During the interim phase of the Universal Synod when it ended its first session In October 2023 and before the Universal Synod meets again in October 2024, the Archdiocese of Washington held five listening sessions in Lent with five specific communities: Young Deaf Catholics, Young Black Catholics at Howard University’s Sr. Thea Bowman Catholic Campus Ministry Center, the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, and the Archdiocesan Priest Council. Three themes arose across the five listening sessions: 1) Evangelization and Welcome; 2) Leadership and Leadership Development, and 3) Social Justice and Inclusion. Within each of these themes there are areas of convergence, matters for consideration, and proposals.

During the interim phase of the Universal Synod, after it ended its first session In October 2023 and before the Universal Synod meets again in October 2024, the Archdiocese of Washington held five listening sessions in Lent with five specific communities: Young Deaf Catholics, Young Black Catholics at Howard University’s Sr. Thea Bowman Catholic Campus Ministry Center, the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, and the Archdiocesan Priest Council. Three themes arose across the five listening sessions: 1) Evangelization and Welcome; 2) Leadership and Leadership Development, and 3) Social Justice and Inclusion. Within each of these themes there are areas of convergence, matters for consideration, and proposals.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations (CCLV) released The Class of 2024: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood in anticipation of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The survey mentions that Pope Francis thanked “mothers and fathers who do not think of themselves or follow fleeting fads of the moment, but shape their lives through relationships marked by love and graciousness, openness to the gift of life and commitment to their children and their growth in maturity.

Cardinal Gregory was in Rome recently for a Papal Foundation Board Meeting and to receive the Rector’s Award at the annual Rector’s Dinner at the Pontifical North American College where a number of Washington seminarians study for the priesthood. While in Rome, Cardinal Gregory gave an interview to Vatican News where he spoke about human dignity, particularly Dignitas infinita, the recently released Vatican Declaration on human dignity. I want to highlight some points he made on that occasion.

In 1224—eight hundred years ago—St. Francis of Assisi received the stigmata after he had withdrawn to the hills of La Verna (located in the Apennine mountains in central Tuscany) to pray and do penance. Earlier this month Pope Francis joined a group of Italian Franciscan Friars from La Verna and Tuscany to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the “gift of the stigmata” (as Pope Francis put it). On this occasion, Pope Francis made a number of statements on which we should reflect. Let me include several of these statements here:

Our Easter Season is only beginning, with 50 days between Easter Sunday and Pentecost, the day commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Mary. There are many beautiful chapters in our Catholic faith between the beginning and the end of the Easter season—and this Sunday, April 7, Divine Mercy Sunday, marks one of them.

The Lord has risen as he said, Alleluia!

Welcome to all who are joining us today as we begin the holiest week of our Church year. Next Sunday, when we celebrate Easter, is a day when many people feel a longing to come to Church. I hope all of us will do all that we can to make people feel truly welcome. I want to encourage those of us who come to Mass here regularly to think about people who do not do so. Why not invite them to come to Mass with you next Sunday?

Jesuit Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade died on March 6, 1751 at the age of 76. We don’t know much about his life except that he spent his priestly life in a series of somewhat obscure assignments. One of his assignments was to serve as the spiritual director to a convent of Visitation nuns in France. In that capacity he prepared a series of conferences and wrote a series of letters for the benefit of the Visitation Nuns at that convent. Political events in France over the next seventy-five years or so kept things in a state of upheaval. It wasn’t until a century after Father de Caussade’s death that the nuns living at the convent thought to publish de Caussade’s under the title Abandonment to Divine Providence.

On February 15, 2024, the Maryland Catholic Conference picked six issues for their virtual Catholic Advocacy Day. Last week I summarized three of these items as presented on the Maryland Catholic Conference Website. This week I will present the other three items. But before I do that, I want to give you an update on one of the items mentioned last week.

On February 15, 2024, the Maryland Catholic Conference picked six issues for their virtual Catholic Advocacy Day. I am presenting three of these items today as presented on the Maryland Catholic Conference Website

During February we celebrate Black History month in the United States. In honor of this month-long celebration, I thought that I would make use of some publications from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops who developed some resources for responding to the Sin of Racism. Specifically, I want to talk about three U.S. Catholics who responded to Racism with Holiness.

During this Black History Month, I want to present three leaders of African descent who are on their way to sainthood. My source for this material can be located on the website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (ww.usccb.org). The three individuals we are looking at today have been declared Venerable. This means that they have been declared by a proclamation, approved by the pope, to have lived a life that was “heroic in virtue”—specifically the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity and the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.

On January 21, 2022, the Vatican released a decree stating that Pope Francis ordered that St. Irenaeus of Lyon be given the title “doctor of unity.” Pope Francis stated that the life and teaching of Saint Irenaeus served as a “spiritual and theological bridge between Eastern and Western Christians.” St. Irenaeus is actually the second Doctor of the Church named by Pope Francis. St. Gregory of Narek whom Pope Francis proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 2015 was the first. With the addition of St. Irenaeus to this list, the number of Doctors of the Church is now thirty-seven. Thirty-three are men and four are women.

I want to continue listing some advice on parish etiquette, which I think is a good thing to do at the beginning of the year. These reflections were first presented by Barbara Budde in a pamphlet (which is no longer in print) for the National Pastoral Life Center. Today I want to make some suggestions about our children at Mass.

I want to continue listing some good advice on parish etiquette as we are at the beginning of a New Year. These reflections were first presented by Barbara Budde in a pamphlet (which is no longer in print) for the National Pastoral Life Center. Today I want to make some suggestions about what to do if Mass has already begun or if you need to leave early.

As we begin a new year, I thought that I would devote the next several columns to the topic of parish etiquette at Mass. Barbara Budde, Director of Social Concerns for the Diocese of Austin, Texas, wrote a pamphlet on this topic for the National Pastoral Life Center several years ago. When the National Pastoral Life Center closed in 2009, I contacted Ms Budde to ask if I could use material that she had written in that pamphlet on occasions such as this. With her blessing I am sharing some of her thoughts on the topic of parish etiquette. Today I shall spend the rest of this column talking about some general remarks about cultivating good parish etiquette.

This is a continuation of my column from last week in which I am presenting the Christmas message of Pope Francis to the city of Rome and to the world. (The text is from the Vatican website.)

I have been really struck by the words of the Holy Father in his “Urbi et Orbi” message on Christmas Day. “Urbi et Orbi” is a Latin phrase that means “to the City [of Rome] and to the World. The phrase refers to a papal address and apostolic blessing given on certain solemn occasions (such as Christmas).

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I thought that it was wonderful to see so many people attend the Masses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. After all the Christmas Masses were concluded, I was pleased to have Christmas dinner with my Stehle cousins who live in DC. Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family--which is celebrated on the Sunday between Christmas and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. I was surprised to find out that the devotion to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph developed rather recently—in the seventeenth century. Built on the Gospel accounts, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are looked upon as an excellent domestic unit representing the ideal family life. To promote family life and build up devotion to the Holy Family, a feast of the Holy Family was established for the Universal Church in 1921.