News - January 2022 RSS Feed

National Catholic Schools Week, an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States, is being commemorated this week, from January 30th through February 5th. As we celebrate the gift of Catholic education at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School, let us explore ten reasons why Catholic schools still have an important place in our world...

What Did You Do to Stop the Silent Holocaust? The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has appointed tomorrow as a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.  Abortion has been around a long time. It was forbidden in the Hippocratic Oath, 400 years before Christ. In this country, it was a contentious issue around the Civil War. And since Roe v. Wade, abortion has become status quo, acceptable, politically correct; you can even pay for it with your Visa Card. And there is a real danger that we, as Christians, as Catholics, are becoming indifferent and callous, acting like we don't really care. Maybe sometimes we just grow weary of hearing about it. 

And so it is that the calendar has (finally!) flipped and we have begun a new year. Last year, 2021—with its mix of joys and sorrows, goals met and goals missed, friendships gained and friendships lost—is behind us. For many, New Year’s is just another holiday. For others, it’s a time of deep reflection, both on the past year and on the one ahead. For followers of Jesus, New Year’s has no unique significance. There’s no central biblical narrative informing our celebrations.

We are all being handed something very special: a “brand, spanking-new” New Year with which to do some very extraordinary things. OR not. It’s really up to us! Newness is something that is very popular in our American culture. Who doesn’t enjoy that “new car” smell, that fresh out of the box aroma of a new pair of leather shoes, or the feel of that nice cashmere sweater you just opened? New Year’s resolutions have that new car smell at the moment. Our resolve is high to make this year different than other years. But if the truth be told, the average time between the moment we make our resolutions and their demise is a sad three weeks. By that time all the newness has been aired out of them, and they become mere chores. It’s one of the reasons I don’t make resolutions...