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?”
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.
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.
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.
Franz Werfel wrote a popular book called The Song of Bernadette. The reason he wrote this book goes back to World War II.
As a controversial Jew in occupied France, he was on the Nazi hit list. He and Alma, his wife, fled from the Nazis who pursued them.
They sought shelter in Lourdes where the famous shrine of Mary is located. One night he went alone to the shrine.
In the darkness, he prayed, “God, I’m not a believer. I must be honest and say so. I am a Jew. But in my extreme need, on the chance that I could be wrong, I ask you to help me and my wife. If you see us safely to the United States, I promise to write a story of Lourdes for all the world to read.”
Thanksgiving is a national holiday when we Americans thank God for our blessings.
Its roots go back to the pilgrims whom the Old Testament influenced. After a severe winter when over half of the pilgrims died from scurvy, exposure to the elements, and other causes, they set aside three days to thank God for their blessings. One way that they thanked God was by sharing their blessings with Indian friends.
The pilgrims can inspire us to thank God for our blessings on Thanksgiving Day by sharing with friends, family, and the needy.
On July 22, 2013, during the flight to World Youth Day, Pope Francis said that “Youth are the future.” He quickly added that “the aged are also essential.”
He stated that he did not want World Youth Day to be a meeting with young people in isolation because when we isolate them, we do them an injustice.
Like us, he said, they belong to a family, a culture, a country, and faith. To know who we are, and where we are going, it’s helpful to know where we came from.
We begin November by celebrating the feast of All Saints.
On All Saints Day, we remember and we honor both the canonized and non-canonized saints of the Catholic Church. Both invite and inspire us to imitate their Christ-like lives.
In No. 2013 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it says, “All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity.
“All are called to holiness: In order to reach this perfection, the faithful should use the strength dealt out to them by Christ’s gift so that doing the will of the Father in everything, they may whole heartedly devote themselves to the glory of God and to the service of their neighbor.”
Once when I visited a hospital, an urgent call came over the public address system: “If a Catholic priest is present, please come to the main desk immediately.” I hurried to the main desk. The receptionist asked me to talk to a lady who had just given birth to a still-born baby. She and her husband were grieving. I tried to console them.
In the 15th century in a village near Nuremberg, Germany, Albrecht Durer and his brother Albert dreamed of attending art school.
But Albrecht Sr., their father who supported 18 children, understandably couldn’t afford to send them. So the two brothers made an agreement. Albrecht would attend art school while Albert worked in the mines to pay his expenses. When Albrecht graduated, he would use his artistic talents to pay for Albert’s tuition and other expenses.
