The latest from the Church in Rural America.



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November 23, 2016
 
W EEKLY WISDOM

" We thank you for our work and our rest,
for one another, and for our homes.
We thank you, Lord:
accept our thanksgiving on this day.
We pray and give thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord "  
  -from the USCCB Thanksgiving Blessing

Thanksgiving Blessing
Give Thanks to God for All His Works
 
Father in Heaven, Creator of all and source of all goodness and love, please look kindly upon us and receive our heartfelt gratitude in this time of giving thanks. Thank you for all the graces and blessings. You have bestowed upon us, spiritual and temporal: our faith and religious heritage. Our food and shelter, our health, the loves we have for one another, our family and friends. Dear Father, in Your infinite generosity, please grant us continued graces and blessing throughout the coming year. This we ask in the Name of Jesus, Your Son and our Brother. Amen.

Taken from this site
Advent Reflections
Join CRL in Weekly Advent Reflections
 
Advent starts this Sunday, and this week's "Storytellers" is a reflection on the beginning of this season.

" As I attended a Catholic school growing up, I remember each Advent we would light the Advent wreath and sing a verse of the Advent Candle song.  As I would watch the candle flicker while singing the song, I always felt a deep feeling of longing and excitement. At the time, I thought the longing was for the arrival of Christmas and the presents that would be under the tree, but reflecting back on it now, I realize that the deep sense of longing was and is so much more than longing for a present."

Read more of this week's reflection, written by CRL intern Abigail Schreiner, by clicking here.

CRL Statement on the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
A Call for Peace and Justice

Catholic Rural Life, among many other faith groups, are closely watching the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in Cannon Ball, ND. We join in praying for peaceful resolution while discerning how to faithfully realize social and environmental justice. The conflict over the oil pipeline construction is complicated by many interests and voices; the flare up of violent actions and reactions leaves faith groups dismayed yet vigilant.  

Catholic Rural Life joins with those who remain prayerful and peaceful. We don't want to see anyone get hurt - construction workers, Native Americans, protesters, law enforcement officers - and we can only ask that outside interests respect the property and peace of local residents and landowners.

Catholic Rural Life considers this is an opportunity to embrace the call of Pope Francis to protect "our common home." In his encyclical   Laudato Si' the Holy Father wrote in earnest about embracing an "integral ecology" as a new paradigm of justice: an ecology "which respects our unique place as human beings in this world and our relationship to our surroundings." (LS,15)

To read more, visit Catholic Rural Life


CATHOLIC RURAL LIFE
Our mission is dedicated to addressing and overcoming
the challenges facing rural America: social, economic and ecological.

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If you have a question, announcement or resource you would like to share with us, please contact  cari @catholicrurallife.org