Beloved Disciple Parish

Christmas tree and Nativity scene in Faraya's Public Square, a town in the Keserwan District of Mount Lebanon, in November 2024. / Credit: Municipality of Faraya

ACI MENA, Dec 2, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

A gun was placed near a Nativity scene on Nov. 23 in the town of Faraya in the Keserwan District of Mount Lebanon in the country of Lebanon, sparking outrage among locals.

Residents gathered in the town square ringing the church bells in protest. Security forces have been assisting in efforts to calm the tensions.

The vandals acted at night, removing the statue of the Baby Jesus and leaving a handgun nearby.

Keserwan District is reputed to be the stronghold of Lebanon’s Maronite Catholics. It is home to significant landmarks such as the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa and the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke. 

Many see the act as an attempt to wreak havoc during the Advent season in a country currently hosting a large number of displaced people from war-torn regions. Others are awaiting the results of the investigation, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

A parish priest’s appeal

Regardless of the motives behind the act, the incident provoked widespread anger.

Father Charbel Salameh, a parish priest, joined residents in the town square condemning the vandalism and reassuring locals at the same time.

In a brief video, he said: “We will remain vigilant in protecting our village. We hold on to preserving our unity and harmony, for the Lord brings us together. Perhaps this is an opportunity for all of us to gather here and pray in front of this Nativity scene for those trying to sow discord.”

He continued: “Let us not jump to conclusions: May God forgive those attempting to destabilize us. We are here to stay — this is our land, and this is our area. As children of the Church, we pray for whoever committed this act to understand that our sacred places cannot be easily violated.”

“What happened calls for great awareness because impulsiveness can harm us in circumstances as such. We pray that the Lord Jesus brings peace to the hearts and minds of the people and our country, Lebanon, in these difficult times,” he said.

Following the incident, Salameh replaced the missing statue of the Baby Jesus with another one from St. Charbel Church to temporarily fill the void. Security forces arrived on the scene, cordoned off the area, and launched investigations to analyze the circumstances and identify the perpetrators.

The statement of the municipality

The Municipality of Faraya clarified the circumstances of the incident in a statement:

“On Saturday, at 6 p.m., a citizen was taking photos of his grandchildren in front of the Nativity scene in the town square. Surprisingly, the children found a handgun lying on the ground. The man informed nearby shopkeepers. A municipal officer arrived at the square, inspected the site, and contacted security forces, who arrived promptly.”

The statement continued: “Upon investigation, the statue of Baby Jesus was found outside the Nativity scene, among nearby trees. Security forces confiscated the gun and began their investigation, concluding that the statue was not in the manger at the time children were taking photos. This proves that the incident occurred before the children and their grandfather arrived. The photos of the children in question confirm those allegations.”

“In light of these events, the Municipality of Faraya urges the residents and all inhabitants to remain united in brotherhood and love, as has always been the case. Faraya has long been a symbol of coexistence and a model for promoting peace, security, and hospitality,” the statement concludes.

A record of attacks

Last year, a series of attacks on Christmas symbols in Lebanon occurred, particularly in the northern region of Tripoli, home to an active Christian minority. These attacks ranged from dousing a tree with gasoline at St. George’s Church in Mina to throwing a Molotov cocktail at another tree in St. George’s Church square in Zaheriyah. 

At the time, these unprecedented acts in the culturally and religiously diverse city were met with widespread condemnation from political, religious, and social leaders of various affiliations.

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Katya Moon/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 2, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Several Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to clarify that the terms “male,” “female,” and “sex,” among others, refer to the biological distinctions between men and women when those words are used in laws. 

The Defining Male and Female Act of 2024, introduced by Sen. Roger Marshall from Kansas, aims to prevent government officials and courts from reinterpreting those terms through the lens of gender ideology by identifying men and women based on self-identification instead of biological distinctions.

Marshall said in a statement that he “didn’t think we would need legislation to tell us that there are only two sexes, male and female, but here we are.”

According to a news release, the legislation would restore the legal right to reserve girls’ and women’s sports and scholarships for biological girls and women. The news release also states that the bill would restore the sex separation of restrooms, locker rooms, dorm rooms, prisons, and shelters for victims of sexual assault. 

