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On Dec. 27, the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Bishop Joe Vásquez will inaugurate the Year of the Domestic Church in the Diocese of Austin. Each month (throughout 2021) resources will be released to help parishes celebrate and connect with families. Resources will include bulletin content, homiletics, prayer practices, family activities and more. Throughout the next year, the Catholic Spirit will feature a monthly column on the domestic church, as well. For more information, visit www.austindiocese.org/domestic-church.

College sweethearts, the Merkels married and moved from Ohio to Texas for Merkel’s job at the company now known as Texas Exxon Mobile Corp. They soon started their family, which eventually grew to include two daughters and five sons — and 15 grandchildren.

The event will be a combination of live content from the Pastoral Center, with prerecorded segments. Juliana Rueda, associate director of marketing and events, said the virtual format opens up the gala to those who may not typically attend. In addition, they will get to enjoy the talents of students and educators beyond their own parishes and school communities.

“This year’s DCYC may look a little different, but we are looking forward to making this one-day, socially-distanced DCYC very special,” she said. Details are available online at austindiocese.org/dcyc.

A day after the Vatican released its extensive report on former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the pope renewed the Catholic Church’s pledge to uproot the scourge of sexual abuse.

The domestic church is the primary place where we practice coming to intimately love others. It is the place where we begin to learn how to live out our universal call to holiness. It is in the context of the family that we first learn who God is.

Many people with a loved one who died in the previous year experience similar sadness as Christmas approaches. Their world is changed and it can seem empty without their child, spouse, parent or grandparent, sibling, or friend. Any attempt to celebrate takes enormous effort, feels artificial, and can even seem disloyal or disrespectful to the deceased. Instead of celebrating the arrival of the divine in the birth of Jesus, God often seems very far away for grieving individuals.