Every year the Church blesses us with a season to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord at Christmas. Much exterior preparation takes place during the four weeks of Advent: we decorate our homes, purchase gifts for loved ones, bake cookies and host parties. All of these things should be directed toward fostering our awareness of the great mystery we celebrate on Christmas Day: the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is our Savior, and to Him we cry out, “Emmanuel, Lord, come to save us!”

In Advent, we prepare to celebrate God’s love for us; a love so powerful that when our Lord saw our neediness, He desired to save us through His grace rather than leave us to suffer on our own. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminded us that our cry for the Lord to come to save us echoes throughout history. He said, “This is the cry raised by men and women in every age, who sense that by themselves they cannot prevail over difficulties and dangers. They need to put their hands in a greater and stronger hand, a hand which reaches out to them from on high” (Urbi et Orbi Christmas Message, 2011).

None of us can save ourselves; we need God’s help. We need His transformative grace. Without God, we cannot turn away from sin and conform our lives to the Gospel’s truths. Jesus comes to save us. He has done that through the mystery of his Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, as well as through His teachings and His life’s example. We celebrate that Jesus was born as one of us in order to give absolutely everything for us.

Just as we exteriorly prepare for the coming of the Lord at Christmas, we also should take advantage of these weeks to interiorly prepare our hearts to welcome our Savior. The Church’s Advent liturgies are filled with readings from the prophets about the People of Israel’s anticipation of the Messiah’s coming. Beautiful hymns give voice to the eager expectation shared by Christians over the course of the centuries. Our personal prayer, too, should foster in us the desire to accept the Lord’s hand and allow Him to pick us up and guide us along the path of discipleship.

Families can pray together with the assistance of reflections and the traditional prayers associated with lighting an Advent wreath. This is also a time to humbly encounter the Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and ask Him to forgive our sins and heal us by the grace which only He can give.

Certainly, this is a busy time of year and, in the midst of that busyness, it is easy to arrive at Christmas Day and be surprised it is already here. We can be disappointed that we did not take advantage of the opportunities Advent offers to grow closer to God and allow Him more deeply into our lives. As this season of both exterior and interior preparation begins, let us take a moment to silence our hearts and reflect on the magnitude of God’s love, which we will contemplate in the image of the stable of Bethlehem. This Love will be born as a Person, a Child, a Savior. Jesus is born for you and for me.

Just as Mary and Joseph wondered in awe as they beheld the Christ Child, so too let us arrive at Christmas Day with great gratitude and love for God, who has chosen to save us in such an unassuming way.

 

More than simply an emotion we experience from time to time, joy is a virtue each of us is called to receive from God and cultivate in our lives for the good of others. Christian joy is rooted in an awareness of God’s unconditional love. When we experience God’s love and live out our lives as a response to that love, then we are truly joyful people.

On the evening before His Passion, our Lord reminded His closest disciples, “I have told you all this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete” (Jn. 15:11). Jesus told His disciples about the suffering He would endure and their mission to carry on the work He had begun. After washing their feet, Jesus gave them the new commandment to love one another as He loved them. He encouraged them by promising that He would send the Holy Spirit to support, teach and guide them. He warned that they would face difficulties, challenges and rejection by the world. But Jesus told His disciples these things so they might share in His joy, a joy unlike anything the world could provide.

Even on the eve of His suffering and death, Jesus possessed deep joy because He remained intent on freely fulfilling the will of His heavenly Father. Jesus trusted in the Father’s plan for His life, and He knew that fulfilling that would bring Him the most satisfaction.

Everything Jesus teaches us is directed at leading us closer to God and helping us to know God’s plan for our lives. Jesus’ teachings show us who we are and what God calls us to be. They mark out the path we are to follow to reach our fulfillment as human beings created in God’s image. Even when we struggle along the way, God never tires of picking us up and putting us back on the road of discipleship.

Our joy is rooted in this hope of God’s never-failing love for us. Joy is a virtue that rests deep in our souls, but which we are meant to share with others. Unfortunately, we live in a world that, despite all the means of communication available to us, is becoming more and more hostile to genuine human encounter and mutual support.

Pope Francis began his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, saying, “Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers, too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ” (EG 2).

The joy which fills our heart as we receive God’s love for us is given to us precisely to be given away. Christians who share their joy make great contributions to the world by giving firm testimony to the love of God for all people.

November’s Catholic liturgies foster our contemplation of eternity. We celebrate All Saints’ Day and commemorate all the faithful departed on All Souls’ Day. The readings of the Sunday Masses offer reflections on the end times and God’s promise of salvation for those who place their trust in Him. Glancing toward eternity, we are filled with joy at the prospect of all God has in store for us. This is a fitting month, then, to renew our awareness of God’s great love. The Lord sends us out to be His joyful witnesses, confident in His grace and mercy, giving to a suffering world the hope of divine love.

Oct. 12, 2022

 

Mr. Jerry Freewalt has resigned from his position as Executive Director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio and his resignation has been accepted by the bishops of Ohio. Mr. Freewalt has accepted the position of Director of the Office of Social Concerns with the Diocese of Columbus. The bishops of Ohio are very grateful for Mr. Freewalt’s dedicated service to the Catholic people and dioceses of Ohio and gratified that he will continue to serve the mission of the Church in his new capacity.

With Mr. Freewalt’s departure, the bishops of Ohio have asked Ms. Carolyn Jurkowitz to return as interim director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio effective immediately, and she has accepted. The bishops are grateful for her agreement to assist at this time.

The Catholic Conference of Ohio will begin a national search for a new Executive Director in the coming days.

