Dear Friend,
I sincerely hope all of you and your families had a truly
blessed Christmas Day, followed by the glow of this holy season and
will continue until Candlemass Day
on Sunday, February
2.
“There is simply not a better way to get
the Jubilee
Year started than to join with Cardinal
Burke LIVE
on our website as he offers Holy Mass. At 1:00 AM on the east coast
and 10:00 PM on the west coast, coinciding
with Wednesday,
the 1st of January
2025, at
7:00 AM in Rome, Italy.”
…As we look back at this past year with gratitude, one lesson
we take away from 2024 is there is NO
SUBSTITUTE for the Catholic Church when it comes together as one body
in Christ to save souls in season and out of season! Therefore, a
second lesson we take away is we can never let up; in fact, we must
escalate our work and set our sails to go on
offense.
To make this happen, We NEED YOUR
HELP!
As we enter the Jubilee Year 2025 as “Pilgrims of Hope,” it
should be noted that we must
embrace Hope as the necessary
beginning of every strategy for change. For Catholics, Hope is much
more than a concept, strategy or part of a positive psychology
movement to instill resiliency and positive attitudes. While we
all Hope for a better world, it is natural when times get tough to
look to a future when uncertainty is alleviated and when crisis has
passed. During the interim, it is Hope that will sustain us and help
us to properly order our lives ensuring we place our
focus on our spiritual life and
prayer.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, Hope along with Faith and Charity is one of the
theological virtues by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and
eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises
and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of
the Holy Spirit.
Hope provides the foundation we all need for the moral life.
It is essential for health and well-being, and helps us to overcome
and push away anxiety and panic.
Hope is what provides the strength that changes the world,
that changes us and gives us the things that make us successful in
life.
In a discussion I had with Cardinal Burke regarding the
importance of returning to the fundamentals of our faith during
challenging times, His Eminence pondered, “Perhaps we will discover we
were not attentive enough to our daily personal relationship with our
Lord in which He gives us this Hope and now is a good time to resume
praying the acts of Faith, Hope and Charity we were taught as
children.”
St. Thomas Aquinas has said that Hope is the theological
virtue by which we aspire with confidence to grace and heaven,
trusting God, and being resolved to use God’s
assistance.
In addition to helping people keep their chin up and remain
calm during times of crisis, Hope provides a yearning to fight against
all odds. That in turn brings about the power to alter
history.
So as we set out to change the world and leave it a better
place for our children and grandchildren, we advance not with a sling
and stone as David did when defeating Goliath, but with a Hope given
by God that provides the fuel for the heart needed to do good and to
begin to live life again with more power and freedom than ever
before.
Buoyed by the Jubilee Year
2025, I want to assure you first and foremost of
my continued prayers as well as those from the hundreds of thousands
of Rosary Warriors around the world.
Once again, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude for all
that you do!
May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, so that you may abound in Hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Romans 15:13.
And, May the Divine Infant Jesus through His Holy
Mother and St. Joseph bless you and your loved ones with many graces
and blessings now and throughout the Christmas Season!
Surrounded by the radiating love of
the Infant King,
Thomas J. McKenna
Founder and
President
Catholic Action for Faith and
Family
P.S. Shout for joy and help spread
hope this Jubilee Year 2025! If you have not had a chance to support
our annual appeal, please consider making a Tax-Deductible
Donation Today.
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