“As a physician who has delivered over 5,000 babies, I can confidently say that politicizing children’s gender to use them as pawns in their radical woke agenda is not only wrong, it is extremely dangerous,” Marshall said. “We must codify the legal definition of sex to be based on science rather than feelings. With our legislation, we can fight back against the Biden-Harris administration’s assault on our children.” 

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a statement that “men and women have biological differences that must be recognized.” He added that “women and girls deserve to feel safe and respected in all spaces, public and private.” 

The legislation is designed to unwind policies that were enacted during the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Under the current administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reinterpreted the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition on “sex” discrimination to include any discrimination on the basis of so-called “gender identity.” The rule was blocked by a judge but would have forced health care providers and insurers to cover transgender drugs and surgeries for both adults and minors. 

The administration also revised Title IX regulations to redefine sex discrimination to include any discrimination based on gender identity. This could have forced publicly funded schools and colleges to allow biological men in women’s locker rooms, dormitories, and athletic competitions. However, its enforcement is limited after multiple courts blocked implementation.

“Since taking office in 2021, the Biden-Harris administration has embarked on a radical transgender agenda, preying on vulnerable youth and endangering women and girls in sports and locker rooms,” Rep. Mary Miller, R-Illinois, said in a statement. 

“This agenda was soundly rejected by the American people on Nov. 5, and we now have a clear mandate to stop this insanity,” Miller said. “The Defining Male and Female Act will prevent any future administration from ever again redefining Title IX, and I’m thrilled to work with Sen. Marshall in sending it to President Trump’s desk next year.”

The proposed legislation would declare that “every individual is either male or female” and that “an individual’s sex can be observed or clinically verified at or before birth.” It adds that “in no case is an individual’s sex determined by stipulation or self-identification.”

The bill would further clarify that laws separating facilities and athletic competitions based on biological sex “do not constitute unequal treatment under the law.”

Under the law, the following words would be clearly defined based on biological distinctions: man, woman, male, female, boy, girl, mother, and father.

The proposal adds that the word gender “shall be considered a synonym for sex” and “shall not be considered a synonym or shorthand expression for gender identity, experienced gender, gender expression, or gender role” unless the explicit definitions of that law indicate otherwise.

Team Saint Paul schedules frequent adoration for soldiers at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. / Credit: Team Saint Paul

CNA Staff, Dec 2, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Regina Fontana was in an airport on her way home from a pilgrimage to Italy when she realized she wanted to leave her job and pursue a calling from God — she just didn’t know what. 

It was only in the weeks after she turned down a job offer as a flight attendant — her dream for many years — that she came across Team Saint Paul. 

“I made this really big decision and I quit everything,” she recalled. “And here I am like, ‘What’s next, Lord? I don’t know what I’m doing here, so I need your help.’”  

Team Saint Paul, a new endeavor by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, places team members near military bases to help organize faith-based activities and build Catholic community in the area.

When Fontana came across the ministry, it seemed like an answer to her prayers.

Team Saint Paul is a new initiative of Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the USCCB and the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. Modeled after FOCUS’ work on college campuses, the archdiocese sends several young adults to organize faith-based opportunities for service members at military bases.

“I ended up applying and prayed about it a lot,” Fontana told CNA. “And it was a really good fit. The rest is history.”

Fontana has now been working for Team Saint Paul for almost a year at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She helps organize Bible studies, adoration nights, and community-building events. 

“What was really attractive was that our daily lives are rooted in prayer and Jesus,” Fontana told CNA. 

“Our day-to-day changes a lot,” Fontana said when asked what an average day looks like. “Every day we have Mass and Holy Hour. Those two things are always set.”

In addition to a daily structure of prayer and worship, Fontana organizes frequent events for the service members. 

“One of the first things we started implementing when we got here was adoration. We held adoration twice a week for the soldiers,” she said. “That was just something that we really saw they needed. We’re going to be starting a Bible study finally in January. We meet one on one with them. They have questions; we respond to them.” 

Team Saint Paul also coordinates activities on the weekends, from rock climbing to line dancing. 

“We’re really close to the Nashville Dominicans [the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation], and so one of the things … is we’ll go pray vespers with the sisters, and then go line dancing afterwards.”

