VIEWS

The Church has given us a new English translation of her Order of Celebrating Matrimony. This new liturgical document offers us a good opportunity for timely catechesis on the vocation of marriage in the Church and society. Considering this, beginning today, I shall lift up some of the fresh insights and new liturgical practices found in this wonderful new ritual.

Ah, January. From sales on treadmills and exercise equipment to late-night commercials hawking weight-loss schemes, the country, it seems, is determined to get in shape after indulging in too many Christmas cookies.

As people of faith, we know that this was not the end of the story. On the third day, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead and gave hope to all who believe in Him that, as St. John will remind us, “we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 Jn 3:2). Like Jesus, we will die. Like Jesus, we will rise from the dead. The reality that we are confronted with death is both mysterious and full of hope.

This month we commemorate the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the infamous Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. How do we, as a people of faith respond? Before we can answer that question, we need to remind ourselves what it is that we’re for, or what it means to be truly pro-life. Unfortunately, it seems to me that too often we forget.

Near the end of the beloved Charles Dickens’ classic, “A Christmas Carol,” the cold heart of Ebenezer Scrooge is transformed and he exclaims, “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

I’ve been blessed to write for The Catholic Sun since 2002, and last year, I was asked to write for a small community newspaper. Many of my articles have had a Christian focus to them and recently, I approached the owner of the publication about establishing a special section in the paper devoted to local churches (something newspapers used to do once upon a time.)

My teen niece called me last week to tell me her dad — my brother — was getting on her nerves. What teenager hasn’t said that, right?

“Toma al niño y su madre, huye a Egipto …”. Con este comando del ángel, José, en medio de la noche, huyó de la masacre que Rey Herodes planificó para el niño Jesús; y la Sagrada Familia se convirtieron en refugiados (Mateo 2:13f).

“Take the child and his mother, flee into Egypt …” With this command from the Angel, Joseph, in the middle of the night, fled the massacre that King Herod intended for the child Jesus; and the Holy Family became refugees (Mt 2:13f).

“Going to church” in the Protestant American South holds a certain amusing lore through which I fondly recall the small Louisiana congregation of my girlhood, although at the time I was embarrassed by some of its quirky traditions at worship services.