ILLUSTRATION: T. SCHLUENDERFRITZ

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–558

1

Dear Parents, One of your greatest blessings — and responsibilities — as a parent is handing on the Catholic faith to your children. Family life is the perfect setting for conversations and activities that can help form your children as active, prayerful, and joyful Catholics. The Church calls the family the “domestic church,” because that is where children first learn about, and encounter, God’s love. Invite Jesus into your home as the unseen yet welcomed guest at your family table, present in the daily life of each family member. 

A vibrant Catholic family life is lived in sync with the church calendar, also called the liturgical year. The litur-gical calendar will help your family celebrate the spiritual seasons of the year by paying attention to what is happen-ing at Sunday Mass each week. Just as you keep a sched-ule for school, work, and other appointments, the church calendar helps your household live out your faith. 

This special calendarThe design of this liturgical calendar differs from typical calendars. Its oval shape details the Sundays, feasts, and seasons that fill the liturgical year.

Each Sunday is listed by date, and by the Gospel pro-claimed at that Sunday Mass within the church seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time. For example, find “Dec. 2” in one of the violet boxes in the oval. The large numeral 1 shows that Dec. 2 is the first Sunday in the season of Advent. It is also the Sunday that starts the 2019 liturgical year.

Note that the Dec. 2 box has a Bible reference of Lk 21:25–28, 34–36. That means the Gospel reading for that Sunday comes from the twenty-first chapter of the Gospel according to Luke, verses 25 to 28 and 34 to 36. During the liturgical year for 2019 (Year C in the Church’s three-year Sunday cycle) the Sunday Gospels are primarily from the Gospel of Luke. (Find background for understanding Luke’s Gospel on the opposite page.)

Notice that holy days of obligation and other holy days such as Ash Wednesday and the Triduum are positioned chronologically.

Posting the calendarDisplay the calendar in your home all year long. Post it where everyone can see it, perhaps on the refrigerator or a wall near your family table. 

Advent begins the liturgical year. The days before the First Sunday of Advent (Dec. 2) are an ideal time to hang the calendar. Gather as a family to become familiar with the calendar. 

Explain how this calendar will help you celebrate

your Catholic life all year long. Use the information here to help explain the calendar. View the illustrations, which emphasize the parables of Jesus presented in Luke’s Gos-pel. See how many parables your family can identify from the images. Throughout the year, refer to the images as you read the Sunday Gospel to see if your family can find a corresponding illustration.

You may wish to pray together as you reverently post your calendar and prepare for the year ahead. Here’s a simple prayer to use: 

Heavenly Father, help us live this year for you. Help us to be joyful, forgiving, honest, and caring. Help us to share with one another our love for you, and welcome you into our family home, as you have welcomed us as members of your family in the Church. We ask this in the name of Jesus your Son. Amen.

Using the calendarFollow these tips:

READ THE GOSPEL. Have a younger child read the Gos-pel reference for the coming Sunday. Next, have a parent or older child look up the passage in the Bible and read it aloud. Take time to talk about it. Discuss the who, what, where, why, and how aspects of what you read.

CHECK OFF EACH SUNDAY. As weeks pass, mark off each Sunday. This can help build anticipation for the important feasts of Christmas and Easter. (Plus, it may remind you to keep the habit of discussing the Gospel and preparing for Sunday Mass together.)

MARK THE SEASONS. As a new season begins, take time to discuss it. Advent prepares us for the joy of Christmas. Christmas celebrates Christ’s birth, God coming to earth as a human person. The 40 days of Lent are a time for sac-rificial and penitential practices that conclude with the holy days of the Triduum. Easter is the Church’s pinnacle celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, and 50 days of rejoic-ing follow it. Easter time concludes with Pentecost, which recalls the coming of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’ disciples after his Ascension, giving them the courage to bring his Good News to all nations. Ordinary Time calls us to stay faithful to the Gospel in our daily routines. 