“They love it so much. They do it on their own,” Fontana said of the service members. “If we’re busy, they’re like, no, we’re just going to go.” 

McKenzie Mauss, the program’s organizer and the associate director for Missionary Discipleship for the military archdiocese, told CNA that the goal of Team Saint Paul “is to minister to young adults in the military and form missionary disciples.”

“I think the greatest effect of Team Saint Paul has been cultivating authentic Catholic communities at the installations they currently serve that invite young adults to draw closer to Jesus Christ,” Mauss said.

Father Lukasz “Luke” Willenberg, a military chaplain for the 5th Group Special Forces (Airborne), noted that Mass attendance has been up by 50% since Team Saint Paul came to town.  

“Seeing more active-duty members in uniform attending daily Mass brings great joy to our hearts,” Willenberg said. “It is wonderful to observe how Caroline [McDermott, another Team Saint Paul member] and Regina use their gifts to personally engage with random Mass attendees, creating moments of encounter and bringing them closer to the Lord. After Sunday Masses there is a circle of young adults chatting, getting to know each other, and making plans to keep each other encouraged in the faith.”

When asked about the response of military members, Fontana said “many of them were just really hungry for community, authentic community.”

“This has been the first thing that we did when we got here was really just start fostering that community, meeting people, hanging out with them, introducing them to their peers who they didn’t know,” Fontana explained. “And through that, they’ve built close friendships with each other.”

“We got here and we met people so quick, and they were just so eager for that community that we couldn’t even keep up with [it],” she recalled.

Fontana said one of the biggest challenges is navigating it as a pilot program and “figuring it out as we go along.”

Currently, there are programs at Travis Air Force Base in California and at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, but the team is hoping to expand to a third location. 

One of the most memorable events for Fontana was attending the National Eucharisitc Congress with a group of soldiers.

“Almost every single one of them had some just crazy encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist,” she said of the service members. “One of them was like, I think he had been praying about whether or not he wanted to reenlist, to continue or to get out of the Army. And he just heard God being like, ‘No, just stay where you’re at.’ And so he got a huge answer there.”

When asked about the lasting impact, Fontana said she hopes that other service members will be inspired to lead ministries when they are transferred. 

“It’s so hard because the nature of the military is so fluid,” she explained. “People are always moving. People are in and out. So even when you have those good leaders who take initiative to do things, you have them for maybe two years, and then they’re gone.”

She said she hopes service members will learn to build community as they go to new areas.

“Then they can take it to the next place, even if there’s no missionaries there and they can start their own community,” Fontana said.

Pope Francis creates 21 new cardinals from across the world at a consistory in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 30, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 1, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).

Five Italians have been chosen by Pope Francis to become cardinals at the Dec. 7 consistory, four of whom are under 80 years old and therefore have voting rights to elect a new pope at the next conclave. 

In total, 21 cardinals — representing the Catholic Church’s geographical diversity — will be created at the upcoming consistory.

Metropolitan Archbishop Roberto Repole of Turin, who edited the series “The Theology of Pope Francis,” is a theologian and former president of the Italian Theological Association educated at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The 57-year-old prelate actively participated in both plenary sessions of the global Synod on Synodality that took place in the Vatican in 2023 and 2024. Repole also participated in the 2024 theological-pastoral forums, created by the Synod of Bishops, to deepen study and reflection on the missionary action of the Church. 

Archbishop Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, is the youngest of the Italian prelates to be elevated to the cardinalate on Dec. 7. In 2024 alone — in addition to being chosen for the College of Cardinals — the 54-year-old prelate was appointed by Pope Francis as vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, archpriest of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, titular bishop of Acque di Mauritania, apostolic administrator of Ostia, and grand chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University.  

Father Fabio Baggio, CS, is the only one of the five Italian cardinals-elect who belongs to a religious congregation. He will become titular archbishop of Arusi. Baggio, a priest of the Missionaries of St. Charles (also known as the Scalabrinians), has worked in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since 2017. With the appointment of Canadian Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny as the dicastery’s prefect in 2022, Baggio was subsequently promoted to be the dicastery’s undersecretary. From 2017–2022, Baggio was head of the dicastery’s Migrants and Refugees section.

