Lately I have been reflecting on what the Year of Faith (October 11, 2012, to November 24, 2013) which was recently proclaimed by the pope, can mean for those Catholics who seek to grow spiritually.
It is similar to the purpose of the Season of Lent, which is a time of renewal and conversion. The Year of Faith affords every Catholic the opportunity to focus on his or her relationship with Jesus Christ and belief in what the Church teaches.
Dear Friends,
As you may or may not know, I was on my annual retreat in recent weeks. I do not take for granted the blessing I have to be able to take time for prayer, and silence, and listening to the Lord.
A few years ago playwright/director Peter Rothstein created a theatrical concert and musical radio drama entitled, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. This theatrical concert dramatizes a remarkable incident of peace that happened during an unplanned truce during World War I, which some called the war to end all wars.
On Christmas Eve, at certain places along the front, German and British soldiers spontaneously sang Christmas carols. On Christmas day unarmed enemy soldiers met in no man’s land, and exchanged gifts of tobacco, rum, chocolate, and even family photographs. In one section they buried each other’s dead and played soccer.
World Youth Day 2011, being held in Madrid from August 16 to 21, will be an important moment in Pope Benedict XVI’s campaign to remind Europe of its Christian roots and to call Europe to a nobler understanding of democracy.
As the Holy Father demonstrated in an address in Zagreb, Croatia, in early June, the two parts of that campaign — the recovery of Christian roots and the deepening of 21st-century Europe’s idea of democracy — go together.
For those who engage the policies by which we govern ourselves, the beginning of an odd-numbered year is a time for defining a vision.
Governors set their vision with their state of the state message and their budget address. Legislators do it by their “priority bills.” The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) does so by sharing its Policy Positions for the new session.
We celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week this year January 9 through 15. Appropriately, the week begins with the feast of the Baptism of Jesus.
During this week we are encouraged to deepen our friendship with God as we reflect upon our own vocation. We are also reminded to foster and pray for vocations to all states of life. Because of the present need, the Church especially encourages us to pray for and support vocations to priesthood and religious life.
Reading my local newspaper I find the Holy Spirit directing me to speak out in regard to the article about Pope Benedict stalling a pedophile case in 1985.
