by Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M., on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
I always feel grateful to live in a section of the country that enjoys a clear and distinct change of seasons and their accompanying weather patterns. In more recent years, however, those seasonal weather patterns seem to overlap and blend a bit more than in the past. I am not a meteorologist or scientist, but I am sure there are “scientific” reasons for such evidence of “climate change.” And I am also sure that there are many people who will either agree or disagree with those reasons, as well as those who simply do not care.
BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M., SHARES HIS BACK-TO-SCHOOL MESSAGE for the 2022-2023 school year. Home is the first and primary school. Parents are the first and primary teachers. By the time children enter the doors of a school, substantial education and formation has already taken place. Children bring with them to school all that they have learned in the family home: language and basic vocabulary, behaviors and social skills, attitudes and values.
Home is the first and primary school. Parents are the first and primary teachers. By the time children enter the doors of a school, substantial education and formation has already taken place. Children bring with them to school all that they have learned in the family home: language and basic vocabulary, behaviors and social skills, attitudes and values.
It is the mission of the Catholic Church to address and reform contemporary culture not the other way around. That mission is rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ and his Gospel. He has called the Catholic Church to be the “light of the world (Matthew 5:14).”
THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY into heaven (August 15) falls on Monday this year and remains a pre-eminent Marian feast day that should be honored and remembered. This year, however, 2022, the Solemnity of the Assumption is not a holy day of obligation. In 1991, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops adjusted the list of holy days of obligation and declared that the Solemnity of the Assumption is not observed as a holy day of obligation if it falls on Saturdays or Mondays due to its proximity to Sunday.
Since the 16th century, the practice of dedicating whole months to saints or other sacred things began to take root in the popular devotions of the Catholic Church. The month of August has traditionally been dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with the Solemnity of the Assumption celebrated at its midpoint.