FROM THE DESK OF FR. DAN - January 22/23, 2022 This Sunday is the Sunday of the Word of God, an annual observance instituted by Pope Francis in 2019.The Holy Father requests, in the Apostolic Letter Aperuit Illis that this Sunday “be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God.” The Holy Father’s letter can be viewed at the following website:https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papafrancescomotuproprio20190930_aperuitillis.html On Tuesday, January 25 is the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle. He is the patron saint ofthe Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres. The sisters have served our parish in many ways throughout ourhistory. We are blessed by the continued presence of the sisters in our parish and diocese. May we especially keep the sisters in prayer on their feast this week. January 18-25 is the International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Recourses for this week of prayerare available on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website: https://www.usccb.org andon the website of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity: https://www.christianunity.va.The theme of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is “We saw the star in the East, and we cameto worship him.” Because of the surge of COVID infections and hospitalizations in our area we are asking everyone towear N95 or KN95 face masks at St. Christopher Church. These masks are more effective at preventingthe spread of the Omicron variant which is highly transmissible. Cloth masks do not provide sufficientprotection against the Omicron variant. If you do not have a N95 or KN95 face mask, we have KN95masks available at the entrances of the church. We are getting close to our UPCSA goal for this year. Thank you to everyone who made a pledge so far.Any additional pledges to help us meet our goal would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for yourfaithful stewardship!