Five Things to Remember on Jan. 18

                                                                                                                                                                           

1      1.     National Vocation Awareness Week began Sunday. This week we have guest posts by young priests and religious. Here’s the fifth vocation post, by Holy Cross Brother Brian Ching, a transitional deacon preparing for ordination to the priesthood. 

2      2.     From Friday, January 18 through Friday, January 25, the Catholic Church along with many other Christians will begin celebrating the 2013 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity! 

3      3.     Monday, January 21, is Inauguration Day and the national celebration of the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He may have been a reluctant leader, "but he was willing to put himself out there," said Deacon Melvin R. Tardy Jr. in a recent address. He was "the right person for the moment" in the civil rights movement, said the deacon, an academic adviser at the University of Notre Dame. What separated Rev. King from other contemporaries were faith, hope, and love, he added.

4      4.     As the nation marks the 40^th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout the nine months of pregnancy, the USCCB blog will offer posts by four bloggers: Lisa Hendey of Catholicmom; Mary DeTurris Poust of Not Strictly Spiritual; Julia Smucker, contributor to the group blog Vox Nova and Sarah Vabulas of Catholic Drinkie.

        5. God loves you.