7 December will mark the anniversary of the release of Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. Promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1965, this key document in Vatican II called all to holiness and to integrate their life so that their deeds and words align privately and publicly. It also put human dignity and value at the centre and stood against a split between worship and mission.
"The feast in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the 16th century. Mary appeared to Juan Diego dressed as an Aztec woman to show her love and compassion to an oppressed group of people. Mary had heard the prayers and pain of these people, and she came to give them hope.Mary’s visit… Read More »Our Lady of Guadalupe
Catherine McAuley was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1778. In 1824 she used her inheritance from an Irish couple she had served for twenty years to build a large House of Mercy where she and other lay women would shelter homeless women, reach out to the sick and dying and educate poor girls. The House… Read More »1831: Founding of Sisters of Mercy by Catherine McAuley
"The face of God has been revealed in a human face. It did not appear in an angel, but in one man, born in a specific time and place. By his incarnation, the Son of God tells us that salvation comes through love, acceptance, respect for this poor humanity of ours, which we all share… Read More »Christmas Day
Prayer of Pope Benedict from Deus Caritas Est Holy Mary, Mother of God, you have given the world its true light, Jesus, your Son - the Son of God. You abandoned yourself completely, to God's call and thus became a wellspring of the goodness which flows forth from him. Show us Jesus. Lead us to… Read More »2005: Pope Benedict’s XVI’s encyclical Deus Cartias Est (‘God is Love’)
"Pope John Paul II’s 1987 social encyclical Sollicitudo rei Socialis marks the twentieth anniversary of Populorum Progressio. Sollicitudo rei Socialis is also known by the English title On Social Concerns. It was the first major Catholic Social Teaching document to mark the anniversary of a social encyclical other than Rerum Novarum." Source: Social Spirituality Read an introduction to Sollicitudo rei Socialis Read… Read More »1987: Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (‘On Social Concerns’)
Pope Paul VI instituted the World Day of Peace in 1968. It is celebrated each year on 1 January and the Pope issues a special World Day of Peace Message for the occasion. The theme for the World Day of Peace Message 2022 is Dialogue Between Generations, Education and Work: Tools for Building Lasting Peace.… Read More »World Day of Peace