Five Things To Remember On Oct. 8

1. Remember: keep up with the latest Synod reports from Catholic News Service.

2. The Pope remembered his first Communion 70 years ago today.

3. Bishop Martin Holley celebrated a Mass marking Respect Life Month and you can hear a brief part of his homily on our Audioboom page.

4. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the USCCB has many resources on the topic.

5. God loves you

Five Things To Remember On Oct. 7

1. There's a new Catholic News Service homepage for their coverage of #Synod14. Keep track of all the latest news at http://synodonfamily.wordpress.com/

2. The chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, and the chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, expressed serious disappointment at the October 6 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to consider current cases that strike down laws upholding marriage as between one man and one woman.

3. Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay asks a great question on his Twitter today.

Real-life question: How do we introduce the power & strength of the Rosary to a new generation? Use #TheRosaryWorks in reply.
— Bishop David Ricken (@BpDavidRicken) October 7, 2014

4. A new book from Catholic News Service explores Pope Francis' connection and emphasis on families.

5. God loves you.

Five Things To Remember On Oct. 6

1. Pope Francis says synods are meant to better nurture and tend to the Lord's vineyard, to help realize his dream and loving plan for people.

2. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will meet in Baltimore, November 10-13, for their annual Fall General Assembly. The bishops will hear the first presidential address of Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of USCCB, who was elected to a three-year term in November 2013. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States, will also address the bishops.

3. Today, at the start of the synod, Pope Francis told bishops, “I ask you to speak with frankness and listen with humility. Do so with tranquility and peace, for the Synod always takes cum Petro et sub Petro – with Peter and under Peter – and the presence of the Pope is the guarantee for all and the safeguard of the faith.”

4. Respect Life Month began during the last week and tomorrow there will be a Mass here at the USCCB. Keep an eye on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account for pictures.

5. God loves you.

Five Things To Remember On Oct. 3

1. Cardinal Walter Kasper discusses his proposal for divorced and civilly remarried relationships in a Catholic News Service video.

2. Cardinal Raymond Burke, in this Catholic News Service video, explains why he hopes October's synod of bishops will close the debate over Cardinal Walter Kasper's proposal to make it easier for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion.

3. One cardinal says the synod will openly discuss sensitive topics

4. Archbishop Jose Gomez used his Twitter today to share a message for Respect Life Month.

In this #RespectLife Month, let’s pray for one another and let’s pray for our nation.
— Archbishop Gomez (@ArchbishopGomez) October 3, 2014

5. God loves you.

Five Things To Remember On Oct. 2

1. Pope Francis said today that he prays for migrants who faced close borders.

2. “Ask yourself this question today: How is my relationship with my guardian angel?" - Pope Francis

3. “Our brothers and sisters in Christ living consecrated lives make great contributions to our society through a vast number of ministries,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of USCCB. “They teach in our schools, take care of the poor and the sick and bring compassion and the love of Christ to those shunned by society; others lead lives of prayer in contemplation for the world.”

4. Bishop Michael Burbidge speaks in this YouTube video about the consecrated life.

5. God loves you.

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.

Prayer and Dialogue Bring Christians Together and Make us Better Catholics

By Julia McStravog

As a lay Catholic who grew up decades after the Second Vatican Council, my early experiences of church didn’t really include dialoging with other Christians. Dialogue was something done by academics, fueled by a spirit of “peace and love” in the years following the Council. Parish life, on the other hand, was and is a flurry of activity—catechesis, faith formation, focus on marriage and family—that leaves little time and energy toward nurturing fruitful relationships with our fellow Christians. After all, most people’s experience of church is restricted to Sunday mornings when, by default, we all worship separately with our respective faith communities.

This separation is especially unhelpful when the focus of so much catechesis is inward, on building a solid foundation for understanding the ins and outs of being Catholic. As Cardinal Bergoglio said only days before being elected Pope Francis, when the Church focuses inwardly, it “becomes self-referential and then gets sick.” Also, a frequently overlooked aspect of Catholic identity is that engagement with our fellow Christians is required in order to achieve unity. Vatican II’s Decree on Ecumenism, issued 50 years ago this November, says that divisions among Christians “openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature.”

While the U.S. Bishops engage in multiple dialogues with other Christians throughout the country, lay people play an essential role in dialogue and Christian unity. Our common baptism should motivate us to engage in ecumenical collaboration. Praying with fellow Christians is often a great entry point for connection, dialogue and relationship. It’s the “dialogue of religious experience.” Creating spiritual connections through common prayer breaks beyond surface level understanding, allowing us to embrace our fellow Christians and the spiritual riches of varying traditions.

In the words of Pope Francis, “Engaging in dialogue does not mean renouncing our own ideas and traditions, but the claim that they alone are valid or absolute.” Ecumenism is most important where it is most difficult. Fractured and divided communities need the spirit of ecumenical dialogue for healing and to lay a solid foundation of friendship. The universal work of the Holy Spirit guides Christians through prayer to the unifying presence of Christ.

As we look to the future of ecumenical engagement, it will be the bonds of local communities through lay involvement that drives the direction of dialogue. Catholics must realize that dialogue and Catholic identity mutually enrich one another. Dialogue and engagement lead us to catechize ourselves and become better Catholics as we communicate our faith experience to others. And a Catholic who is well catechized understands that dialogue and the pursuit of Christian unity are essential to who we are and to answering the prayer of Jesus in John’s Gospel, “that they all may be one.”

Julia McStravog is the program and research specialist for the Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.