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Archbishop's Tweets
Do you follow
Archbishop Kurtz on twitter? Here is a sampling of his tweets this month:
July 4
@ArchbishopKurtz:
As we end #Fortnight for Freedom, remember that efforts for religious freedom protect rights of all faiths who seek truth about God.
@USCCB
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July 3
@ArchbishopKurtz:
During #Fortnight for Freedom, pray for end of violence in Mexico against priests, religious, and people of faith.
@USCCB
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July 2
@ArchbishopKurtz
:
During #Fortnight for Freedom, pray that Church & all religious institutions have freedom to contribute to flourishing of society.
@USCCB
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July 1
@ArchbishopKurtz:
At Orlando Convocation of Catholic Leaders with Bishop-elect Al Schlert & friends from Allentown
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June 29
@ArchbishopKurtz:
Happy to be on panel at National Leadership Roundtable Conference in Orlando.
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June 26
@ArchbishopKurtz:
A great evening of Rosary, Evening Prayer & dinner with Dominican community at St Louis Bertrand.
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June 24
@ArchbishopKurtz:
During #Fortnight for Freedom, pray to Holy Spirit for courage to bear witness to truth of the Gospel even in the face of pressure.
@USCCB
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June 22
@ArchbishopKurtz:
During #Fortnight 4 Freedom on feast Sts. Thomas More & John Fisher, let's strive to serve our country by always seeking God's will. @USCCB
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Archlou Happenings:
Be
low is a list of upcoming
archdiocesan events:
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Called to the Peripheries
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Take Part in God's Dream
By Lisa DeJaco Crutcher, CEO of Catholic Charities
 At this time last summer, I was a busy law firm partner with a thriving litigation practice. But for a year or so, I had been hearing a quiet but unmistakable message: "Everything has a season, and the season for this is ending." My first reaction (and second, and third) was to wonder what on earth I could or should do other than what I was already doing: I had exactly the job I had planned when I graduated from UVA Law School in 2000, and law school had been in my plans for a decade before that.
Rather than trying to think of my own answer, I decided that the best thing I could do was sit with the question. Whenever that message came to me, rather than putting myself to work at puzzling out the right solution, I simply allowed myself to pray, "Here I am, Lord. I want to do Your will." I found myself in conversation after conversation with people who were, all unawares, giving me directions and holding signposts that slowly but surely began to fill in the map for me. In August 2016, The Record first ran an advertisement seeking a new chief executive for Catholic Charities. I cut the ad out of the paper and carried it around with me for a month, pulling it out from time to time and asking, "Is this for me?"
Throughout Advent, I was talking with the Archdiocese about the Catholic Charities position and seriously debating whether I was ready to leave the legal career I had studied for, trained for, and worked to build for myself. The Gospel one Sunday was the story of Saint Joseph, who dreamed about an angel telling him...Read More
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The Louisville delegation at the Convocation of Catholic Leaders.
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On Missionary Discipleship
By Father Steven D. Henriksen, Pastor of Ascension Church
Engagement.
Encounter.
Dialogue.
Reaching out to the peripheries.
Each of these four notions is a source for our reflection as well as for action. Over the 4th of July holiday weekend, I was privileged to participate as one of 14 delegates from the Archdiocese of Louisville at the Convocation of Catholic Leaders:
The Joy of the Gospel in America.
The Convocation featured a number of events highlighting the opportunities as well as the challenges in being and becoming missionary disciples. From traditional devotions to sessions concerned with outreach to the many absent from the Eucharistic table, the Convocation and its participants transcended the "left/right" political divide that often dominates media reporting of our Church.
The nearly 3,500 delegates
engaged the issues that confront our Church. A definitive answer to addressing disconnect between those who affiliate with the Church and their in-pew participation was not achieved. Nor was a perfect solution offered for the opportunities and challenges that are present for a U.S. Church undergoing seismic demographic and social changes.
Yet, each as well as many others were
encountered during the Convocation. Encountering the teachings of the Church as it is lived in parishes was an essential theme of the Convocation. The central importance of encountering Our Lord - in developing a personal relationship with the living Christ - remains...
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A Monthly Journey to America's 'Peripheries'
By Father Jack Wall
 My name is Father Jack Wall, and I have a story to tell. It's a tale of American Catholics who are living in the poorest counties of the United States. It's the inspiring story of people richly blessed in faith but living far below the poverty line. It's the compelling story of people with a dream as beautiful and big as the dream that each of our ancestors had for us and for our families. And it's the enduring story of Catholic Extension - the vital Church link that tangibly connects us American Catholics together in a bond of solidarity that is nation-wide and soul-deep.
Over the past 10 years, I have been privileged to serve as the president of Catholic Extension. We are a Chicago-based papal society that builds churches and strengthens the Catholic Church in America's poorest places.
In this new column, I want to invite you to join me in discovering all the good that is happening in our country's poorest regions because of the presence of the Catholic Church.
Let me take you to a Texan border town in the Rio Grande Valley - the poorest and most densely Catholic region in the country - where a struggling parish community with meager resources of its own is providing respite and temporary shelter for refugees. Despite their own poverty, Catholics are extending themselves in works of mercy to those who have even less.
Journey with me to eastern Kentucky, where Catholics make up only 0.1 percent of the population. Almost two thirds of the Lexington diocese's 43 counties are areas of persistent poverty. Yet its small Appalachian Catholic communities are living the Gospel by reaching out heroically to their neighbors. Forgotten people living in poverty know that when they are in dire straits, they can turn to Catholics for help.
Just south of the U.S.-Canadian border, on a reservation in Montana where as many as 30 percent of residents face drug or alcohol addiction, a Native American Catholic community is bringing hope. This parish has an adult spiritual retreat movement, robust youth groups, and an academically successful school that has become a passport out of poverty for scores of Native American children.
The Spirit of God is truly present at what Pope Francis calls the "peripheries" of our society. The Spirit is...Read More
To view the entire series click here.
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The Blog Spot
This section will feature local and national blogs that will inspire, teach, and call to action. Featured this month is the Catechist's Journey
, in which Chicago catechist Joe Paprocki and other catechetical contributors offer reflections and insights about teaching the Catholic faith.
The Effective Use of Audiovisual Resources in Faith Formation
By Joe Paprocki
Not all of us are natural-born storytellers, as is illustrated by the following joke: once upon a time, a guy went on a tour of a story factory. As he walked through the factory, he heard a voice on the loudspeaker call out a number every few minutes. After each number was announced, there was a palpable reaction from the workers: laughter, tears, anger, or amazement. The guy asked his tour guide what was going on, and the tour guide said that the stories they produced at the factory were numbered. When a number was called out on the loudspeaker, people recalled the story and reacted accordingly. The guy asked if he could try. He was handed the microphone and called out "72!" What followed was the sound of crickets. The guy asked why there was no reaction from the workers, and the tour guide said, "Some people just don't know how to tell a story!"
Storytelling is an art form that some people are gifted with, while others of us may struggle to engage people with our limited storytelling abilities. Today, however, because of technology, we can greatly enhance our own ability to "tell a story" through the effective use of audiovisual resources. Notice I said enhance, not replace! In the arena of faith formation, nothing can replace...
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