful, even if only one person benefited from my words.  

In an excerpt from his letter, Bishop Estevez wrote, “The last chapter on Language was deeply Catholic in a profound acceptance of cultures as John Paul II envisioned it—diversity enriching unity… [W]hat a contrast to the threats of nativism and White Supremacy movements affecting us these days… Paula, your book is so rich for it integrates poetry and spirituality, lived experience and wisdom, deep Catholic practice and real human experience, a genius of feminine perception… .”  

I can’t express enough how grateful I am to have been in a diocese under the shepherding of Felipe J. Estevez, S.T.D.  He truly imitated Jesus and always showed reverence, love, devotion, and kindness to his flock.  My deepest personal thanks for his unexpected letter in response to the book I gifted him on behalf of our local Catholic Writers Guild years ago is not enough to thank this holy and humble man of God. 

“O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth! …When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place—what is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?”—Psalm 8: 1,3–4

Bishop Estevez especially liked the photo above and the poem “Sweet Light” (about marriage) that accompanied the picture.  Here is the poem:

Sweet Light

by Paula Veloso Babadi

No shadows here when light is

“L’Heure Bleue” to artist eyes

Or “sweet” to camera canvas.

One side of Earth

Basks in your sunlight

While I rest shadowed

On the other side.

You are brilliant day—

Burning, tumultuous, blinding, busy, wide awake.

I am subdued night—

Serene, quiescent, muted, dreaming, slumbering.

You own most phases of the Earth’s turning as

Your searing light often blinds onlookers

To the pale beauty behind your blaze.

My light reflects gently on the quieter side where,

When you’re gone, the stars become visible.

Our co-existence is casually questionable,

And yet, for all our differences,

We twice share Twilight

When Earth succumbs to neither night nor day.

In the blue hour of this sweet light, we are one.

It is enough for me.

Copyright 2025 Paula Veloso Babadi

Photo license purchased from Shutterstock

Edited by Gabriella Batel