Another Book Choice in Lent

The next session of Spirituality Alive begins in Lent. The featured book used by most of the groups is The Grace of Yes which was featured on the back of our bulletin today. There will also be copies of this book available after Mass the weekend of February 14-15 for $10 for anyone else who would also like to read it.

In addition, some folks are reading Renewed. f this book, Cardinal Sean O'Maley, O.F.M. Cap. says (in the foreword):

In this clarion call to renewal, Father Robert Redd challenges all of us -- laity, religious, deacons, priests, and bishops -- to start by looking within and making an honest assessment of our gifts and the ways we can better put them to use to revitalize the Church.

Father Reed rightly highlights one of the greatest resources available to us: the example and intercession of the saints. Rather than simply selecting a single saint to imitate, he instead proposes pairs of saints who at first glance seem like unlikely companions., like Augustine and Joan of Arc or Anthanasius and Mother Teresa. By juxtaposing two saints he finds new perspectives.... Like Catholics today, these saints lived in times of crises, but through God's grace and their creative energy, they found a way forward. With their help, we can too!

If you are interested in a copy of Renewed, please contact Sr. Jean Marie at (402) 593-9214 or jfaltus754@cox.net

Our Bishops Met

This week the US Bishops gathered in Baltimore earlier this week. There they heard from apostolic nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò who encouraged them to be witnesses of Christ. He said, "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers."

Also during the week, our Archbishop George Lucas was elected by his fellow bishops to Chair of the Committee on Education.

There are currently 265 active and 180 retired Bishops in the United States. Archbishop Elden Curtiss was among the retired bishops attending.

Bishop Christopher Coyne (@bishopcoyne) tweeted some picture from the conference including the one above and two below. Above he shows his view at the conference.

Here he shows how much space the bishops had at their seats.

Above is the device bishops would use to cast their votes.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley decribed the conference in his blog:

There was also time spent at the conference on the situation in the Philippines and how the Catholics of the United States might assist them, both through prayer and monetary contributions, in relief and rebuilding efforts.

Perhaps one of the most widely anticipated actions we took during our meeting was the election of our new president, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky who will succeed Cardinal Dolan in that position. ...

Of course, the issue of the HHS mandate was also discussed at the meeting, and on the final day of the conference, we released a Special Message on the issue that I want to share with you here: