15 01 January issue of The Courier

Page 1

The

COURIER

Epiphany of our Lord, January 6

January 2015

www.dowcourier.org

Official Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona, MN

2015 ~Year of Consecrated Life

Happy New Year! It is with hope and excitement that we ring in a New Year in the Diocese of Winona and from The Courier staff and Communication team, we want to say, Thank You. Thank you for taking time out of life to read The Courier every month. Thank you for your generous feedback and encouragement. Looking forward into the year of 2015, you are at the center of our mission. Through print & online www.dowcourier. org, The Courier seeks to tell the stories of the Catholic faithful of southern Minnesota and bring you news and information about the wonderful events, studies and programs going on throughout our diocese. Our staff looks forward to receiving your stories and photos. A new feature on The Courier website is an “Only Online” tab; please, check it out. Having limited space within the printed edition, there is not always room to include all the stories that are submitted. This new feature will allow many more

stories to be included and shared with you. Another feature is “News via Email.” If you would like to be alerted when the new issue of The Courier goes live online, you can sign up for “News via Email” on the www.dowcourier.org site and you will receive an email only once a month when the new issue of The Courier is available. The world and how people within it connect seems to be constantly changing, and our team is ready to meet those changes and yet still retain and encourage the personal interactions where evangelization thrives. The New Year reminds us that we have a fresh start and that anything is possible! Despite the challenges, God can always see us through if we keep our eyes focused on Christ. May we remember not just in the New Year but everyday that “the future starts today, not tomorrow.” (Saint John Paul II). Again, thank you and may God bless your New Year!

In 2013, Pope Francis declared that a Year of Consecrated Life (YCL) be celebrated throughout the world. YCL will begin on the First Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2014. It will close on the World Day of Consecrated Life, February 2, 2016. The Year coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Cardinal Braz de Aviz, who shared with the press of the Pope's announcement of the Year of Consecrated Life, said, “We believe that the Council has been a breath of the Spirit not only for the whole Church but, perhaps especially, for the consecrated life. We are also convinced that in these 50 years consecrated life has undertaken a fruitful journey of renewal — not free, certainly, of difficulties and hardships — in the commitment to follow what the Council asked of the consecrated: fidelity to the Lord, to the Church, to their own charism and to the people of today." Because of this, he said, the first objective of the Year of Consecrated Life would be to “make Wake Up the World, cont'd on pg. 16

INSIDE this issue

Marital Love: Free, Total, Faithful, Fruitful

more on page 4

Dare to Believe in Catholic Education

more on page 12

Rights and Responsabilities read about Social Concerns on page 14


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
15 01 January issue of The Courier by Diocese of Winona-Rochester - Issuu