Metropolitan Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples, known for his love for the poor, led a drug rehabilitation center in Catanzaro, Calabria, for over 20 years during his priestly ministry. Appointed by Pope Francis as archbishop of Naples in 2022, Battaglia — also known as “Don Mimmo” — had previously served as bishop of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant’Agata de’ Goti in Italy’s southwestern region of Campania from 2016–2020.

At 99 years old, Archbishop Angelo Acerbi will become the oldest member of the College of Cardinals at the upcoming consistory. Having served as a bishop in the Catholic Church for 50 years, Acerbi also has 40 years of experience working as part of the Holy See’s diplomatic corps. Between 1974 and 2001, he served as nuncio to New Zealand, Colombia, Hungary, Moldova, and the Netherlands. From 2001–2015, Acerbi was prelate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Due to being over the age of 80, he will not have voting rights at the next papal conclave.

Following the Dec. 7 consistory there will be a total of 253 members of the College of Cardinals. Among the 52 Italians, only 17 will have voting rights at the next papal conclave. 

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus address on the first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Dec 1, 2024 / 08:25 am (CNA).

Pope Francis welcomed the recent Lebanon-Israel ceasefire while urging the faithful to “stand erect and raise your heads” amid global turmoil during his Sunday Angelus address.

Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the first Sunday of Advent, the pontiff expressed hope that the diplomatic breakthrough between Lebanon and Israel could spark similar ceasefires elsewhere, particularly in Gaza, while delivering a powerful message about maintaining spiritual vigilance in times of tribulation.

“Jesus’ invitation is this: Raise your head high and keep your heart light and awake,” the Holy Father said, addressing a world grappling with what he called “cosmic upheavals and anxiety and fear in humanity.”

The pope noted that many people today, like Jesus’ contemporaries, faced with “catastrophic events they saw happening around them — persecutions, conflicts, natural disasters — are gripped by anxiety and think that the end of the world is coming.”

“Their hearts are weighed down with fear,” Francis observed. “Jesus, however, wants to free them from present anxieties and false convictions, showing them how to stay awake in their hearts, how to read events from the plan of God, who works salvation even within the most dramatic events of history.”

Diplomatic breakthrough offers ‘glimmer of peace’

“I welcome the ceasefire that has been reached in recent days in Lebanon, and I hope that it may be respected by all parties, thus enabling the population of the regions involved in the conflict — both Lebanese and Israeli — to return home soon and safely, also with the valuable help of the Lebanese army and the United Nations peacekeeping forces,” the pope said.

The pontiff also expressed concern about Syria, “where unfortunately war has flared up again, claiming many victims,” and added: “I am very close to the Church in Syria. Let us pray!”

Addressing the situation in Ukraine, Francis noted that “for almost three years we have witnessed a terrible sequence of deaths, injuries, violence, and destruction... Children, women, the elderly, and the weak are the first victims. War is a horror, war is an affront to God and to humanity, war spares no one, war is always a defeat, a defeat for the whole of humanity.”

A light heart in Advent season

Looking toward Christmas, the pope connected the season’s message of hope with contemporary challenges: “All of us, in many moments of life, ask ourselves: What can I do to have a light heart, a wakeful heart, a free heart? A heart that does not let itself be crushed by sadness?”

The pontiff concluded with a stark warning about indifference to conflict, stating that “the quest for peace is the responsibility not of a few, but of all. If habituation and indifference to the horrors of war prevail, the whole, entire human family is defeated.”

The Daughters of St. Paul during their annual Christmas concert. / Credit: Courtesy of The Daughters of St. Paul

CNA Staff, Dec 1, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).

A group of religious sisters is getting ready to hit the road for its annual Christmas concert. The Daughters of St. Paul Choir announced the dates for its “Come to Bethlehem: A Christmas Concert with the Daughters of St. Paul” tour, which will make stops this year in New York, Boston, and New Orleans.

The Daughters of St. Paul is a religious community that focuses on evangelization through social communications and media. They often release professionally produced Christmas and religious song albums as a means of spreading the faith.

