Serving Catholics for 25 Years Make a Donation December 15, 2021 Note from the Managing Editor We are so grateful for our CERC family. We have been blessed with 21,653 subscribers to our e-newsletter and, this past year, over 1.5 million unique visitors to the site. If even half of you, our dear subscribers, donated just $10, we would be able to cover our expenses for the entire year. Please click here to donate today. God bless your generosity! - Meaghen Gonzalez   Web version of this CERC Weekly Update here. Previous CERC Weekly Update here. Subscribe/unsubscribe here. Visit the CERC website at www.catholiceducation.org.   "It is in the treatment of the liturgy that the fate of the Faith and of the Church is decided." - Pope Benedict XVI     New Resources   The Greatness of Being "One of the Least" Monsignor Eduardo Chávez Sánchez, Columbia Pope John Paul II canonized Saint Juan Diego on July 31, 2002 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, north of Mexico City.   Documentary tells the story of "a great player, but an even greater man" Nick Olszyk, Catholic World Report A review of Soul of a Champion: The Gil Hodges Story.   Two Cheers for Idolatry David Carlin, The Catholic Thing It is the most natural thing in the world for human beings to have an appetite for sacred things.   Elizabeth: "God Has Sworn" Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas, The Catholic Thing A second model of faith to consider in this season is Zechariah's wife, the unassuming Elizabeth.   'Happy Holidays': the Bureaucrats' Open Door to Power Theodore Dalrymple, Happy Holidays: the Bureaucrats' Open Door to Power Every year I receive from the United States a number of Christmas cards, or at least cards that arrive at about the time of Christmas, that infuriate me.   From Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 to Beijing 2022 George Weigel, The Catholic Difference In July 2016, as we were sitting on the fantail of the Swiss sidewheeler Rhone while she chugged across Lake Geneva.     Editorials of Interest   Pope Francis' Acceptance of Archbishop Aupetit's Resignation Carries Consequences NC Register Who would want a position where the gossip of others leads to a downfall, even if the Holy Father protests the 'injustice' while accepting the resignation?   The Promise and Peril of Synods The Catholic Thing Steven Covey, the late, great effectiveness guru, liked to remind his readers to "begin with the end in mind.”   Neighbors fear Hollywood's hidden convent is about to go up for sale LA Times For nearly a century, the cloistered nuns of the Monastery of the Angels have lived quietly on a rambling four-acre property just beneath the "H" of Los Angeles' famous Hollywood sign.   Plan for the Dissolution of the Monasteries discovered Medievalists.net A previously unseen historic document giving vital insight into the Dissolution of the Monasteries has been uncovered at the National Archives. Overlooked for almost 500 years, the document details the process of suppressing Furness Abbey, the first of England's "greater" monasteries to be destroyed.   Men, Women, Laity, and Clergy: God's Wise Plan of Differentiated Order Crisis Magazine For well over 1,700 years, the Roman Church knew the existence of four "minor orders" and three "major orders." These roles concern the execution of the liturgy and were, on that account, reserved to men.   A Masterpiece on the Immaculate Conception The Catholic Thing Is it possible for a memorandum to be a masterpiece?   Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Byzantine Rite NLM Today is the feast of St. Juan Diego, to whom the Virgin Mary appeared on the hill of Tepeyac for the first of four times on this day in 1531.   The Spanish Privilege: Cerulean Blue and the Immaculate Conception LAJ Blue vestments are frequently a topic of very great interest.   Is there proper statue etiquette in churches? OSV I have been in many Catholic churches around the world, and the statue of Mary was always on the left side of the altar, as you face it. But at my church in Florida, she is on the right side. Why?   Justice Thomas, Dobbs v. Jackson, and my foster son Aleteia Now is the time to recalibrate our national moral compass and stand up for the Noahs of our country, to respect and care for every child from the moment of conception.   CEO says we are heading for a population bust Mercatornet Elon Musk says, "One of the biggest risks to civilization is the low birth rate and the rapidly declining birth rate.”   Only 18% Of American Households Are Families With Married Parents Daily Wire Children need a mother and a father — a context that more American youth than ever are lacking.   Supreme Court skeptical of Maine law barring state funds for religious schools CNN The Supreme Court expressed deep skepticism Wednesday of a Maine school tuition assistance program that allows parents to use vouchers to send their children to attend public and private schools but excludes religious schools from the program.   What I told the students of Princeton Abigail Shrier Show some self-respect and reclaim your freedom.   Who Should Educate Your Children? Catholic.com The Church teaches forcefully that education is parents' primary responsibility, not the government's.   Things I've Learned In Spiritual Direction, Part 3: The Lies We Listen To Spiritual Direction I asked my friend, a Catholic counselor, if there was one lie that was most common, most insidious. "That's easy," she said. "It all comes down to this: you are not enough."   St. John Henry Cardinal Newman and St. Justin Martyr, pray for us. Subscribe / Unsubscribe Copyright © 2021 Catholic Education Resource Center