This Solemnity is declared a holy day of obligation by the Catholic Church.

For more information on liturgical observance within the Archdiocese of Denver, please contact the archdiocesan Office of Liturgy at (303) 715-3156 or email Deacon.Parker@archden.org.

In honor of the Year for Priests, the archdiocesan Respect Life Office is sponsoring monthly prayer vigils in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic located at 7155 E. 38th Avenue in Denver.

Vigil attendees will gather for Mass at 8:15 a.m. in St. James Catholic Church, located at 1311 Oneida Street in Denver. The prayer vigil in front of the clinic will immediately follow.

For more information, please visit the Upcoming Events page on the Year for Priests Website at www.archden.org/index.cfm/ID/2759. Or, contact Mimi Eckstein at 303-715-3205 or by emailing RespectLife.Office@archden.org.

Catholics Returning Home series starts Thursday, January 7, 2010, from 7-9 pm, at St. Michael the Archangel in Aurora.  This six week series is intended for inactive Catholics who want to 'return home,' but aren't sure how to go about it. If you or someone you know has been away from the Church for awhile, this class is for you!

For more information call: 303-690-6797. Ask for Jim Peters.

The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week, January 10-16.

“This week provides the opportunity for parishes across the country to promote vocations through prayer and education,” said Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “It is our responsibility to encourage young people to be generous in their response as they discern the possibility of a call to service in the Church. We must also ask parents, families and our parish communities to assist with this work, vocations are everyone’s business. As we pray for an increased number of seminarians and candidates for religious life, we recognize the importance of safeguarding the gift of vocations.”

To read the full press release, click here.

Resources such as the VISION Vocation Guide, VocationMatch.com bilingual bookmarks, and multilingual VISION parish posters are still available. Order online at www.VocationGuide.org. Or call 1-800-942-2811.

For more information on this National Vocations Awareness Week, visit www.vocationguide.org or www.VocationMatch.com.

For local information, please contact the archdiocesan Vocations Office at 303-282-3429.

MONDAYS: JANUARY 11-FEBRUARY 1

This marriage preparation program satisfies both Step One and Step Three of the Archdiocese of Denver's requirements for marriage preparation. Click here to review all steps.

Classes are held on MONDAYS from 6 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. at Holy Family Parish (located at 4358 Utica Street, Denver)

COST: Classes are $180 per couple (includes workbook plus session snacks & drinks)

Register Online: at www.catholicmarriageprep.com

Program Description: Click here to review the layout for this four-part series.

St. Therese parish in Aurora will host, in conjunction with MOP (Metro Organization for Peoples), this peaceful prayer rally for comprehensive immigration reform.

Most Rev. James Conley, Auxiliary Bishop of Denver, will open the event with prayer, as well as a few, short remarks about the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

Following Bishop Conley's words, other faith leaders and leaders in the movement for comprehensive immigration reform will provide updates concerning the immigration debate, and suggest action yet to be taken.

For more information, please contact the Colorado Catholic Conference at (303) 894-8808 or email jkraska@cocatholicconference.org. Click here to download a flyer.

Bringing all together in prayer for life, with Archbishop Chaput and priests and deacons of the Archdiocese of Denver.  Prayer is the sustainable entity that pours God’s grace upon the pro-life work.

This Mass will be celebrated by Most Rev. Charles Chaput O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Denver and con-celebrated by Most Rev. James Conley, Auxiliary Bishop of Denver

Pro-Vitae Awards will be given to priests and laity who have witnessed in their parishes for the sanctity of life. Awards will also be announced for the 7th and 8th Grade Respect Life Essay Contest.

Join us in this celebration of life and love!

For more information, please contact Mimi Eckstein at 303-715-3205 or by emailing RespectLife.Office@archden.org.
 

This "Coping with Loss" series is sponsored by The Beginning Experience. The Beginning Experience Program is an ecumenical program designed to help the widowed, separated and divorced and other persons who have experienced a significant loss to make a new beginning in life. The Beginning Experience helps people to deal with the psychological grief process and also offers an opportunity for turning pain into an adventure of grace.

