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THE CALENDAR IS OUR CATECHISM
Much of what we can learn about our faith is wrapped within the calendar. A good homilist at Sunday mass can teach us something, but the calendar offers us more days than Sunday to learn about our faith. Pay attention to specific religious and secular dates on the calendar and the liturgy and prayers that surround them.
Below are June’s opportunities for catechesis and witness: Attend an event, connect a Work of Mercy with a day special to your faith and life, educate your parish, and pray.
June 12 Feast of the Holy Trinity Why It’s Important: "God is a 'family' of three Persons who love each other so much as to form a single whole. … The trinitarian horizon of communion surrounds all of us and stimulates us to live in love and fraternal sharing, certain that where there is love, there is God. … Our being created in the image and likeness of God-Communion calls us to understand ourselves as beings-in-relationship and to live interpersonal relations in solidarity and mutual love." Pope Francis
June 12 World Day Against Child Labor Why It’s Important: “Child labor becomes a scourge that cruelly harms the dignified existence and harmonious development of the youngest children, considerably limiting their opportunities for the future, as it reduces and damages their lives to meet the productive and lucrative needs of adults. … The most profitable investment that humanity can make is the protection of children! Protecting children means respecting the period of their growth, allowing these fragile shoots to benefit from the conditions appropriate to their opening and blossoming. … Protecting children means acting in such a way that horizons are opened up for them as free, honest and caring citizens.” Pope Francis
June 13 St. Anthony of Padua: Patron Saint of the Poor Why It’s Important: “In protecting the rights of private individuals…special consideration mush be given to the weak and the poor. For the nation, as it were, of the rich, is guarded by its own defenses and is in less need of governmental protection….” Pope Leo XIII
June 15 St. Germaine: Patron Saint of People with Disabilities Why It’s Important: "Persons with disabilities…are integral members of the Christian community. All persons with disabilities have the capacity to proclaim the Gospel and to be living witnesses to its truth within the community of faith and offer valuable gifts. Their involvement enriches every aspect of Church life." National Directory of Catechesis
June 19 Juneteenth Why It’s Important: ”Where the effects of past discrimination persist, society has the obligation to take positive steps to overcome the legacy of injustice, including vigorous action to remove barriers to education, protect voting rights, support good policing in our communities, and ensure equal employment for … minorities." USCCB
June 19 Father’s Day Why It’s Important: "The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." Fr. Theodore Hesburgh
June 20 Annual World Refugee Day Why It’s Important: “No one must be excluded. God’s plan is essentially inclusive and gives priority to those living on the existential peripheries. Among them are many migrants and refugees, displaced persons, and victims of trafficking. The Kingdom of God is to be built with them, for without them it would not be the Kingdom that God wants. The inclusion of those most vulnerable is the necessary condition for full citizenship in God’s Kingdom." Pope Francis
June 21 St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Patron Saint of Aids Patients Why It’s Important: ”We stand in unity with all people around the world that are waiting—waiting for a vaccine, a cure, a compassionate word of encouragement and judicial distribution of health care and medicine. In the faces of those with HIV and AIDS, we see the face of Christ in a distressing disguise." USCCB
June 22 St. Thomas More: Patron Saint of Politicians Why It’s Important: "We Catholics are expected to be political. The opportunity is a right of citizenship in this world. Catholic leaders must be nonpartisan but never apolitical. Addressing the issues that affect our moral visions, in light of Catholic teaching, is our cherished responsibility."
June 22 Religious Freedom Week: Life and Dignity for All Why It’s Important: "Religious freedom allows the Church, and all religious communities, to live out their faith in public and to serve the good of all." USCCB
June 23 St. Joseph Cafasso: Patron Saint of Prisoners Why It’s Important: "Any system of penal justice must provide those necessities that enable inmates to live in dignity: food, clothing, shelter, personal safety, timely medical care, education, and meaningful work adequate to the conditions of human dignity." USCCB
June 29 Saints Peter and Paul: Poor Man/Rich Man Why It’s Important: "In prayer, there are no rich or poor, there are sons and daughters, sisters and brothers. In prayer, there is no first or second class, there is brotherhood. In prayer, our hearts find the strength not to be cold and insensitive in the face of situations of injustice. In prayer, God keeps calling us, opening our hearts to charity." Pope Francis
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