Catholic Reading Wednesday and Catechesis Tonight

With many thanks to our awesome curator, Karen Celano, you can delve into a faith-related news article each Wednesday! Karen writes:

Typhoon Haiyan, which ravaged the Philippines from November 3-11, has left in its wake more than 4,000 dead souls in a nation which is 80% Catholic. The Wall Street Journal writes that the cathedral in the town of Palo has been converted into a morgue, as Catholics in Tacloban followed Fr. Robert Reyes in a procession around their devastated town to declare that they will overcome this tragedy. National Catholic Reporter speaks of Catholic religious communities in the Philippines who are both struggling to repair their own monasteries and convents while at the same time offering assistance to the people around them. One sister, Sr. Sandra Clemente, spoke of the concern people had for her wellbeing, as well as their own "creativity and resourcefulness": "Because they had no water," she said, "I saw people had taken the fire hydrant seal apart and managed to get the water running so they could wash, bathe, and drink there." NPR reports that Filipinos are poignantly turning to their faith, uniting their sufferings to Christ's Passion, using their loss as an opportunity to grow in dependence on God, and showing gratitude for the places and people who have survived.

Meanwhile, Catholics around the world are uniting to help their Filipino brothers and sisters. A Michigan church raised money to construct a storm shelter that saved a village, and bishops around the U.S. have called on their parishes to collect donations for aid. Unfortunately, the Christian Science Monitor writes that American support for the relief effort is far less than that for past natural disasters, and suggests that the news about the "Obamacare" rollout eclipsed news about the typhoon.

This week, consider following the example of Flipino Catholics and offering up any difficult or challenging situations in your own life on behalf of our suffering family in the Philippines. Also, if you haven't already, please consider donating to Catholic Relief Services to aid the 11.8 million people affected by this storm.

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Don't forget to join us tonight at 7:00 pm

for our third installment of the Father Barron Catholicism Series!