The sisters have been putting on their annual Christmas concert for over 25 years, featuring original choral arrangements, inspirational stories, and audience participation all while focusing on the true reason for the season — the birth of Jesus. 

This year the choir is made up of seven sisters: Sister Margaret Timothy Sato, Sister Anne Joan Flanagan, Sister Fay Pele, Sister Sean Mayer, Sister Mary Martha Moss, Sister Amanda Marie Detry, and Sister Tracey Dugas. 

The tour will stop in New York on Dec. 5, in Boston on Dec. 14–15, and in New Orleans on Dec. 18.

Dugas told CNA in an interview that the concert serves for many as a “kickoff to what they need to feel like, ‘OK, this is how I’m going to integrate the real meaning of Christmas with all the hustle and bustle I have to face after this.’”

Dugas has been taking part in the Christmas concert since 1992. She first became involved by singing for the studio recording and then had her first live concert experience in 2007. 

She shared her memory of hearing the sisters sing for the first time when she was just visiting the community and recalled feeling “moved and touched by the Holy Spirit.”

Now, being one of the sisters herself and part of the choir, she explained that they felt called to put on this concert because they realized that “music is such a sacred part of our worship of God.”

“It’s an expression of our prayer life,” she said. “So, the singing is much more an act of worship than it is a performance … We’re just leading out brothers and sisters in prayer and just inviting them to let their hearts be lifted.”

“We see it in people’s faces that something reaches into their memory or their hearts or their relationships where it’s God’s work.”

Dugas said she hopes those who attend a concert leave feeling “the closeness of God to every individual person” and knowing that “he cherishes, loves, and values us and just wants us with him forever.”

The Daughters of St. Paul was founded in 1915 by Blessed James Alberione in Italy. With the help of Mother Thecla Merlo, he created a community for religious sisters to communicate the Gospel through the “apostolate of the Good Press.” It wasn’t until 1932 that Mother Paula Cordero along with another sister landed in New York and established the sisters’ American presence through the publishing of books. 

Dugas explained that in any of the sisters’ book centers, chapels, or houses, visitors will see statues of Mary where, instead of holding Jesus to herself, she is actually handing him away.

“That idea is that Mary gives Jesus away to the world and so that’s the position that we are in — we give Jesus through the word, through music, through image, through social media presence, through speaking, whatever means,” she said.

“Our mission is to reestablish or to reintroduce or re-announce that we are made for our ultimate goal, which is heaven. So being a culture saturated in communication that is always happening and how often it disintegrates us we’re called to be … as our mother foundress would say, ‘We’re just a drop in the bucket but we’re a drop that makes ripples.’”

Father Francis Browne/The Titanic. / Credit: The Father Browne Collection

CNA Staff, Dec 1, 2024 / 06:43 am (CNA).

More than a century after it sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the Titanic remains the most studied and discussed ship in history. 

Even the biggest Titanic buffs, however, may be unaware that what was likely the very last photo ever taken of the ship on the surface was captured by a Jesuit priest who was himself a prolific photographer. 

Father Francis Browne was born in Ireland in 1880. He studied at the Jesuit-run Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy and was ordained in 1915 by Cloyne Bishop Robert Browne, his uncle, by whom he had been raised since childhood after the early deaths of both his mother and father.

Bishop Browne provided the younger Browne with his first camera, and he would go on to become a celebrated photographer, with a portfolio that included a collection of photographs of World War I in which he served as a chaplain. During that conflict Browne suffered severe injuries from a gas attack and received the Military Cross for his efforts. 

Yet arguably his most famous contributions to world photography are his photographs of the Titanic, among the scant few that captured life aboard the brief ocean liner prior to its sinking.

In his book “Father Browne’s Titanic Album: A Passenger’s Photographs and Personal Memoir,” Jesuit Father E.E. O’Donnell writes that Browne ended up on the Titanic after Bishop Browne gave his nephew “the trip of a lifetime” in the form of a two-day cruise on the Titanic. 

The Jesuit priest sailed from Southampton in England to Queenstown in Ireland, where he fortuitously disembarked prior to the rest of the ship’s fateful voyage.

