Tag: Awareness

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

National Vocation Awareness Week, November 1-7

Vocations Week
Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison speaks to diocesan seminarians during this year’s Seminarian Gathering held at Camp Gray in Reedsburg. (Contributed photo)

WASHINGTON — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week on November 1-7.

This annual weeklong celebration is an opportunity for dioceses and parishes in the United States to uphold and promote vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and Consecrated Life and encourage the faithful to renew their prayerful support for those currently discerning one of these calls.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unforeseen challenges in the lives of many throughout the country.

Bishop James F. Checchio of Metuchen, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, offered that these current challenges provide an opportunity for genuine discernment fully rooted and dependent upon Christ.

“These unusual and difficult times have brought much uncertainty and fear into our lives, but we know in faith that Christ’s powerful hand extends over all of us in mercy. I invite those discerning a vocation to use this time to prayerfully renew your love for Christ and recognize your complete dependence upon Him who loves and calls you uniquely,” he said.

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the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

National Vocation Awareness Week is November 3-9

Seminarian Group
Seminarians from the Diocese of Madison are pictured with Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison and Fr. Gregory Ihm, vocations director for the diocese, right. For more on discerning and answering God’s call, see the special section on vocations in the October 31 issue of the Catholic Herald. (Contributed photo)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week, November 3-9, 2019.

During this week, dioceses across the U.S. lead the effort in parishes and schools to uphold and encourage the fostering of vocations among the faithful, and to pray for those currently discerning a call to marriage, ordained ministry, or Consecrated Life.

In his message for the 2019 World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Francis reminded the faithful that unlike a secular career, a vocation is a gift born from God’s own initiative: “The Lord’s call is not an intrusion of God into our freedom; it is not a ‘cage’ or burden to be borne. On the contrary, it is the loving initiative whereby God encounters us and invites us to be a part of a great undertaking.”

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Vicki Braun, For the Catholic Herald

Natural Family Planning Awareness Week

“Love, Naturally!” is the theme of this year’s Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, a national educational campaign of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to celebrate God’s vision for marriage and promote the methods of Natural Family Planning.

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a general title for ethical, natural, safe, and effective methods for both achieving and avoiding pregnancy in marriage.

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the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

National Vocation Awareness Week is November 4-10

seminarians
Seminarians from the Diocese of Madison are pictured with Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison and Fr. Gregory Ihm, vocations director for the diocese, right. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week, November 4-10.

This annual event is a special time for parishes in the U.S. to foster a culture of vocations for the priesthood, diaconate, and Consecrated Life.

Pope Francis, in his message for the 2018 World Day of Vocations, emphasized that it is at the loving initiative of God, and by His personal encounter with each of us, that one is called.

National Vocation Awareness Week, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, is designed to help promote vocation awareness and to encourage young people to ask the question: “To what vocation in life is God calling me?”

Parish and school communities across the nation are encouraged to include, during the first week in November, special activities that focus on vocation awareness and provide opportunities for prayerful discernment.

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From the United States Conferece of Catholic Bishops

National Vocation Awareness Week is November 5-11

seminarian group
Seminarians from the Diocese of Madison are pictured with Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison and Fr. Gregory Ihm, vocations director for the diocese, right.
For more on discerning and answering God’s call, see the special section on vocations in this week’s paper. (Photo by Backflip)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week, November 5-11.

This annual event is a special time for parishes in the United States to actively foster and pray for a culture of vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, reminds us that each of us in the Church has a key role to play in the witness of our vocation in ordinary circumstances.

“As we go about our everyday life and most especially this week, we must keep vocations in our prayers, while, at the same time, being a mindful witness with our own vocation,” said Cardinal Tobin.

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Kevin Wondrash

NFP Awareness Week begins July 23

MADISON — “It’s time! Say ‘Yes’ to God’s plan for married love” is the theme of this year’s Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, a national educational campaign of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to celebrate God’s vision for marriage and promote Natural Family Planning.

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term for the safe, natural, and effective methods of both achieving and avoiding pregnancy. NFP education courses teach couples how to observe and interpret the woman’s signs of fertility and infertility. In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, NFP methods “respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom” (CCC, no. 2370).

The dates of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week are July 23 to 29. These dates highlight the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25) that articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, marriage, conjugal love, and responsible parenthood.

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Julianne Nornberg

Giving God everyday tasks by living in the moment

Everyday Faith column by Julianne Nornberg

What does sitting down and playing the preschool game Hungry Hungry Hippos have to do with your spiritual life? Living in the moment and keeping the presence of God, if you are the parent of young children.

That’s what I figured out one day while considering the laundry piling up, all the cleanouts and projects I had put on hold due to Christmas preparations, a growing pile of dishes in the sink, floors and carpets that needed cleaning, plus impending chores of offering homework help after school and policing and transporting children to basketball practice.

In addition, I was just feeling a bit down after all the hub-bub of the holidays.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Let’s promote eschatological awareness

This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop.

Dear Friends,

The word “eschatology” points to the last things — death, judgment, heaven, and hell. In a certain sense, it’s the most important part of our faith.

Why did God make us? God made us to know, love, and serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him forever in the next! And of course, what is seen in this world passes away, but what is unseen in the next world is eternal. And what is eternal obviously takes priority over what is temporal, what is time-bound.

Most important part of our faith

So the eschatological dimension of our faith is most important, and yet most Catholics don’t consider it very often. Recent surveys reveal that most Catholics are unsure as to whether there is life after death. Many Catholics think that it’s all over with our bodily death here.

That’s terribly sad, and troubling, and it’s partly why I’ve been focusing on eschatology of late. Lacking a proper understanding of eschatology skews our entire perspective on life and reality.

One tendency for those who lack a proper perspective vis-à-vis eschatology is to be completely wrapped up in improving things in this world, without reference to the things of eternity. Of course we want to improve things in this world and, in fact, we need to work hard to improve them — that’s part and parcel of knowing, loving, and serving God in this world.

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Kevin Wondrash

Natural Family Planning Week July 24 to 30 celebrates God’s vision for marriage

MADISON — “Natural Family Planning: Love, Mercy, Life, Opening the Heart of Marriage” is the theme of this year’s Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, a national educational campaign of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to celebrate God’s vision for marriage and promote the methods of Natural Family Planning.

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term for the safe, natural, and effective methods of both achieving and avoiding pregnancy. NFP methods teach couples how to observe and interpret the woman’s signs of fertility and infertility.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Mary is model of every vocation

This week, the Catholic Church in the United States is celebrating National Vocation Awareness Week.

It is an annual week-long observance dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and Consecrated Life through prayer and education. It is also a time to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations.

This week’s Catholic Herald includes a special section with information on Church vocations. I hope people will read this section and perhaps share it with others who might not receive the paper, especially our young people.

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