The norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal.

As we continue our reflections during this Year of the Domestic Church, our theme for February is “prayer at home.” This is a time in which we can reflect on the role of prayer within our families, and the ways in which we lay the foundation of prayer in our family life.

Spiritual growth demands that, in reaching out to our neighbors, we will serve the Lord with gladness, seeing the face of Christ in every person we serve.

Ethelbert himself was eventually baptized in 601 and received a congratulatory letter and gifts from the pope. He was the first English king to convert to Christianity.

Her very name means “light,” and so I ask St. Clare to light our path this Lent. St. Clare, pray for us.

The theme the pope chose for the 2021 celebration of World Peace Day was: “A Culture of Care as a Path to Peace.”

We have our Catholic faith, and we know that even in the midst of all these difficulties and problems and challenges, we are not abandoned. As he promised us, Christ is with us and will be with us until the end of time.

Joseph, as head of the Holy Family, fostered with his wife Mary the growth of the child Jesus “in wisdom, age, and grace” (Lk 2:52). He was therefore spiritual father to his very special domestic church.

Luisa de Poo serves as the diocesan director of Life, Marriage and Family. She began working for the Diocese of Austin in 2016. In her role, de Poo is responsible for directing and implementing the USCCB Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities; coordinating the education and instruction of Catholics and the general public on life issues; and overseeing diocesan programs, initiatives and resources related to the ongoing catechesis and spiritual formation for sacramental marriage and Christian family living.

Nora Fitzpatrick is the coordinator of the food bank at Santa Rosa Parish in Andice. The parish has turned their hall in to a warehouse to store and package all the food they are distributing to those in need.

The crucifix that now hangs in the chapel of the St. Charles Borromeo House of Discernment in Austin was originally donated to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in College Station by Lucille and William Buchanan. The Borromeo House hosts men who are in preparation to possibly enter into a seminary program.

Gabriel Project, as it was previously known, was previously under the diocesan Office of Life, Marriage, and Family, in the Secretariat of Life, Charity and Justice. By making the administrative and physical move to CCCTX, the St. Gabriel Project ministry can provide comprehensive service to clients in the 25-county region within the Diocese of Austin.

Through the centuries, the tradition of the posada moved from church to neighborhoods. Families re-enact the posadas from Dec. 16 to 24, taking turns as the “inn” that allows Mary and Joseph to come in. That also means hosting a party.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the number of neighbors seeking assistance from the St. Vincent de Paul Conference at St. Albert the Great Parish. Before the pandemic, 90% of its neighbors worked and only needed help because of an injury, job loss, unexpected death in the family or a medical crisis. Now most of the neighbors calling for assistance are unemployed, have had hours reduced, or have been furloughed from their job.

According to canon law, cardinals are created when their names are made public “in the presence of the College of Cardinals.” While many Rome-based cardinals attended the consistory, more members of the college were “present” online.