However, Browne’s brush with death was even closer than it appeared: While on the ship he befriended a wealthy American couple who offered to buy him a ticket for the rest of the journey to America. 

The priest sent a telegram to his Jesuit superior asking for permission. At Queenstown the priest received a reply that read: “GET OFF THAT SHIP.” Browne reportedly kept the message for the rest of his life. 

It was upon deboarding at Queenstown that the priest captured what were likely the last photos of the ship on the surface of the water. (Another passenger and fellow photographer, Kate Odell, also deboarded at the same time and snapped similar photos of the ship as it steamed away.)

In addition to the haunting final images of the Titanic, Browne snapped numerous photos of life aboard the ill-fated liner, including the last known pictures of many of the crew, such as Captain Edward Smith. 

The priest also captured the only known photograph of the Titanic’s wireless room, from which the ship’s wireless operators would transmit desperate SOS messages on the night of April 14-15 until just minutes before the vessel sank. 

In his history, O’Donnell argued that the “most newsworthy fact” about Browne is not his presence on the historic ocean liner but that he is now recognized as “one of the world’s greatest photographers of all time,” with a lifetime portfolio of nearly 42,000 pictures. 

His collection of Titanic photographs, O’Donnell noted, is not merely of interest for its historic rarity but also because it represents “early works from the hand of a man who went on to become a master of the art of photography.”

Upon his death in 1960, Browne was hailed as a “brave and lovable man” who “had a great influence for good,” beloved by Catholic and Protestant friends alike. 

Reflecting on the Titanic tragedy, Browne himself wrote of learning about the catastrophic sinking — the news of which was “whispered at first, then contradicted, but finally shouted aloud in all its horror of detail by the myriad-throated press.” 

In Ireland, meanwhile, “we did not forget those whom we had seen deprecating in all the joy of hope and confidence,” he wrote, “for we gathered in the great cathedral to pray for those who had departed, and for those on whom the hand of sorrow had fallen so heavily.” 

Lectionary on altar table at Mass / Credit: Grant Whitty / Unsplash

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 1, 2024 / 04:30 am (CNA).

With the first Sunday of Advent, a new liturgical year begins in the Catholic Church, with the readings corresponding to Cycle C of odd-numbered years. What does this liturgical practice entail?

The beginning and end of the liturgical year

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) explains on its website that the liturgical year is made up of six times or seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, the paschal Triduum, Easter, and Ordinary Time.

The conference notes that the new 2025 liturgical calendar will begin with the first Sunday of Advent on Dec. 1, 2024, and will conclude on the Saturday after the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, which will be Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.

The three-year cycle 

Perhaps less known is that the liturgical calendar has a three-year cycle, repeating every three years, which determines the biblical readings for Sunday Masses.

St. Paul VI in his apostolic constitution Missale Romanum states that “all the Sunday readings are divided into a three-year cycle” and the Ordo Lectionum Missae (“Order of Mass Readings,” 1969) explains that each liturgical year will be designated “with the letters A, B, C.”

The ordo of 1981 specifies that Cycle C is designated as all years “that are multiples of 3.” Thus the 2025 liturgical calendar uses Cycle C.

In Cycle A, the Sunday Gospel is generally taken from Matthew, in Cycle B from Mark, and in Cycle C from Luke, while the Gospel of John is read primarily at Easter.

During the Easter season, the first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. But the second reading in Cycle A is mainly from the First Letter of St. Peter; in Cycle B, from the First Letter of St. John; and in Cycle C, from Revelation.

In Ordinary Time, the First Letter to the Corinthians is read in all three cycles, while the Letter to the Hebrews has been divided in two, with one part read in Cycle B and the other in Cycle C.

Why an odd year?

On weekdays, also called “ferias,” the readings of the Mass have a different order. Lent, Advent, Christmas, and Easter have their own texts.

In Ordinary Time, the Gospels are determined by a cycle of readings that is repeated every year. However, the first readings, which are generally from the Old Testament and the apostolic letters, have a double cycle, made up of an even and an odd year.

The ordo of 1969 specifies that “Year I” is for “odd years” and “Year II” is for “even years.” Therefore, the 2025 liturgical calendar is Year I, or an odd year.

