Five Things To Remember On Oct. 1

1. As the Catholic Church prepares to celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life, the USCCB's Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations is promoting “Days with Religious” initiatives and resources to help families learn about the consecrated life of religious men and women. Activities will focus on sharing experiences of prayer, service and community life with those living a consecrated life.

2. Does your parish ever pray with other Christians? Julia McStravog, program and research specialist for the Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the USCCB, writes today, "Prayer and Dialogue Bring Christians Together and Make us Better Catholics."

3. On the note of dialogue, Pope Francis said today, "in the Christian community everyone needs the other, and every gift received is fully realized when it is shared with brothers, for the good of all. This is the Church! And when the Church, in the variety of her charisms, is expressed in communion, she cannot err: it is the beauty and the strength of the sensus fidei, of that supernatural sense of faith, that is given by the Holy Spirit so that together we can enter into the heart of the Gospel and learn to follow Jesus in our life”.

4. Bishop Kevin Vann, of the Diocese of Orange, writes on the first day of Respect Life Month, "let us unabashedly witness to the Gospel of Life: God’s love for the unborn, women and families in crisis, those on death row, unaccompanied refugees, those struggling with mental illness, or surviving domestic violence. Each of Us is a Masterpiece of God’s Creation! And all of us can lend a helping hand to a neighbor in need."

5. God loves you.