Winter does not officially begin until Dec. 21 (ending on March 19, 2020), but most Coloradoans have already experienced a hard freeze and a pretty good snow or two. Here are a few tips to help keep landscapes in good shape over the next wintery, topsy-turvy temperature months.

Pope Francis named John Henry Cardinal Newman a Catholic saint last month. Newman was a contemporary of our foundress, Saint Jeanne Jugan, and probably knew our early communities in England. He grew up and was educated in the Church of England, and for many years flourished as a prominent Anglican preacher and intellectual before converting to Catholicism in 1845.

Because suffering almost always imposes itself on us during life, and especially at the end of life, it can be helpful to reflect on the need to accept some personal suffering as we die, even as we recognize the importance of palliative steps and other comfort measures.

It’s become a four-generation tradition to head south of the cities and take in a small-town celebration of fall. Our route winds between soaring bluffs and a shimmering lake. It feels like a narrow passageway, a tunnel back in time.

For American Catholics, October is Respect Life Month, and this year’s theme is “Christ Our Hope: In Every Season of Life.”

In his letter introducing this theme, Archbishop Joseph Naumann, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, suggests that although attacks against human life seem to be growing more numerous and more callous by the day, “through our Christian hope in the Resurrection, we are given the grace to persevere in faith.”

Our community lost a beautiful man and priest last month with the passing of Msgr. Don Dunn.  Among so many life accomplishments, one of his most important may have been the founding of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado in 1968. The stated focus at the time was child welfare. 

Every once in a decade or so, a book comes into our lives that could seem to be inspired of God, that puts forth an urgent plea to the reader, something that reads like a letter to a spouse contemplating a separation or divorce. “Wait”, the grieving spouse pleads, “I want to open my heart to you. Please listen; don’t leave me.”

It’s the beginning of the holiday season — Halloween, All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas — and then a brand New Year. Whether we love it or tread lightly through these next few months they are here and it’s the perfect time for us to stop and give thanks for our many blessings.