The loss of a spouse through divorce or separation is a devastating experience. Life patterns change permanently. The death of the marriage involves all the pain and grief that accompanies death. Adding to the burden are the feelings of failure, worthlessness and alienation. The pain of the separated and divorced is equaled only by the loss of one's spouse in death, especially if that death was premature or sudden.

The manner of loss is different between these groups but the pain of loss and sense of alienation in a couple-oriented society involve a similar adjustment process. The Beginning Experience Program is designed to be a time of closure on the past and a new beginning in the present.

For registration information, including exact series dates and times, please contact Sharron at (303) 255-8990 or Mary at tllskr@comcast.net.

Catholics observe this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity throughout the world.

For more information, contact Phil Webb, Director of Interreligious and Ecumenical Affairs for the Archdiocese of Denver, at 303-715-3160 or by emailing phil.webb@archden.org.  

THIS RETREAT RUNS FROM Tuesday, Jan. 19 - Thursday, Jan. 21

This Silence and Action Retreat will be led by the Sodalits of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (community of brothers and priests) and will focus on bringing silence into our everyday lives.

The understanding of silence not as emptiness but as fullness of presence helps us to see it as a way to listen to the eternal Word and have a personal encounter with God. In this silence in which the Incarnate Word resounds we can also have a better encounter with ourselves: to grow in personal knowledge, fidelity to our identity and self-mastery.

In this way, the encounter with our brothers and sisters is also fostered, being able to listen and see the other in their own identity. The beauty of nature is also appreciated in a better way through this integral and active silence.

Cost to attend (includes lodging & meals):
$152/person: double person Room; $182: single person room

Registration Deadline: Friday, Jan. 15

For more information, please visit us at www.saintmalo.org or contact Wendy at 303.715.3223 or email wendy.hohn@saintmalo.org.

The following Eucharistic Holy Hour is being coordinated by the archdiocesan Office of Liturgy. Both Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Conley plan to attend.

Each deanery region within the Archdiocese of Denver has offered to host one Eucharistic Holy Hours.

Tuesday, Jan. 19
All Souls Church (Englewood)
 
To review the full Holy Hour series, click here.
 
For more information, please contact the Office of Liturgy at (303) 715-3156 or email Liturgy.Office@archden.org. You may also try directly contacting the hosting parish noted above.

Catholic monks have been crafting beer for centuries...there’s gotta be something to this! Come & learn the history and connection of the Church to the brews you enjoy today from John Leyendecker, FOCUS Missionary, and Paul Pettinger, a manager at New Belgium Brewery…making good beer and growing in holiness have more in common than you might think.

For the complete Spring 2010 North Theology on Tap Series, click here: http://www.archden.org/repository//TOT%20Ft%20Collins%20Spring%202010.pdf

For more information, please contact Edward Dennis, Director of Family, Parish and Spiritual Care at Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church, at (970) 635-5814 or by emailing Ed.Dennis@SAINTJOHNS.net.

To mark the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which overturned state laws outlawing abortion, various parishes have scheduled Masses and reconciliation services.

This particular Mass is sponsored in part by the archdiocesan Respect Life Office.

For more information, please contact Mimi Eckstein at 303-715-3205 or by emailing RespectLife.Office@archden.org.

Click here to download a flyer with more details.

Vigil Praise is a monthly event hosted by the seminarians at St. John Vianney Seminary.  People of all ages from the Archdiocese of Denver come together to adore Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. 

The 2-hour event includes exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the praying of the Sunday Office of Readings with a homily included, times of silence, and prayerful praise and worship music. 

Confessions are also offered throughout the event.  Afterwards, people have the option to remain for up to an hour in prayer before the Lord the the Eucharist or to join the seminarians in the refectory for refreshments and fellowship.  This event is free of cost and open to all.

For more information, please contact Joe Doman at joe.doman@archden.org or 215-272-4820.

