Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

News and Notes: 

Day of Prayer... This coming Tuesday, January 22, our nation will mark the 46^th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in our country.  Catholics throughout the United States are asked to observe a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.  Here is a prayer you can use from the Mass of Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life:  God our Creator, we give thanks to you, who alone have the power to impart the breath of life as you form each of us in our mother’s womb; grant we pray, that we, whom you have made stewards of creation, may remain faithful to this sacred trust and constant in safeguarding the dignity of every human life.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Ecumenism... We have already begun the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18-25).Here is a prayer from the Roman Missal that we can all pray this week, asking God that the fractures within Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, be healed and that divisions among Christians be resolved through a dialogue conducted in truth and charity.  Almighty and ever-living God, who gather what is scattered and keep together what you have gathered, look kindly on the flock of your Son, that those whom one Baptism has consecrated may be joined together by integrity of faith and united in the bond of charity.  We make our prayer through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.  Amen.  

May we all catch the spirit of ecumenism so that one day we may celebrate and receive the Eucharist together…blessings to all of you in the week ahead!