Month in Review: A November to Remember!

Dear Friend, 

Last month was quite busy and as I begin to catch up I want to share some news that I thought you would appreciate. As you may know, I am blessed to be friends with the family of Saint Gianna. Last month the youngest daughter, Gianna Emanuela, the child for whom St Gianna sacrificed her life, came to spend two weeks with my wife and I in San Diego. We had some work to do but also just to catch up and reminisce about her mother, St Gianna.

While she was here, Catholic Action organized a public talk for her together with Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in San Diego. On November 6^th, hundreds of Catholics from across the diocese and nearby states were drawn to meet and hear Gianna present a lecture speaking about the heroic virtues of her mother and her holy father. All were inspired; and following the presentation, Gianna spent two hours greeting all the faithful. Hearing stories of interventions and the great spiritual consolations inspired by her saint mother. It was an evening of many blessings for all. 

While she was here we also had the opportunity to visit Saint Michael's Abbey and the Norbertine priests. Just last year, they inaugurated the new beautiful Abbey which has many works of art especially the large expansive mosaic covering the back wall of the main church. We were fortunate to have a tour by Fr. Justin Ramos who explains many of the intricacies of the work that went into crafting such a beautiful monastery. Recently observing their 900^th anniversary, the norbertines are a very traditional order and have many, many vocations and their seminary is full!

Culture of Life Family Services of San Diego, which provides Catholic medical services for pregnant women and others facing challenges of choosing to bring their baby’s into this world, was blessed to hold their annual gala while Gianna was in town. Dr. Alveda King delivered a very inspiring question and answer session focusing on the rights of the unborn. To close, Gianna shared inspiring words about the sanctity of life and her saint mother.

While Gianna was with us, we also had the blessing of a visit from Cardinal Burke to San Diego over a weekend. He came for an event we sponsored and also to record several interviews for our Catholic Action Insight™ series. We will be sharing these with you in the very near future. We also had the opportunity to discuss upcoming plans for Catholic Action’s activities in the new year of 2023. It was a great opportunity to be able to spend time with His Eminence and to reflect on the state of the Church and the world as well as to discuss how we can work to help others stay faithful in this time a great trial.

The day after Cardinal Burke departed, I traveled to Baltimore to attend the annual fall meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It was an opportunity to meet with many bishops and clergy with whom Catholic Action collaborates. During the conference, one of the most significant actions that took place was the election of a new president and vice president. Archbishop Broglio of the military archdiocese was elected president and Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore was elected vice president. Both of these bishops are very pro-life. Let us pray that they be inspired to lead our bishops conference in a strong manner to push back against the attacks upon our faith.

I pray that you are having a blessed Advent and I will continue to reflect with all of our prayer warriors that this be an Advent full of blessings for all.

You will be hearing soon about some new initiatives that we will be launching in 2023 and, although I cannot release any details about them yet, I would like to ask your prayers.

Your friend in Christ,

Thomas McKenna

Founder and President

Catholic Action For Faith And Family
http://www.catholicaction.org/

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