As we approach “Catholic Schools Week 2024,” I am looking forward to the opportunity to visit many of the Catholic Schools in our diocese to celebrate with students, parents, teachers, and administrators the gift and ministry of Catholic Schools.

During the past week on our liturgical calendar, on Wednesday, “of the First Week in Ordinary Time” (Jan. 10), and on the “Second Sunday in Ordinary Time” (Jan. 14), we heard the same Scripture passage for the First Reading at Mass. The passage, sometimes referred to as “The Call of Samuel,” is from the third chapter of the First Book of Samuel (1 Sm. 3:1–10, 19).

As part of a three-year National Eucharistic Revival, plans are being made for the first National Eucharistic Congress to be held in the United States in 83 years! On the website for the Eucharistic Revival, you can learn about the history of Eucharistic Congresses and that, “Since 1895, the United States has been host to nine National Eucharistic Congresses and two International Eucharistic Congresses (1926 & 1976).” 

Fiducia Supplicans (On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings) is a “Declaration” issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), signed by Pope Francis, and published on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023.