I was surprised to learn that not all countries celebrate the same holy days. If we are traveling and the country where we are does not celebrate a holy day that we do in the USA, must we go to Mass? There are ten holy days of obligation: Mary, the Mother of God; Epiphany;...
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Labor Day is a national holiday with a clear and direct connection to Catholic Social Teaching. From the landmark encyclical “Rerum Novarum” in 1891, through Pope John Paul II’s “On Human Work” in 1981, and now in each Labor Day Statement issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Church has given unwavering...
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For decades, the Vatican, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and countless peace advocates from all over the world have worked for a world without nuclear weapons. Jean Sammnon, Field Coordinator for the National Catholic Social Justice Lobby “Network” has sent us this message: A new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) was signed by...
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Why do some dioceses move holy days, or not even celebrate them at all. Doesn’t everyone do the same thing? The short answer is no, not everyone does the same thing. Although the church is universal, there are many local customs and saints that each country, sometimes just a region, will honor. For example,...
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October 16, is World Food Day. Saturday, October 17, is International Day for Eradication of Poverty, and Sunday, October 18, is both Mission Sunday and Bread for the World Sunday. All of these days fall within Fighting Poverty with Faith Week and during the historic Catholic Bishops’ Synod on Africa in Rome. Some might...
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Are there variations on praying the rosary besides the traditional prayer pattern? October is traditionally known as the month of the rosary, with the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary celebrated on October 7. The rosary traces it origin to those who wanted to imitate the monks’ daily psalm prayers but could not...
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What are some ways to prepare to celebrate the Sunday Liturgy of the Word more effectively? Sunday Mass consists of two interrelated parts, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Liturgy of the Word has been expanded into a three-year cycle of Scripture passages, with each liturgy containing four...
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Congress Takes on Healthcare Reform The debate on healthcare reform is taking center stage as legislation is being prepared in Washington and supporters of reform are expressing their ideas. Bishop William F. Murphy represented the views of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a recent news release when he noted that “the bishops...
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On April 22, the Catholic community launched a new initiative, the Catholic Climate Covenant, to bring together a distinctive Catholic voice to the climate change debate. Organizational partners and sponsors of the Covenant Campaign cut across a diverse range of the Catholic community  including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA,...
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