The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be held from January 18 to 25 this year.
Its theme is “Has Christ Been Divided?” This theme is based upon 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, where St. Paul — angry over divisions in the Corinthian Church — wrote, “Each of you is saying ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos’ or ‘I belong to Kephas’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Is Christ divided?”
In some traditions, January 6 represents the 12th day of Christmas. As such, the date marks a transition from the Christmas season to the ordinary time of our lives.
But does that have to mark the end of the “Christmas spirit”? Dare we hope that the softening of our hearts and the acts of kindness central to Christmas might become an ongoing habit rather than a seasonal exception?
In ways large and small, we have opportunities to express, in our deeds and our choices, a concern for others, especially those whose needs may be greater than our own. Some of those opportunities may be found in our public policy choices.
At the beginning of December, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a sweeping federal lawsuit against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops over its Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic hospitals, alleging that the directives, with their prohibition against direct abortion, resulted in negligent care of a pregnant woman named Tamesha Means.
Ms. Means’ water broke at 18 weeks, leading to infection of the amniotic membranes, followed by spontaneous labor and delivery of her child. The child lived only a few hours.
We Catholics begin the New Year by celebrating the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.
On New Year’s we also celebrate the World Day of Peace. This is a feast established by Pope Paul VI and supported by other modern popes.
In many ways these two feasts complement each other, because peace begins in the family. Responsible parents teach us to be persons of peace. Mary is Queen of Peace and the mother of the Prince of Peace.
When I was a campus minister at Saint Mary’s student parish at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, I heard something in an Advent homily that always comes back to me during this time of the Church year.
The homilist shared what he was doing for Advent to help him appreciate the true meaning of the season.
Why is Our Lady of Guadalupe important? We have all seen her image — not only in churches, but on car windows, tattoos, flags, or at our favorite Mexican restaurant.
I especially remember the Christmas when Donna taught me that Christmas is about love. We were a family of five children plus Mom and Dad.
Donna, my seven-year-old sister with a generous heart, wanted to buy a present for every member of our family. This was an ambitious undertaking for a little girl, because our family was poor.
Q: My parents are in their late 70s and live in a rural community close by.
There are several siblings all involved in supporting mom and dad and we are all on the same page with regard to keeping them happy and living in their own home.
Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease about two years ago and mom has taken on more and more responsibility for the day-to-day household management.
Generally speaking, they are doing as well as could be expected and the family is always ready to help.
The problems is that one of my dad’s “hobbies” was to gamble. It was never anything extreme. Twice a month mom and dad would go to one of the casinos and he would gamble a certain amount of money.
It never got out of hand until recently. They still like to go because it is something they can do together but the last time they went he would not stop gambling. Mom had a very difficult time getting him out of there. He lost over $200. Mom was frightened and did not know what to do without causing a scene. She finally got him to leave by telling him they had to get back home because someone was coming for dinner. It really frightened her and she does not want to go back.
Dad is already asking to go back to the casino. Is there any safe way he could still do this without risking a behavioral melt-down and losing their savings? (from a son in Sun Prairie.)
In the November 2013 issue of The Word Among Us, Scott Hahn is quoted as saying that an American priest went to Rome for a conference and a group meeting with Pope John Paul II. Before the meeting, the priest noticed a beggar on the steps of a church.
He recognized him as his former seminary classmate in Rome. They were ordained to the priesthood together. Now he was a beggar.
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As the Christmas song goes: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
While Easter is the most important time of the year, Christmas ranks very close. And when we consider in the broader sense that Christmas and Easter are theologically linked, it is true to say that in many ways Christmas is indeed the most wonderful time of the year.
But first comes Advent — that time presently upon us of preparation for Christmas.
