Five Things to Remember on Dec 3

1. The budget angst pervades Washington. It’s helpful to recall that Catholic social teaching calls for budget decisions to be made according to whether they protect or threaten human life and dignity, how they affect poor people including those who are homeless, hungry and without work. Also worth remembering is government’s responsibility for the common good of all, especially ordinary workers and their families who struggle to live in a manner worthy of their dignity in difficult economic times.
 
2. An Advent/Christmas custom is lessons and carols, a series of nine sets of hymns and biblical readings. They can be found here. A few moments with one of the series can be a reflective way to start or end the day.

3. With the Religious Retirement Collection coming up this weekend, the USCCB will post blogs by some people whose lives were touched by religious. The first blog is by ABC News analyst Cokie Roberts.

4. Dorothy Day (1897-1980), whose cause for sainthood is in an early stage, is attracting media attention. Now titled “Servant of God,” Dorothy Day was a social activist and pacifist and lived a life of voluntary poverty. She had an abortion in her early years and regretted it all her days afterwards. Her cause for sainthood was introduced at the Vatican by theArchdiocese of New York, where she died. 

5. God loves you.