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Can you explain what we mean by a vocation or calling? I have heard this term used in many different contexts and am not sure what it means. Does it apply to religious life?

A vocation or calling refers to a spiritual experience whereby a person senses within oneself the closeness of God and what he is asking in one’s life. It is a realization of what one’s part in God’s plan could be. Vocation comes in all kinds of ways. Some are as dramatic as St. Paul’s, being knocked off his horse, blinded, and hearing God’s voice. Others are less dramatic, often occurring over time through little events and personal interests. Others happen in a hurry, accompanied by great spiritual insight or conversion. We often think that this applies to religious vocation, but in fact, every Christian has a vocation, a calling to serve others in and through the church. Whether married or single, religious or lay, we are all called to live out our baptismal commitment to preach and teach the Gospel message. Each of us has our role to play in God’s plan, and we become coworkers with God in the work of redemption. With a little confidence, a willing spirit and God’s grace, we can and will respond to his unique call.
©2009 Liturgical Publications Inc

Save the date!  Wednesday, May 11

You are invited to join us for a wide varieity of fresh salads, breads and beverages compliments of our Nativity parishioners.  Over 50 delicious salads to excite your taste buds!   A “fast express line” and takeout orders available. 

This is a fundraiser for children in our Faith Formation programs.  Please come and support us! 

When:   Wednesday, May 11

Time:     11:00 am – 1:30 pm

Where:  Nativity Church

1825 – 11 Street South, Fargo

Buffet:  $8.00

Bonus:  Silent Auction and Door Prizes!

What are the origins and significance of the Easter celebration?

Easter was the first feast celebrated by the early church, commemorating Jesus’ resurrection. This rich and glorious event celebrated the reality that Jesus, who had been killed, was experienced as alive. Sunday was chosen as the day of communal gathering and celebration because, according to the Gospels, it was on Sunday that Jesus rose from the dead. Easter was the primary feast, reenacted each Sunday, which traditionally became known as a “little Easter.”

The Easter celebration is associated with the Jewish Passover, the commemoration of the freedom experienced by the Hebrew people when they were released from Egyptian slavery. Jesus’ last supper is recounted as a Passover meal by Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Jewish Passover backdrop of liberation from slavery provided the context for understanding Easter as the liberation of Christians from slavery due to sin. Jesus died on the cross for our sakes so that we might no longer be slaves to sin.

The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night is the joyous celebration of that resurrection reality in our lives. The community immerses itself in darkness, only to have the darkness shattered by the light of Christ that suffuses the whole world. This light leads to a freedom and liberation that is celebrated by plunging ourselves, literally and figuratively, into the baptismal waters. This symbolizes our turning away from darkness to the light that is Christ.

Ponder on how you will turn from darkness to light this Easter Vigil.

©2007 Liturgical Publications Inc, New Berlin, WI 53151

The following letter from Ken Hackett, President of Catholic Relief Services, shares crucial information about the growing disaster in East Africa:

You are probably starting to hear about a humanitarian crisis unfolding in East Africa, mostly affecting Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Catholic Relief Services staff in the region report dreadful conditions. This just came in from a refugee camp in Kenya:
They’ve walked for days or weeks from Somalia, and their shoes show it. Dusty and worn, the sandals of a little boy dangle in his hand as he wails in the center of the camp. Nearby, his exhausted 22-year-old mother, Momina, rocks her sobbing baby. “We had sheep, goats and cattle—over a dozen,” she says. “They all died from the drought…. Food was running out. So, we left.”
These terrible conditions have sparked an exodus of refugees—mostly women and children—pouring into Kenya and Ethiopia in search of food.
East Africa’s worst drought in more than half a century is causing extreme hunger for more than 11 million people. Severe lack of rainfall has resulted in failed crops, critical shortages in food and water, and countless numbers of livestock dying from dehydration and starvation. Further compounding the crisis are drastic increases in food prices.
All this brings to mind sobering images from the Ethiopian famine of 1984. Who can forget the pictures of emaciated, listless children on TV? The full scope of such a humanitarian catastrophe was not fully realized until after so many had died.
This time is different. This time, we know what is likely to come as the disaster unfolds. I am asking you to help CRS with a generous gift so that we can quickly increase the scope of our efforts there to feed and provide water to as many needy people as possible. Help us prevent another tragedy.
Since 1960, CRS has provided water and agricultural programs in Kenya and Ethiopia, where current drought conditions are not as dire as in Somalia. Your previous gifts are already saving lives because those programs helped us dig deep wells that have helped lessen the drought’s effects. But this drought is so widespread that our existing efforts are not enough. We need your help.
I ask you to please give now and help prevent another disaster like the 1984 Ethiopian famine. Please help our brothers and sisters in East Africa, who so desperately need our help.

