HOW WALK WITH MARY | CAMINA CON MARÍA, SYNOD ON SODALITY, VOCATIONS - A CALL TO SERVE! (1125 hits)
For Immediate Release From Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, DC!
Please enjoy "Walk With Mary Mass.
First Sunday of Advent, which also kicked off the parish’s centennial celebration, Cardinal Gregory noted that some might think, “We know that He has come, and we know where He was born. We know about His family background. And we know what happened to him. So, the suspense is gone!”, but he explained that Advent is not merely about what has happened, “but what and who is to come!” The cardinal's homily resonated with parishioners when he added, "If our Washington sports teams somehow look like they might have a winning season,” queuing some knowing chuckles from the pews, “lots of folks will go to great lengths for playoff tickets – because HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL.” And that, the cardinal noted, is “the meaning of this entire Advent season that we begin today.”
Read all about the Mass and celebration from the Catholic Standard: bit.ly/47ZGY33
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Cardinal Gregory Discusses Pope’s Synodal Vision, Need For A Welcoming Church
WASHINGTON (OSV News) — At The Catholic University of America to discuss the need for a diverse and welcoming church, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory fielded a wide range of audience questions while also reflecting on his own faith journey from childhood.
The Dec. 6 talk, “Celebrating Diversity,” on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Cardinal Gregory’s ordination as an auxiliary bishop of Chicago, touted the work of the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach and its Catholic Civil Dialogue Initiative.
“We are directly challenged to show respect to those we encounter,” Cardinal Gregory said. That task has become more challenging recently in the wake of public displays of racism, antisemitism, which has found renewed expression in the wake of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and contempt for the poor, which has never gone away.
But “the Bible reminds us that being in community is not easy,” he added.
Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory smiles as he speaks at The Catholic University of America in Washington Dec. 6, 2033, to discuss the need for a diverse and welcoming church. The cardinal fielded a wide range of audience questions, including those related to liturgy. (OSV News photo/Patrick G. Ryan, courtesy The Catholic University of America).
Cardinal Gregory praised the recent Synod on Synodality assembly in Rome convened by Pope Francis, which concluded its first session with a call for greater “co-responsibility” among the baptized for the church’s mission. Its second session begins next October.
The cardinal criticized “those who are distorting Pope Francis’ vision of the synodal church.” He thinks it should be used “to bring the church into the future,” although others want “to solidify current pastoral practice so only they know the true church.”
Cardinal Gregory also reflected, “In our world and our American society today, we are also facing a culture of isolation” aggravated further by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have forgotten our interconnectedness,” he said. “We seem to have forgotten what our parents and grandparents taught us: to respect others.”
He also said the synodal process “had been a reminder of the church’s ability to call all people into community,” including LGBTQ+ Catholics and parishioners in difficult marital situations. “All these sisters and brothers are looking for a church environment in which they are not perceived as outsiders.”
“Each of us,” Cardinal Gregory said, “wants to believe that we are cherished, valued and known by others and able to “express yourself freely with no judgment.” Effective dialogue requires “active, sincere listening,” although he acknowledged, “it will take us several years to find an effective way to dialogue together.”
Recognizing people on the margins is built into the consistent ethic of life, he reminded his audience. “There’s a dignity to life that begins at conception, and you can never lose it, despite all the circumstances you may encounter in life.”
He recalled warmly his time at St. Carthage Grammar School in Chicago, where he was received into the Catholic faith. “I was just mesmerized,” he said, adding that one of his grandmothers, who worked as a domestic, cooked and did laundry for a community of Dominican nuns to pay for his tuition and fees — a whopping $76 his family could not afford.
“I’m a big proponent of making sure that our schools invited the non-Catholics,” he said.
In response to a question from a Catholic University freshman, Cardinal Gregory launched into a spirited defense of the Latin Church’s Roman liturgical reform following the Second Vatican Council.
“When Pope Paul VI instituted the new tradition, he made an exception for some of the older priests. But it was his desire, his intent, to say when that generation goes, everyone will do the new Mass,” he said.
The word vocation comes from “call” in Latin. While all are called by God to know, love and serve Him, a vocation in the Catholic Church is a call to the priestly or consecrated life. Many others are called to marriage, living out the call to love that God asks of each of us.
Priestly Vocations
The priesthood is a gift for the Church that comes from Christ himself. As Catholics, we are all called to holiness, but some are called to serve the Church as priests. Ask if God might be calling you to manifest your love for Christ by a commitment to him as a priest of his Church.
Permanent deacons, who are ordained clergy in the Church, are called to a ministry of service. In particular, they are called to serve those in need, such as persons who are hungry, homeless, sick, in prison or immigrants.
Consecrated men and women take public religious vows to the evangelical counsels (poverty, chastity and obedience), dedicating themselves to God for service to the Church and for the salvation of the world. Consecrated life can be lived in many forms, but the most well-known is religious life, lived in a community sharing a common apostolate.
Your prayers will nurture the growth of vocations in the archdiocese. The Mother Teresa Vocation Society is a prayer apostolate that asks for your commitment to pray daily for vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life – learn more here: https://adw.org/vocations/pray-for-vocatio...
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As we continue to celebrate Black Catholic, we turn to Our Lady in gratitude for the diverse community that is the Washington Archdiocese.