Another round of training for all catechists. Theme: "The Catholic Journey." Our workshop will include talks on evangelization, Scripture basics, and teaching the art of prayer.

Cost is $15 (lunch and materials included). To register, please call (303) 715-3260 or email tess.stone@archden.org

The Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought will be hosting its third annual Great Debate between Jonathan Rauch and Maggie Gallagher on January 25th at 7:00 PM on the University of Colorado, Boulder campus in the beautiful Macky Auditorium.

Tickets are $10 for non-students and $5 for students and can be purchased through our website along with more information about the debate: http://thomascenter.org/AquinasInstitute/MarriageDebate.html.

You may also purchase your ticket at your local King Soopers. Please note that tickets are reserved seating and in light of last year’s quick sellout, we advise you to purchase your tickets early.

Students may obtain the promo-code to get the discounted rate by emailing Diane King at Diane.King@thomascenter.org. Finally, when purchasing online, we encourage you to have your ticket mailed to you as the will-call line may be long come the day of the event.

For additional information, please call us at 720.564.1111 or email megan.dillon@thomascenter.org.

THIS CLASS BEGINS Wednesday, January 27, 2010 and consists of 9 class meetings, to be taught by Dr. Anthony Lilles, professor at St. John Vianney Seminary

Our culture presents many ideas about the priesthood.  Although capable of stunning insights into the life and ministry of the priest, sometimes these cultural observations are based on mere caricatures, not only about the priesthood but also about the spiritual life. 

The result is that the importance of the priesthood for the life of prayer can be obscured.   In this exploration of the witness of eight saintly priests, our method will be to compare autobiographical notes about their lives with priests depicted in literature.  We will then make observations about what their witness means for the life of prayer.  The goal is a deeper understanding of the gift of the ministerial priesthood and its role in Catholic spirituality. The priests who will be covered include:

Marie Jean Baptiste Vianney, the Cure d’Ars;
Joseph Machebeuf, first bishop of Denver;
Maurice Bellièrie, disciple of Thérèse of Lisieux;
Charles de Foucauld, hermit;
Maximillian Kolbe, martyr of love;
Bernard, survivor of Dachua;
Francis Xavier Nguyen van Thuan, witness to hope;
John Paul II, apostle of the New Evangelization.

The last talk will be on the Priesthood and the Scripture by Ben Akers.

Registration Deadline: Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Cost to attend: $175 per person; $350 per family (ages 16 an over)

For more information, please contact Linda Jiner or Kathleen Peterson at (303) 715-3195.

Ever wonder what Vatican II really said about the Church? Come find out!

Eight classes starting Thurs. Jan. 28.

6739 South Boulder Road, Boulder. Call 303-715-3260 to register.

A high school retreat with keynote speakers, Chris & Linda Padgett and a day of skiing included.  This retreat invites the youth to more completely understand their faith through presentations and sharing with other youth their own age.  For those youth who do not ski, other activities are available during the day.

Cost to attend: $105.00 - $160.00

For more information, please contact Norma Rochford at 303-364-0828 or youthministry@qop1968.org.

KPIO 1570 AM, your local Catholic radio station, is proud to present Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.  Fr. Mitch will be giving a spiritual conference titled “Discerning God’s Will” on January 30th at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Northglenn, CO. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to prepare for the season of Lent (Ash Wednesday is February 17, 2010!) and to hear several inspiring and informative talks by Father Mitch Pacwa.  Father Mitch will be celebrating Mass and giving a series of talks about how you can better discern God’s Will in your life. 

Tickets for this event are $20.

Exact Location: Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish is located at 11385 Grant Drive, Northglenn, CO 80233.

For more information, please visit our website at www.thecatholicradionetwork.com or call John Koenig at 970.669.8000.  Email inquiries should be sent to KPIO1570AM@gmail.com

For more information, please contact the Office of Catholic Schools at 303-715-3200 or by Barbara.Anglada@archden.org.