Welcome Video from Archbishop José Gómez
Archbishop of Los Angeles
President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Daily Prayer and Reflection
Bishop Ronald Hicks
Diocese of Joliet
Your Forum Prayer Guide for Monday, December 7, 2020
Arise and Dream
We are invited to dream – to imagine, to envision, and to look ahead with creative energy. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered for proclaiming, “I have a dream!” at the March on Washington (August 28, 1963). Dreaming gives us something to aim for and it motivates us to go beyond the status quo.
Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 35:1-10
This is the first reading for the celebration of Mass on the Monday of the second week of Advent. The prophet Isaiah dreams of what is yet to come, saying “The desert and the parched land will exult” (Is 35:1). Let his vision for the future inspire us to think: What is possible? Where can we go from here?
Saints and Companions for the Day:
St. John the Baptist (first century)
who envisioned and prepared for the coming Messiah
St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) and St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253)
who together dreamed of “a poor Church for the poor” (cf. Pope Francis) as they laid the groundwork for the global Franciscan community
St. Clelia Barbieri (1847-1870)
who founded the religious community, the Little Sisters of the Mother of Sorrows, in her early young adulthood (at age 21) to tend to the needs of others
Ven. Augustus Tolton (1854-1897)
the first black Catholic priest in the United States, who as a young pastor, envisioned and created a parish community of African American Catholics in Chicago
And be sure to take time today to pray the Official Prayer for the 2020 Forum. With the intercessions of these holy companions, we pray in solidarity with one another as we “arise and dream.”