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The ancient truism, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” was truly evident the weekend of the Eucharistic Congress held Oct. 20-22 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Auriesville, N.Y. In spite of the wet, chilly weather roughly 8,500 people flocked to the holy grounds, once the 17th century Mohawk village of Ossernenon, where three of the eight Jesuit missionaries, today known as the North American Martyrs, gave their lives while spreading the Gospel to Native American peoples.

“Feminine genius,” a phrase coined by Pope St. John Paul II in his 1995 Letter to Women, speaks of how women possess God-given gifts – receptivity, sensitivity, generosity and maternity – and describes how women exhibit an “affective, cultural and spiritual motherhood” which has “inestimable value for the development of individuals and the future of society.”

A state-of-the-art marriage prep program with God as its center is engaging couples in the Diocese of Metuchen. “God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage,” based upon Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body,” aims to provide couples a more complete understanding of God’s plan for marriage and the gift of human sexuality.

On June 16, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted overwhelmingly in favor of a 10-year plan to address the pastoral needs of Hispanic/Latino Catholics.