St. Raymond of Penafort

SPIRITUAL ADOPTION:

As of Month 3 - Your baby is quite active in the womb, although her mother won’t feel her for another couple months. If her mother’s womb had a window, you could watch your spiritually adopted baby squint, swallow and move her tongue. She can make a tight fist if you touch her palm. She is breathing amniotic fluid which continues until birth, although she obtains the oxygen her body needs through the umbilical cord. The baby you are praying for weighs one ounce.

As of Month 4 - Your little baby now weighs six ounces. He has fingernails and eyelashes. He has his own unique fingerprints, which will remain the same until he dies. His taste buds are working. His sense of hearing is developing and present at 14 weeks. There are no major developments anymore. Your spiritually adopted baby is already well formed, internally and externally. All he needs now is time to gain weight and grow strong. What a miracle he is!

Please remember to pray daily for your Spiritual Adopted Baby and the baby’s mother and father: Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.

January 22 is the 47^th anniversary of Roe v Wade resulting in the death of millions. May our prayers work to end abortion and save the lives of babies and their mothers.

Synod report

A synod is an assembly of selected priests and parish delegates called by the Bishop to assist him in deliberating on the pastoral needs of the diocese under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

On the weekend of Oct. 25-27 more than 300 delegates from all the parishes in the archdiocese met to discuss the pastoral needs of the Archdiocese and our aim to “Grow and Go”. Four excellent speakers, young and on fire with the faith and love for the church, spoke on topics like evangelization, discipleship, and the place of faith in modern society.

There were 4 themes discussed: Encountering Christ – Ongoing Conversion

 Becoming Missionary Disciples

 Sent on Mission  

 Collaborating in the Local Church   

 Each of these themes had from 3-7 propositions we were asked to affirm or amend, based on issues facing the Church in Conn. and brought up in the listening sessions held last year. It is important to note that we were not discussing any changes in what we believe, or the teachings of the church. It was more about pastoral issues, ideas on how to meet the needs of a new generation of believers. We then made practical suggestions to help correct some of the issues. The 15 or so small discussion groups then reported back to the whole group, and all the recommendations we recorded. The committee will now sift thru all the info and put together the official document. On Pentecost Sunday next May the Synod will come to a close and the official document will be presented.

But the underlying thread that ran through- out the weekend was the call to the new evangelization. The world and the church are very different than they were 60 or 40 or even 20 years ago. We can’t meet our present needs with our past solutions. In order for the church to grow, we all need to accept our Baptismal mandate and spread the Good News of the Gospel. It is no longer just up to the priests! We need to live our faith in authentic ways that will attract others to Christ and His Church. This often begins with our own personal “conversion”, developing a personal relationship with Jesus, and growing in our own faith. Then when we “Go” out in the world we attract others to the Church by the way we live our lives and by sharing our faith and witnessing to Christ’s presence in our own lives.