My Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

As we near the end of January, we are ending the first month of the new year. At the beginning of this Jubilee Year, our heart, filled with God’s fresh love, pledged to remain through, with and in God. During the celebration of every Mass, you and I renew our baptismal promise to know, love and serve God all our days as we receive Jesus the Eucharist and go in haste to bring Him to all the people. These words of Psalm 19 give us pause to remember that enthusiasm of our renewed encounter with God and to remember the mission of which we are called to live as pilgrims of hope.

We believe that we are created by God for God. This wondrous gift we receive is ours to flourish all our days — to live as a member of His Body and breathe His presence upon the earth holding all as sacred. We may know that the Body of Christ needs each one individually and that the strength of His Body is made manifest by our working together. In this way, we perfect the mission He calls us to live; the mission of service to love one another. St. Paul tells us that if one part suffers, all parts suffer; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy. There is no room for jealousy or insolence or judgement within the Body of Christ. All are equal and a treasure to His Presence.

We are reminded of our creation as we take the opportunity to pray Jan. 22, a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. On this day particularly, we give thanks to God for the gift of human life and pray for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and for the healing of those who suffer because of the pain of aborting a life. We pray for those who are conflicted about his/her life circumstance and ask God to enlighten each heart with the joy of knowing one another as a person of God’s own heart.

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, said Jan. 1, World Day of Peace, “all of us are invited to take up the summons that flow from the maternal heart of Mary: to cherish life, to care for life, to restore dignity to the lives of everyone ‘born of woman,’ for this is the basis for building a culture of peace.”

We also praise God for our children as we celebrate Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 26 to Feb. 1. The theme this year, United in Faith and Community, speaks to the Body of Christ as we seek to unify and proclaim the mission of God. I am grateful to Erika Wikstrom, our superintendent of schools, and her staff for their guidance of our principals and teachers. I praise God, also for the gift of our principals and teachers, staff, parents and guardians, volunteers and young people who seek to learn about God and then teach us how to live as God’s own! Each one is the essence of God within our daily living, bringing forth His Presence that the earth is made holy. 

Let us proclaim by our daily living, your words, Lord, are Spirit and Life. As we grow into the Body of Christ, may hope be reborn and peace spring up for all the peoples of the earth.