News - November 2021 RSS Feed

The great medieval saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) famously said there are three ways of interpreting the Advent season. More specifically, the three ways of understanding the coming of Christ which the Advent season anticipates. For while we look forward to commemorating the physical birth of Christ into this world, this time of year should also remind us of the omnipresence of Jesus in our lives, a reality which the season of Advent, in specifically looking toward the physical incarnation can unintentionally obscure. For the coming of Jesus is, much like God Himself, threefold, divided into the fleshly, imminent, and glorious; one rooted in the past, one ever-present, and one yet to come in some distant future...

My Dear Friends in Christ, with this letter comes my warmest wishes for a most Blessed Thanksgiving Holiday. Thanksgiving is traditionally a time of year when we gather with family and friends in sincere gratitude for God’s abundant blessings in our lives. This year confronted all of us with so many unique challenges (from the COVID-19 pandemic to the aftermath of Hurricane Ida) that it may be difficult to recognize the blessings God has provided for us in 2021. But, as Catholics, the virtue of gratitude is woven into everything we do and everything we are because, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). In this and in many other ways, even during the taxing times in which we live, we are a very blessed people. [...]

The days immediately following Halloween bring with them a common complaint. Overnight, Christmas music starts playing on the radio and Christmas-themed displays appear in stores. “Christmas creep,” it seems, reaches further and further into autumn every year, leaving no time at all for Advent. The thrust of most of these complaints is that by extending the Christmas season backward in this way, we lose the season of Advent — the fruits of joyful anticipation and preparation for the coming of the Christmas season. This is certainly true, but there is another, less frequently noticed loser when Christmas starts on November 1st: the dead.

National Vocation Awareness Week (NVAW), Nov. 7-13, 2021, is an annual celebration in the U.S. Catholic Church dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, permanent diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renewing our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these vocations. In his message for the 2021 World Day of Prayer for Vocations, entitled “Saint Joseph: The Dream of Vocation,” Pope Francis focuses on three key words – dream, service, and fidelity. He identifies St. Joseph as a protector of vocations, writing that “He did not yield to the temptation to act rashly, simply following his instincts or living for the moment. Instead, he pondered things patiently. He knew that success in life is built on constant fidelity to important decisions.”