 

Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr

Archbishop of Cincinnati

Chairman, Board of Directors,

CAtholic Conference of Ohio

God creates each human being in an act of divine love. As Catholics, we believe human life begins at conception and unfolds over the span of time we are given on this earth until our natural death. It is our firm hope that God, who created us in love and guides and sustains us by that same love throughout our lives, will also welcome us into eternity where we can rejoice in the presence of Love itself. Life in this world is our experience of being created, sustained and redeemed by God, and for this reason life is of the highest value. This is why we celebrate Respect Life Month each October. We thank God for the gift of life, and we renew our commitment to honor and promote the dignity of every person.

In his apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis reminds us, “Every human being is the object of God’s infinite tenderness, and he himself is present in their lives” (EG 274). Every person is loved by God. Every person reflects His presence. We are then called to also love each person. As the Lord said, “Love one another as I love you” (Jn. 15:12).

Jesus left us this new commandment of love on the night before He was to offer His life for the salvation of every human being. From the Cross, He teaches us that true love is sacrificial; it seeks the good of the other no matter the cost. Christian love, then, is selfless and for all. The Lord calls us to love not only our family members and friends, but also those who are alone, afraid and abandoned. He calls us to love the most vulnerable – the unborn and the infirm. We are called to love those who suffer from poverty, those who have fled their homeland due to war or persecution, and those who have been imprisoned, cast out from society and forgotten. The Lord even calls us to love our enemies.

On our own we cannot love as Christ loves, but we are capable of such love to the degree that we allow Christ to love through us. This is why a life of prayer, built upon the fruitful reception of the sacraments and the Scriptures, is essential for each one of us. We can accomplish great things united to the Lord.

This year we celebrate the first Respect Life Month after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We know that the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision does not mark the conclusion of our efforts to promote and foster a culture of life. More than 65 million innocent children have lost their lives to abortion in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade. This sad fact demonstrates the desperate need for conversion of hearts and minds. We must continue to pray and work so that all people come to respect the inherent dignity and sacredness of every human being from conception to natural death.

We build such a culture which respects the gift of life through prayer, sacrifice and joyful service to all. Offering our love and support to pregnant women, especially those who are alone or overwhelmed, remains an important part of this work. Likewise, the compassion and assistance we provide for the sick and the needy gives testimony to our faith. Visiting and ministering to those in prison provides hope for those who often feel forgotten and rejected by society. Welcoming immigrants and helping them to begin a new life heals the scars of the tragedies they have left behind.

We have the opportunity to love every person we encounter as Christ has loved us. In so doing, we contribute to building a culture which truly respects each human life. May God sustain us in this endeavor!

“Run so as to win.” St. Paul wrote these words to the Christians at Corinth, a city with a large stadium and anchored in the centuries-old Greek athletic tradition. “Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one” (1 Cor. 9:24-25).

Sports and the Catholic spiritual life, perhaps surprisingly, have some significant aspects in common. Saints from the Apostle Paul to Pope St. John Paul II have taught us that focus, persistence and determination are as necessary to the faithful Christian witness as to the successful athlete. At the same time, participation in sports can nourish important human values.

Almost two millennia after St. Paul, at a Mass in Rome’s Olympic Stadium celebrating the Jubilee of Sports People on Oct. 29, 2000, Pope St. John Paul II used a similar sporting analogy. “Every Christian is called to become a strong athlete of Christ, that is, a faithful and courageous witness to His Gospel,” he said. “But to succeed in this, he must persevere in prayer, be trained in virtue, and follow the divine Master in everything.”

Perseverance is necessary for success at anything in life, Pope St. John Paul II pointed out. “Anyone who plays sports knows this very well: it is only at the cost of strenuous training that significant results are achieved. This is the logic of sport; it is also the logic of life: without sacrifices, important results are not obtained, or even genuine satisfaction.”

St. John Paul was, himself, an avid athlete who hiked and skied even after he became pope. In his 2000 speech, he thanked God for the gift of sports “in which the human person exercises his body, intellect and will, recognizing these abilities as so many gifts of the Creator.” And he noted that playing sports “can encourage young people to develop important values such as loyalty, perseverance, friendship, sharing and solidarity,” plus a healthy sense of competition. Most of all, sports teaches that the achievement of a goal, particularly a stretch goal, is the result of embracing everything that leads to obtaining that goal and rejecting those things that do not.

As Catholics, we are called to be saints. This is our ultimate goal. It is not the goal of an exceptional few or those living out a particular vocation. The universal call to holiness is at the very heart of one of the central documents of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium. “Therefore in the Church, everyone, whether belonging to the hierarchy or being cared for by it, is called to holiness, according to the saying of the Apostle: ‘For this is the will of God, your sanctification’” (LG 39). Just as an elite athlete orients his or her whole mental and physical life – training, nutrition, competitive psychology, skill development – to the end of athletic excellence and winning, so must we strive to orient all our thoughts, words and deeds to our ultimate end: holiness. Everything we do, every choice we make, moves us either closer to that goal or further from it.

Unlike athletic contests, the competition within ourselves between faith and doubt, virtue and vice, light and darkness, is one we must win. Fortunately, we are not alone in this contest. The Catholic Church, Christ’s sacramental presence on earth, imbued with the Holy Spirit, offers us everything we need to orient our lives to Christ. Among them are prayer, spiritual reading, Sacred Scripture and Tradition, the saints, the holy sacrifice of the Mass, the sacraments and adoration of our Lord in the Eucharist. These are gifts which we should not ignore.

When our time on this earth comes to its end, may we echo the words of St. Paul: “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).