Increase your Marian Devotion.
Make more time for spiritual reading.
Make good stewardship a lifestyle.
Share your Catholic faith with others.
Bring back regular penances.
Go an extra day to Mass during the week.
Pray the rosary more often.
Pick a new Saint buddy. (Why not take on the tradition of choosing a different Catholic saint as a special patron each year?)

More than nineteen hundred years ago, a decree went forth from the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, commanding a general census in which all the people of the empire should be enrolled, “each in his own city,” that is, in the place to which his tribe and family belonged.

Why do we believe in Jesus and the Catholic Church? Why should we continue to do so? We’ve never seen him face-to-face (at least not most of us, I assume). Most of us have never had mystical visions of angels or saints. We live in the same world as our atheist and secularists friends. Why do we believe in Christ if we’ve never seen him?

The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, near Mexico City, is one of the most celebrated places of pilgrimage in North America. On Dec. 9, 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to an Indian convert, Juan Diego, and left with him a picture of herself impressed upon his cloak.

Later, the picture was placed in a magnificent shrine which the Roman Pontiffs ennobled by granting it a Chapter of Canons for the splendor of Divine Worship. There it became famous for the concourse of people and the frequency of miracles, exciting immeasurably the piety of the Mexican nation toward the Mother of God.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. Psalm 130:5

Life is an “Advent-sure” because we know how it all turns out! It is the coming of our Lord to be with us, in us and among us. His coming is a “given.” Christ’s presence in and through us is always a sure thing. Advent assures us again and again, whether we look like it, feel like it or even act like it, that Christ is the one who gifts us with the Advent-sure of a lifetime!

St. Andrew, the brother of St. Peter, was a native of the town of Bethsaida in Galilee, and a fisherman by profession. Being first a disciple of St. John the Baptist, he later joined Jesus, and also brought to Him his brother Simon, with whom he became a member of the Apostolic College. After the dispersion of the Apostles, St. Andrew preached the Gospel in Scythia, as we learn from Origen; and, as Sophronius says, also in Sogdiana and Colchis.

Lord, we thank you for the goodness of our people and for the spirit of justice that fills this nation. We thank you for the beauty and fullness of the land and the challenge of the cities.

We thank you for our work and our rest, for one another, and for our homes. We thank you, Lord: accept our thanksgiving on this day. We pray and give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

www.usccb.org/prayers/thanksgiving-day-prayer

Lately I’ve been enjoying the deep meaning of Eastern icons. I love how they express a tapestry of meaning in a way that can surpass the written or spoken word. Today’s parable of the ten virgins from Jesus is a good example. Try googling “wise and foolish virgins icon” and you’ll see an image of how our Christ meets our heart’s deepest needs if we attend to him with the proper attitude.

National Vocation Awareness Week will be celebrated in our country November 5-11. Please ask Our Lord for more dedicated, holy priests, deacons, and consecrated men and women. May they be inspired by Jesus Christ, supported by our faith community, and respond generously to God’s gift of vocation.

The All Saints Day feast dates back to the 7th century, and the occasion of its introduction was the conversion of the ancient Pantheon at Rome into a Christian church. This famous temple, which possibly existed in the time of the Republic, is generally considered to have been built by Marcus Agrippa in his third consulate in the year 27 B.C., but it is not improbable that he merely restored and added to it. Historians do not agree as to the origin of its name, but Pliny tells us that Agrippa dedicated it to Jupiter the Avenger. It was afterward repaired by Septimus Severus and his son Caracalla.

Good News! Trick or treating doesn't jeopardize our faith.

What was once thought to be a harmless holiday is now said by some to be a pagan rite dating back to Celtic (and pagan) Druids. What's more, it's claimed that modern pagans and witches continue to celebrate this ancient festival even today.

The truth is that the origins of Halloween are, in fact, very Christian, and rather American, too. Halloween actually falls on October 31 because of a Pope, and its observances are the result of medieval Catholic piety.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Patroness of Devotees of the Sacred Heart
Feast Day: October 16

One day, Jesus spoke to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque as she knelt before the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus said He had chosen her to reveal His Sacred Heart as a symbol of His love. During three more revelations, He explained how to practice the devotion.

Fifteen Promises of Mary to those who recite the Rosary:

1. Whoever recites the rosary shall receive singular graces.
2. I promise special protection and graces to those who recite the rosary.
3. The rosary will destroy vice, decrease sin, & defeat heresies.
4. The rosary will cause virtue & good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.
READ MORE

Each October the Church in the U.S. celebrates Respect Life Month, and the first Sunday of October is observed as Respect Life Sunday. As Catholics, we are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, and at every point in between. During the month of October, the Church asks us to reflect more deeply on the dignity of every human life.