We have our Catholic faith, and we know that even in the midst of all these difficulties and problems and challenges, we are not abandoned. As he promised us, Christ is with us and will be with us until the end of time.
Joseph, as head of the Holy Family, fostered with his wife Mary the growth of the child Jesus “in wisdom, age, and grace” (Lk 2:52). He was therefore spiritual father to his very special domestic church.
Luisa de Poo serves as the diocesan director of Life, Marriage and Family. She began working for the Diocese of Austin in 2016. In her role, de Poo is responsible for directing and implementing the USCCB Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities; coordinating the education and instruction of Catholics and the general public on life issues; and overseeing diocesan programs, initiatives and resources related to the ongoing catechesis and spiritual formation for sacramental marriage and Christian family living.
Nora Fitzpatrick is the coordinator of the food bank at Santa Rosa Parish in Andice. The parish has turned their hall in to a warehouse to store and package all the food they are distributing to those in need.
The crucifix that now hangs in the chapel of the St. Charles Borromeo House of Discernment in Austin was originally donated to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in College Station by Lucille and William Buchanan. The Borromeo House hosts men who are in preparation to possibly enter into a seminary program.
Gabriel Project, as it was previously known, was previously under the diocesan Office of Life, Marriage, and Family, in the Secretariat of Life, Charity and Justice. By making the administrative and physical move to CCCTX, the St. Gabriel Project ministry can provide comprehensive service to clients in the 25-county region within the Diocese of Austin.
Through the centuries, the tradition of the posada moved from church to neighborhoods. Families re-enact the posadas from Dec. 16 to 24, taking turns as the “inn” that allows Mary and Joseph to come in. That also means hosting a party.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the number of neighbors seeking assistance from the St. Vincent de Paul Conference at St. Albert the Great Parish. Before the pandemic, 90% of its neighbors worked and only needed help because of an injury, job loss, unexpected death in the family or a medical crisis. Now most of the neighbors calling for assistance are unemployed, have had hours reduced, or have been furloughed from their job.
According to canon law, cardinals are created when their names are made public “in the presence of the College of Cardinals.” While many Rome-based cardinals attended the consistory, more members of the college were “present” online.
As Mary’s husband and guardian of the son of God, St. Joseph turned “his human vocation to domestic love into a superhuman oblation of himself, his heart and all his abilities, a love placed at the service of the Messiah who was growing to maturity in his home.”
The Catholic Church teaches that there are differing degrees of responsibility of cooperation with evil. That means that the responsibility of those who make the decision to use cell lines of illicit origin is not the same as those “who have no voice in such a decision,” the doctrinal office said, quoting from its 2008 instruction, “Dignitas Personae.”
The Diocese of Austin is celebrating the Year of the Domestic Church, under the patronage of St. Joseph. Throughout 2021, we will focus on 12 monthly themes with accompanying resources. No matter whether your household is a home of one person or a family of many, we are all called to bear witness to and share the Gospel with our families and within our households. We ask for the intercession of St. Joseph that we may we experience the merciful love of God throughout the next year as we grow in faith in our household, personal and parish family.