Five Things To Remember On Nov. 15

1. As Congress works on a budget package, it should replace sequestration and protect programs that serve the poor and vulnerable, at home and abroad, wrote Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, and Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, California. Bishop Pates and Bishop Blaire, who addressed their November 12 letter to the leadership of Budget Conference Committee.

2. Working people struggling to support themselves and their families should be protected from lenders who look to exploit their financial insecurity, said Bishop Blaire.

3. It was a busy week for the USCCB. Read speeches and news release and see the results of elections and voting on action items at the USCCB November General Assembly.

4. Catholic News Service reports: "The goal of the Year of Faith, which concludes Nov. 24, has been to educate Catholics about basic church teachings, strengthen their faith and inspire them to share it with others. If it has succeeded, as organizers say it has, the credit ultimately lies less with its special projects and events than with the historic papal transition that occurred in its course."

5. God loves you.