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You are in for a treat!  A delicious spaghetti supper for everyone will be served by our Nativity youth on Wednesday, February 9, 5:30-7:30 in the Nativity cafeteria.  This meal consists of spaghetti with meat sauce ( or plain sauce), zesty Italian lettuce salad, crispy toasted garlic bread with ice cold milk or steaming hot coffee.   Two youth service projects of 1)assembling fleece blankets and 2) Valentines4Vets will also be going on before and after dinner.  This is a great family time to “eat and serve” together.  Come and join us between 5:30-7:30 pm on Wednesday, February 9th.  We truly appreciate your support and know you will enjoy the nice Italian dinner as you help our youth programs.  A free will offering will be taken.

The election of the pope is surrounded by ceremony and traditions, honed over the centuries. In 1996, Pope John Paul II changed some of the rules and procedures for the next papal election. The pope, as always, is elected by the College of Cardinals. Only those under the age of eighty may vote. The vote is taken through secret ballot and the candidate must have two-thirds of the votes in order to be elected. After the vote, the ballots are burned with a chemical added to indicate to the outside world whether a pope has been elected. Within the Sistine Chapel, no one may have any communication with the outside world. If a pope is not elected after three days, voting is suspended for a day for prayer. Then follows a series of votes. If these also fail, then the two-thirds majority rule is suppressed in favor of a simple majority.
Once elected, the Cardinal Deacon announces from the balcony of St. Peter’s who has been elected and what name he will take. The pope is elected as the bishop of Rome and therefore is the head of the church.

©2009 Liturgical Publications Inc
Used with permission

Isaiah 49:3,5-6; I Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34

In a letter to his nephew, Michelangelo wrote about his great achievements as a sculptor, painter and poet.  The great Renaissance artist said, “Many believe – and I believe – I have been designated by God for this work.  In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love of God in whom I put all my hope.”  Michelangelo, whose many works still inspire people today, did not see his work as simply a job or another commission.  He approached each work of art with reverence and humility, seeking to discover rather than create.  For instance, as he sculpted his great work entitled David, he believed that the image of David already existed in the marble.  His job was simply to remove everything that was not David.

Michelangelo saw his life’s work not as a job but rather as a call from God, a vocation.  As God’s beloved sons and daughters we are to have that same vision of our own lives.  Having died and risen with Christ through the waters of baptism, we have been entrusted with a specific vocation by which we call ourselves Christian.  What this means for us is that in no matter what situation we find ourselves in life, each of us is first and foremost a Christian.

For most people, the first adult vocation we enter is the vocation of Holy Matrimony.  Marriage, like each of the other sacraments, builds on the sacrament of Baptism, our first vocation.  This means that marriage and family is a recommitment to Christ; a commitment we first made on the day we were baptized.

This should then give you pause to reflect on your own marriage and family.  Let’s look first at marriage.  Do you see your spouse as the most important person in the world?  Do you always place the needs of your spouse ahead of your own wants or desires?  Do you help your spouse to grow in holiness, through your own example of holiness and by growing in your own faith?  Are you willing to die for your spouse, as Christ first died for you?  Are you willing to forgive your spouse when he or she has hurt you?  Are you willing to admit your fault and seek forgiveness when you have hurt the other? 

Since the Church teaches that marriage is about unity and procreation, it is important to look now at your children.  Have you acknowledged the fact that your children actually belong to God, and you are simply entrusted with their care for the first years of their life?  Given this knowledge, have you accepted your vocation to raise them and form them in the faith?  Do you take an active role in their faith development by discussing matters of religion and faith?  Are you helping them to recognize the sanctity of their own bodies by forming them in the Christian virtues of sexuality?  Do you spend as much time and money forming them in the faith as you do on their many extra-curricular activities?  When your children look at you, can they say they are seeing Christ in your words and actions?

Having reflected on spouse and children, it is important for each of us, like Michelangelo, to reflect also on our work.  Have you ever thought of your work as another expression of your Christian vocation?  After all, no matter whether one is a doctor, a mechanic, a teacher, or a laborer, each of us is first and foremost a Christian.  This means Christ expects us to be Christ-like in the workplace. 

For those of you with families, do you allow the demands of work to get in the way of your responsibility to your family?  Do you help to improve the work environment by being an example of the Christian virtues of fairness, patience, and kindness?  Do the words you speak and the choices you make in the work place reflect your commitment to Christ?

As a doctor, how might you see God working in and through the care you give to your patients?  Do you see yourself as an extension of Christ’s healing ministry?  How might one live out a Christian vocation as a mechanic?  One way is in recognizing that when people come to you the routine of their lives has been upset.  Treating them with courtesy and a genuine concern for their situation shows them respect which can calm their frustration. 

As a teacher you can see your vocation as an extension of Jesus’ own teaching ministry.  As a Christian, it is important that you always present the truth in your teaching, and not just be swayed by popular opinion on the latest issues.  Helping each and every child to recognize that he or she is important to you, can help them to see how each of them is important also to God.  As a laborer it is important to work to the best of your ability, showing pride in your work, no matter how menial the task may seem to you.

In all work, our interaction with co-workers also ought to be a reflection of Christ.  In all work, it is important to remember that even our work is a gift to us from God and simply one more way to serve the Lord and one another.

Let us never forget also, that we never retire from our Christian vocation.  Although we may have been blessed with the ability to no longer punch a time clock to make a living, we are still called to be Christ in our world.  For those who no longer need to work, you have been given the tremendous gift of freedom and time.  Christ will hold you accountable as to how you use these gifts.

Now imagine if you will, a world, in which all Christians saw themselves this way.  That is two billion people, one out of every three people in the world, being Christ in their home, in their work, and in society.  Today in this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace to authentically live and serve our Lord, as his beloved sons and daughters.

  Paragraph edited from Celebration, January 16, 2011

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/