January 24, 2020

Inside this issue

• CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly

  CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly  
 
This week in Washington House members returned to their home districts for the MLK holiday, while the Senate began the impeachment trial. The March for Life took place on Friday, January 24, 2020.

Puerto Rico Earthquakes

Puerto Rico continues to recover from a series of earthquakes earlier this month. This week the governor of Puerto Rico dismissed three members of her cabinet after supplies were discovered in a warehouse instead of being distributed to those in need. Gov. Wanda Vazquez fired Puerto Rico's chief of emergency management and temporarily put the National Guard in charge of emergency management. She also launched an investigation into why the supplies remained undistributed.

Catholic Charities USA continues to support our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico through prayer, donations, and technical support. If you would like to contribute to those impacted by the earthquakes, you can donate here.

March for Life

Today, thousands of people descended on Washington to participate in the March for Life. The theme of the march this year is "Life Empowers: Pro-life is Pro-woman." The mission of March for Life is to promote the beauty and dignity of every human life by working to end abortion - uniting, educating, and mobilizing pro-life people in the public square. President Trump addressed the crowd, marking the first time a sitting U.S. President did so in person during the march. To learn more about the March for Life you can click here.

Faith and the Common Good
Linda Shenk from Cleveland, Ohio correctly identified the first bill Congress passed after the Constitution was ratified as the Oath Act.  The Oath was passed by the House in April 1789. The Senate added a section requiring state officials and legislators to take the same oath as members of Congress. The Senate approved the bill with the change on May 5. The House did not object to the Senate's change and it was signed into law by George Washington on June 1,1789.

Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor of the Church

Francis de Sales was a bishop of Geneva and is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known for his writings on the topics of spiritual direction and spiritual formation.

De Sales went to the Collège de Clermont in Paris, then a Jesuit institution, to study rhetoric and humanities. As a nobleman, and to please his father, he took lessons in the gentlemanly pursuits of riding, dancing, and fencing. In 1584 Francis de Sales attended a theological discussion about predestination, and a personal crisis of despair resulted. He visited the old parish of Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Paris, where he prayed the "Memorare" before a famed statue of Our Lady of Good Deliverance.  He dedicated his life to God and was ordained.

Sales ultimately concluded that God had good in-store for him, because "God is love," as John's first epistle attests. This faithful devotion to God not only expelled his doubts but also influenced the rest of his life and his teachings. His way of teaching Catholic spirituality is often referred to as the Way of Divine Love, or the Devout Life, taken from a book he wrote with a similar title: Introduction to the Devout Life.

Complete Trust in God Prayer of St. Francis de Sales

Do not look forward in fear to the changes and chances of this life;

Rather, look to them with full confidence that, as they arise,

God, to whom you belong, will in His love enable you to profit by them.

He has guided you thus far in life, and He will lead you safely through all trials;

and when you cannot stand it, God will bury you in His arms.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;

the same everlasting Father who cares for you today

will take care of you then and every day.

He will either shield you from suffering,

or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.
Amen.

Trivia
Who was the first woman to preside over the House of Representatives?

Please send your answers to [email protected]

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