Time together makes a differenceA liturgical calendar can help your family celebrate the Catholic faith all year long. By spending a short period of time each week with the Gospel, you’ll grow closer to Christ, the Church, and one another. Additionally, you’ll unite with Catholics around the world in celebrating the seasons of the church year. 

The Gospel of LukeWho is Luke?St. Luke was one of St. Paul’s co-workers, helping him spread the Christian message throughout the Roman Empire. Paul describes him in the Letter to the Colossians as the beloved physician, indicating both Luke’s profession and their close friendship. Luke may have met Paul in Antioch in Syria. He later joined Paul on parts of his second and third mission-ary journeys to Asia Minor and Macedonia. Luke also traveled with Paul to Jerusalem and, after Paul’s arrest, accompanied him to Rome. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke’s sequel to his Gospel, he uses the pronoun “we” to indicate the journeys where he was present at the events he recounts. In his Gospel, first intended for the churches associated with Paul’s ministry, Luke’s pur-pose is to give the early Chris-tians certainty about what they learned about Jesus, also show-ing how Jesus fulfills God’s plan found in the Old Testament.

Unique passages As the longest of the four Gospels, Luke’s Gospel is full of unique mate-rial. For example, only Luke begins his Gospel by relating the key events surround-ing the births of both John the Baptist and Jesus, showing that John prepares for Jesus but Jesus is greater than John. Only Luke highlights Jesus’ Naz-areth sermon at the beginning of his public ministry. Reading from Isaiah, Jesus announces his mission with a jubilee proclamation of liberty, which brings the forgiveness of sins. Only Luke ends his Gospel with Jesus’ Ascension into heaven following the Res-urrection appearances. In one of those appearances, Jesus opens the Scriptures to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and they recognize him in the breaking of the bread. At Mass we do likewise in the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Parables Many of Jesus’ most treasured parables are found only in Luke’s Gospel. These parables occur in the Gospel’s central section, when Jesus journeys to Jerusalem, inviting us to follow him on the way as his disciples. The parable of the Good Samaritan demonstrates what “love your neighbor” means, teaching us to have mercy on others — even our enemies. The parables of the lost sheep (found also in Matthew’s Gospel), the

lost coin, and the lost (or prodigal) son reveal the Father’s mercy and illustrate Jesus’

outreach to sinners. The parable of the unjust judge and the parable of

the Pharisee and the tax collector show us the importance of perse-verance and humility in prayer, a key theme in Luke’s Gospel. The parable of the rich fool and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus teach us about other important themes, such as the

right use of wealth and care for the poor.

More key themes Luke’s favorite title for Jesus is Lord, a

title also used for the God of Israel. Luke thus teaches us about the divinity of Jesus.

Other themes in the Gospel, which are then devel-oped in Acts, include the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the extension of God’s salvation to all the nations. In addition, Luke tells us about the women disciples: Mary Magdalene; Joanna; sisters Martha and Mary; and especially Jesus’ mother, Mary. Joy is another theme running through Luke’s Gospel, from the great joy announced by the angel to the shepherds at Jesus’ birth to the joy in heaven over one repentant sinner. Finally, Luke emphasizes that God’s grace is available through Jesus — not just in the future but today, as Jesus says to Zacchaeus the tax collector and the thief on the cross. In sum, Jesus is waiting to meet us in Luke’s Gospel today.

FR. PABLO GADENZ is associate professor of biblical studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary, Seton Hall University, and author of The Gospel of Luke (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture).

©2018 Pflaum Publishing Group, a division of Bayard, Inc.All rights reserved. HTP-5581

The Year of Our Lord 2019 Family Guide

P.O. Box 49726Dayton, OH 45449-0726800-558-2292 x1128www.catechist.com

FAMILY GUIDE BY THE STAFF OF CATECHIST. ART/DESIGN BY TED SCHLUENDERFRITZ.