For more information or to help, go to http://www.crs.org.

As I write this article, I’m enjoying a lovely North Dakota summer day. The sun is shining, the blue sky is dappled with whispy white clouds, and the gold and orange lillies are blooming outside my office window. It’s a good time to think about the simple things to do to care for this beautiful world God has provided for us.
Here are a few suggestions from the World Wildlife Fund:
 

• Put on a sweater, or take one off. Since the pendulum in N.D. seems to swing between furnace and air conditioning and rarely stops in between, this can help conserve energy.   

• Walk the walk. Drive less, enjoy bicycling, or get to know your neighborhood better by strolling through it

• Go for seconds – guilt free! How many items can be reused instead of thrown away? Padded envelopes, the plastic cell-packs from our seedlings, a plastic water bottle…

• Watch your waste. Oil, paints, ink cartridges, batteries do have special disposal procedures.

• Paper or plastic? No thanks! Bring your own bags along for shopping. Many have commented that bringing cloth bags to the grocery store has now become a habit.

• Flip the switch. As we are enjoying the longer days of summer, we still need to remember to turn off unneeded lights (and other energy-using items).

• Plant a seed, or a tree, a shrub, a tomato plant. The benefits are many and varied.
   
• Return to sender. if you receive too much mail or too many catalogs, contact the companies and have your name removed from their lists. Less clutter at home is an added bonus.

The leaders of more than fifty Christian denominations and organizations, including the presidents of Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities, and Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice, have signed the document printed below, calling for our political leaders to protect poor and vulnerable people, as they act to reduce the deficit.

A Circle of Protection: A Statement on Why We Need to Protect Programs for the Poor

In the face of historic deficits, the nation faces unavoidable choices about how to balance needs and resources and allocate burdens and sacrifices. These choices are economic, political — and moral.

As Christians, we believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare. We look at every budget proposal from the bottom up — how it treats those Jesus called “the least of these” (Matthew 25:45). They do not have powerful lobbies, but they have the most compelling claim on our consciences and common resources. The Christian community has an obligation to help them be heard, to join with others to insist that programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around the world are protected. We know from our experience serving hungry and homeless people that these programs meet basic human needs and protect the lives and dignity of the most vulnerable. We believe that God is calling us to pray, fast, give alms, and to speak out for justice.

As Christian leaders, we are committed to fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice. We are also committed to resist budget cuts that undermine the lives, dignity, and rights of poor and vulnerable people. Therefore, we join with others to form a Circle of Protection around programs that meet the essential needs of hungry and poor people at home and abroad.
1. The nation needs to substantially reduce future deficits, but not at the expense of hungry and poor people.
2. Funding focused on reducing poverty should not be cut. It should be made as effective as possible, but not cut.
3. We urge our leaders to protect and improve poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance to promote a better, safer world.
4. National leaders must review and consider tax revenues, military spending, and entitlements in the search for ways to share sacrifice and cut deficits.
5. A fundamental task is to create jobs and spur economic growth. Decent jobs at decent wages are the best path out of poverty, and restoring growth is a powerful way to reduce deficits.
6. The budget debate has a central moral dimension. Christians are asking how we protect “the least of these.” “What would Jesus cut?” “How do we share sacrifice?” As believers, we turn to God with prayer and fasting, to ask for guidance as our nation makes decisions about our priorities as a people.
7. As believers, we turn to God with prayer and fasting, to ask for guidance as our nation makes decisions about our priorities as a people. 

  8. God continues to shower our nation and the world with blessings. As Christians, we are rooted in the love of God in Jesus Christ. Our task is to share these blessings with love and justice and with a special priority for those who are poor.

Budgets are moral documents, and how we reduce future deficits are historic and defining moral choices. As Christian leaders, we urge Congress and the administration to give moral priority to programs that protect the life and dignity of poor and vulnerable people in these difficult times, our broken economy, and our wounded world. It is the vocation and obligation of the church to speak and act on behalf of those Jesus called “the least of these.” This is our calling, and we will strive to be faithful in carrying out this mission.

To learn more about the Circle of Protection and to sign your name to it, go to the Sojourners site- http://www.sojo.org/