A Great Year for Catholics Worldwide

Today, October 11th, marks the beginning of the Year of Faith for Catholics across the world, which will conclude on November 24th, 2013, on the Feast of Christ the King. What is the Year of Faith? Simply put, it is a year set aside for all Catholics to deepen their faith so that they can share that faith with their families, their communities, and all the world. Why now? October 11th, 2012, marks the 50-year anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, and this year also marks the 20-year anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Below are some great tools to help you in this Year of Faith:

First, you can sign up to receive weekly Faith in Action reflections by visiting this site. Amazing Catholics such as Jeff Cavins and Danielle Bean will be giving the reflections, which will seek to teach us more about both Vatican II and the Catechism.

Second, you can sign up here to receive daily emails, each containing a small part of the Catechism. If you read the emails each day, you will have read through the entire Catechism in a year!

Third, here is a link to Pope Benedict’s apostolic letter, Porta Fidei, written last year to introduce the year of faith and what it means for us as Catholics. Porta Fidei means “door of faith,” and the letter fleshes out this concept which comes directly from Scripture: “They called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith…” Acts 14:27  I have not yet read the entire letter, but plan to do so as I begin my reflections for this Year of Faith.

Mary, Mother of the Church and of us all, pray for us!