News - January 2020 RSS Feed

Catholic Schools Weeks (CSW) is an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. Now entering its forty-sixth anniversary years, CSW has been traditionally held during the last week of January. This year it will be observed from January 26 to February 1, 2020. I have met families in our parish over the nearly seven years that I have been pastor at St. Francis of Assisi whose children attend a number of Catholic Schools: First of all, l want to mention some of the elementary schools used by parish families: St. Jude Regional School, St. Patrick’s School, St. Peter’s School, St. Raphael’s School, Mary of Nazareth School, and Mother of God School.

I have been reading a series of emails from the Office for Justice, Peace, and Human Development of the United States Conference on Catholic Bishops (USCCB) concerning Poverty Awareness month, which we are currently observing. I was particularly moved by several of their reflections on several events that will occur this week. I thought that I would share these reflections with you in this week’s column.

From January 5-11, 2020 (last week) the Church in the United States celebrated National Migration Week. The theme for this year’s celebration was “Promoting a Church and a World for All.” This reflects the need for Catholics to be inclusive and welcoming to all our brothers and sisters. It is a call for unity to stand in solidarity with and care for those who are excluded and marginalized.