Walk Humbly

On this week’s episode of The Walk Humbly Podcast:

• Bishop Burbidge reflects on the deadly apartment fires in New York and Philadelphia.
• The Vatican has issued clarifications on recent directives regarding the Traditional Latin Mass. Bishop Burbidge explains what that will mean in our diocese.
• Pope Francis made headlines for saying the choice to have pets instead of children is “selfish.” Bishop Burbidge offers his reaction.
• At this year’s March for Life, Bishop Burbidge will have a view from the front, joining a group from Christendom College that has been chosen to lead the annual event.
• Updates on the diocesan Advisory Council on Racism as we approach the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Bishop Burbidge answers the following question from the faithful:

• I hear we are ordaining several priests this June. What is their final semester in seminary typically like as they approach ordination?

The sudden end of holiday activity can be a let-down. For most, the lows we may experience have few long-term effects. However, depression—which affects many—is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. Symptoms include prolonged periods of sadness, loss of interest in once-loved activities, and low self-worth. However, depression is very treatable. God has blessed our country with outstanding mental health professionals who offer treatment that, when in harmony with the grace we receive in faith and through prayer, can lead to recovery. The stigma once attributed to mental health issues is rightly fading. If you or a loved one struggles with depression, be unafraid to reach out for help. With faith in God and strengthened by grace, supported by sound mental health counseling, any person can have a brighter tomorrow.

As 2022 dawns, we have a choice about how we approach the uncertainty ahead: with anticipation or anxiety, enthusiasm or fear, optimism or worry? We are often encouraged to look on the bright side, and to see the glass as half full. But what is the source of our hope? Our confidence in better days ahead? There is one answer: God. Jesus reminds us: “For I know well the plans I have for you…plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.” What a comfort it is to have this faith, belief, and conviction that God will walk with us this year. But this requires us to trust in him to walk in his company always. With God at your side, you will have your best year yet.

The week between Christmas and New Years Day is like a bridge, and it offers us the perfect time to reflect on the past year, to identify what we did and did not accomplish and prepare ourselves to do better in the year ahead. Yet in other areas you likely made strides in the right direction. As you evaluate the past year, surely some areas needed improvement. Perhaps you were more attentive to family, developed more patience or prayed more regularly. If not, avoid discouragement and make a plan to improve going forward. God has grated you with a new day to repent and try again. Thank God for the areas in which you advanced and pray for the grace to see the gaps in which you need to grow and begin today! Have a blessed New Year!

As we celebrate this sacred season of Christmas, may we imitate Mary and Joseph by celebrating with joyful reverence the majesty and wonder of Christmas. Mary and Joseph traveled a long and dangerous road to keep Jesus safe. Though exhausted, they remained strong in faith and trusted God’s plan for them—no matter how perilous or humbling it may have seemed. Do we have the same trust that our trials, challenges, and crosses are carried not just by us but with the newborn king? In a humble manger our Savior was born to bring light to the world and to set us free. It is my hope and prayer that Our Lord will bless you and your family with the peace that only he can give, and that this gift be yours throughout the season and always. Have a blessed Christmas.

In this week’s episode, Bishop Burbidge shares his thoughts on...

• The recent approval by the FDA for abortifacients (drugs that force a woman’s body to miscarry her baby) soon to be able to be dispensed via “telemedicine”
• Some exciting news around the March for Life and more about upcoming pro-life events throughout the Diocese, including Life Is VERY Good and Defending Life Day
• Feedback received from pastors about the faithful's experience of the Forty Hours Devotions taking place throughout the Diocese
• Whether or not COVID-19 variants impact Christmas Masses
• How the faithful can help rebuilding efforts in the Midwest following the recent tornadoes
• Looking forward to 2022

As we begin the final stretch to Christmas, we too often get caught up in the peripheral trappings of the holiday season: planning meals, finalizing travel itineraries, last minute gift shopping. This time of year can stressful and tense, as we perhaps put undue pressure on ourselves. So, this week, in fact at some point today, take time away from the hustle and bustle of your busyness. Find that place at work or at home where you can be alone for a while, a place where it is just you and God. Dear friends, in this next week take a few moments each dayto be silent in with the Lord. There you will find his peace and renew yourself to embrace in joyful hope the grace filled days of this sacred season.

On this week’s episode of The Walk Humbly Podcast:

• The Supreme Court is deliberating a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, a case that pro-life advocates hope will result in a legal win for the unborn. Bishop Burbidge’s thoughts on the case.
• Fairfax County Public Schools recently voted unanimously to retain two books that have been challenged by parents because of their graphic sexual content. 
• Did you know the Cathedral of St. Thomas More was not originally built as a cathedral? The parish of St. Thomas More, which later was designated the cathedral of the newly formed Diocese of Arlington, is celebrating its 60th anniversary!
• Bishop Burbidge returns from visiting diocesan seminarians in Rome — hear his thoughts on the visit and how our seminarians are doing!

Bishop Burbidge also answers these questions from the faithful:

• Given rising challenges to religious liberty, what can local Knights of Columbus in the diocese do to help protect religious liberty and be more public and active in this space?
• Do you maintain any Advent or Christmas traditions from when you were a child?

At the height of the Christmas shopping season, we delight in securing a prime parking space, smile at seeing that our online purchase is still available, and at checking off those special gifts for the people closest to us. Yet others among us still struggle, perhaps with unemployment, addiction, a family in disrepair, or because they are in a new, but unfamiliar home. Being attentive to our neighbors in need will help us prepare for the coming of Jesus during this Advent season. Do not beafraid to open wide your heart. This Christmas, either through prayer or charitable assistance, ensure that no one is forgotten. Welcome and encounter our brothers and sisters who will need our help--for each has a face, a name, and a story. Uplift those in need, this season, and always. 

Some people say the most dangerous word to learn is tomorrow,because it invites delay, putting things off, procrastination. But Advent is all about today!Now is the time to act, to stop procrastinating, to get our spiritual lives in order so we provide a fitting place for the Lord to dwell. Be prepared to meet him at Christmas. Commit to making Advent a beautiful season of hope, of anticipation, of expectation. Doing so will prepare us not only for his coming at the end of the world but also for the daily transformation of our lives. As we approach Christmas do not be distracted by external things. Instead, make internal space for God so we may experience hispeace, love, and joy. Begin not tomorrow, but today!