The purpose of the cycles with even and odd numbers

This whole distribution of the readings by cycles and even or odd years has its source in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, where the Second Vatican Council asks that the “treasures of the Bible” be opened more to the faithful during Mass.

“In this way a more representative portion of the holy Scriptures will be read to the people in the course of a prescribed number of years,” the document states.

Thus, after three cycles, one will have heard a large part of sacred Scripture, and if one goes to daily Mass for two years, he or she will have gone even further into the Bible.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Francis meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Vatican on Oct. 4, 2021. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Nov 30, 2024 / 08:10 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has proposed celebrating the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea together with Orthodox leaders in a personal letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

The letter, published by the Vatican on Saturday, was delivered by Cardinal Kurt Koch — who heads the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity — during a visit to Istanbul for the patronal feast of the Orthodox Church.

“The now imminent 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea will be another opportunity to bear witness to the growing communion that already exists among all who are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Francis wrote in his message dated Nov. 30.

Reflecting on six decades of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue while looking ahead to future possibilities for unity, the pope acknowledged the progress made since Vatican II’s Unitatis Redintegratio decree marked the Catholic Church’s official entry into the ecumenical movement 60 years ago.

Speaking to EWTN News about this anniversary on Nov. 21, Koch emphasized that unity efforts must focus on “the innermost center of self-revelation in Jesus Christ.”

The Swiss cardinal also highlighted what he called an “ecumenism of blood,” noting that “Christians are not persecuted because they are Catholic, Lutheran, or Anglican but because they are Christians.”

Building peace in a time of war

While celebrating the “renewed fraternity” achieved since Vatican II, Pope Francis noted in his message that full communion, particularly sharing “the one Eucharistic chalice,” remains an unfulfilled goal.

In a pointed observation about contemporary global tensions, the pontiff connected ecumenical efforts to peace-building.

“The fraternity lived and the witness given by Christians will also be a message for our world plagued by war and violence,” he wrote, specifically mentioning Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, and Lebanon.

The pope also highlighted the recent participation of Orthodox representatives in October’s Synod on Synodality.

The traditional exchange of delegations between Rome and Constantinople occurs twice yearly, with Catholic representatives traveling to Istanbul for St. Andrew’s feast on Nov. 30 and Orthodox delegates visiting Rome for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29.

Koch led this year’s Vatican delegation. He was accompanied by Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary of the dicastery; Monsignor Andrea Palmieri, undersecretary; and Archbishop Marek Solczyński, apostolic nuncio to Turkey.

The delegation participated in the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St. George, Phanar, and held discussions with the synodal commission charged with relations with the Catholic Church.

Soren and Ever Johnson run Trinity House + Cafe and Trinity House Communications in Leesburg, Virginia, and shared with CNA how their mutual love of St. John Paul II led them to open Trinity House and dedicate their lives to full-time ministry. / Credit: Migi Fabara

CNA Staff, Nov 30, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

For Soren and Ever Johnson, it was love at first sight when they met on the steps of the Dominican Priory in Krakow, Poland, 24 years ago. Within a few weeks, the pair knew they wanted to marry and dedicate their life together to promoting Pope John Paul II’s new evangelization. 

Last month the couple marked the 10th anniversary of one of the fruits of their ministry: Trinity House Cafe, which they operate in Leesburg, Virginia.

In a recent interview with CNA, the Johnsons shared how their mutual love of St. John Paul II led them to open Trinity House on Oct. 24, 2014, and dedicate their lives to full-time ministry. 

“With our marriage, it was a gift of love at first sight and just finding our true love and best friend for life, and knowing that very quickly,” Soren told CNA. “Then, just given our inspiration, our faith, and the witness of our own parents and families, we saw how marriage is not a private good. It’s a gift, a sacrament that has such beautiful dimensions with regard to the community, to family.”

Rather than keeping their marriage and faith “privatized,” Soren recalled that they “both felt very deeply early on in our marriage that we’ve been given this gift to share with others. And if we don’t share it, we really are not stewarding the gift as God intended.”

The founding of Trinity House

The couple, who are parents to five children ages 13 to 21, explained how the cafe was an outgrowth of following their deep sense of mission. 

Ever was working for George Weigel at the time, a Catholic intellectual and author who was then writing his famous biography of Pope John Paul II.  

“There was this steady stream of people coming through his office saying, ‘How do we get involved in the new evangelization?’” Ever explained. “So eventually, Soren and I said, ‘Let’s put together a group of these people,’” and the John Paul II Fellowship was born. For many years, the group held sponsored events such as Masses, talks, seminars, dinners, and other cultural and social events. 

Yet, after a while, Ever said the couple felt they had been “preaching to the choir,” and what they were doing wasn’t quite the new evangelization. So they told the group: “Let’s open a place in public and continue to do all of these cool events, but in public, where you lower the barriors to entry.” 

After several years of fundraising and searching for a location, the Johnsons stumbled upon the building that was to become Trinity House Cafe. It was Sunday, April 27, 2014, and they were driving home from the simulcast celebration of John Paul II’s canonization Mass at the National Shrine in Washington, D.C. 

“[While] we drove back into Leesburg on our way home, we saw the ‘For Lease’ sign right under the Church and Market Street signs in the front yard,” Ever said, laughing: “And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I think that’s it! That’s incredible!’ [John Paul II] was all about bringing the Church and market together.” 

Having leased the building since the cafe’s founding, the Johnsons are now hoping to purchase it. They were made an exclusive offer from their landlord for a limited time and have decided to go for it. 

“Earlier in November, Trinity House Community launched a $450,000 capital campaign to secure the building as both its flagship cafe and market location and the headquarters of its growing ministry to families,” Soren told CNA. 

A historic registry home dating back to the 1700s, the building was once home to two generations of Methodist ministers. 

The Trinitarian icon

Hanging above the fireplace in the Trinity House Cafe is the Trinity icon by the Russian monk Andre Rublev. Its prominent display does not serve a merely aesthetic purpose but represents the core of the Johnsons’ mission both at Trinity House and with their new evangelization curriculum model, “Heaven in Your Home.” 

Five years after the Johnsons opened Trinity House, they began teaching this family-life model.

“St. John Paul II said that the future of humanity passes by way of the family,” Soren said. “And if we go back to the catechism, we are really reminded of how it says that the Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Having “always been deeply moved by the visual depiction of the communion of divine persons,” in Rublev’s icon, the Johnsons developed their curriculum based on Church teaching about the Trinity.

“The mission is to inspire families to make home ‘a taste of heaven’ for the renewal of faith and culture,” Ever said. 

The Johnsons will also be releasing a new book in early 2025 titled “Heaven in Your Home Letters and Guide: Nurturing Your Holy Family,” which includes a foreword by Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly of the Knights of Columbus. The new release is a follow-up to their book “Heaven in Your Home Letters and Guide: Inspiration and Tools for Building a Trinity House.”

Fostering relationships 

The cafe has done more over the years than offer hot beverages, freshly baked goods, and beautiful religious items — it’s been a place for relationships to grow, including some romances.

“I think we’re on to three couples who have met at the cafe and gone on to the beautiful gift of marriage,” Soren shared. “That’s just a very striking example of the friendships that are begun and strengthened here.”

Daniel Thetford met his wife at a Bible study at Trinity House and told CNA: “I feel like any time we stop there it’s just really warm and hospitable — the place everyone envisions from their favorite book or movie or TV show. It really feels like an episode of ‘Gilmore Girls’ or something.” 

Thetford and his wife continue to visit the cafe whenever they are able and even took some of their engagement photos there.

Located across the street from the Leesburg Courthouse, the cafe draws people from all walks of life, Soren said, noting that “the faith is here if you want to go deeper, but if you just want to come into a beautiful cafe and be welcomed, listened to, and served, then that is a wonderful experience, and it can be just that.” 

The point, he continued, is that “beauty can be the first part of a conversation that leads people into the truth and goodness that we know.” 

Several customers at Trinity House have told the Johnsons that their time at the cafe has led them to return to the faith. 

“People are embodied,” Ever added. “That was a big focus of JP II, as well, to stop having the faith in your head. If you create an embodied context that is healthy, that gives people the input that they need, you’re going to get a certain output. And that’s what happens: People turn to deeper conversations when they’re in that environment.”