Proposed “Monthly Themes”
Planning Guide to help you stay connected throughout the year
“Merciful like the Father”
Month
December
Work of Mercy
Bear patiently with
those who do us ill
Calendar Connection
Advent
 Dec 8 – Immaculate Conception
 Dec 12 – Our Lady of
Guadalupe
 Dec 13 – Opening the Cathedral
Holy Door
 Dec 25 – Christmas
 Dec 27 – Feast of the Holy
Family
January
Comfort the afflicted
Christmas and Ordinary Time
 Jan 1 – World Day of Prayer for
Peace
 Jan 11 – Human Trafficking
Awareness Day
 Jan 16 – World Day for Migrants
and Refugees
 Jan 18-25 – Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity
 Jan 22 – Day of Prayer for the
Legal Protection of Unborn
Children
 Jan 31 - Catholic Schools’ Week
Begins
Suggested Activities
 Participate in the Our Lady of
Guadalupe Procession and Mass
on Dec. 6 in Stockton
 Participate in an Advent
penance service
 Participate in Las Posadas or
Simbang Gabi
 Visit those who are shut in and
do not have visitors
 Share food, sweaters, socks, and
blankets with those who are in
need
 Bless your home on Jan 3, and
mark your own “Holy Door” to
remind you of mercy
throughout the year
 Make a donation to CRS or
another organization that helps
refugees fleeing violence
 Pray with your family, friends
and neighbors who are of other
Christian faiths
 Participate in the Walk for Life
on Jan 23
 Offer to rake leaves and clean
up the yard for elderly
Our Plan
neighbors in need
Month
February
Work of Mercy
Heal the Sick
Calendar Connection
Lent
 Feb 10 – Ash Wednesday
 Feb 11 – World Day for the Sick
March
Admonish the Sinner
Lent and Easter
 Mar 4-5 – 24 Hours for the Lord
 Mar 17 – Chrism Mass
 Mar 27 – Easter Sunday
April
Counsel the Doubtful
Easter Season
 Apr 3 – Jubilee for those
devoted to the Spirituality of
Divine Mercy
 Apr 17 – World Day of Prayer
for Vocations
 Apr 24 – Jubilee for Teens (to
profess faith and construct a
culture of mercy)
Suggested Activities
 Pray for the Religious of our
Diocese and the World, who
serve so many in need
 Participate in CRS’s Operation
Rice Bowl
 Visit those in a convalescent
home
 Write letters to those who are in
the hospital
 Attend a Lenten Penance Service
 Pray for the Elect who will be
initiated at the Easter Vigil
 Mar 12 – Participate in Ministry
Day
 Mar 19 – Share food and
hospitality in honor of St. Joseph
Day
 Mar 24-27 – Participate in the
Triduum from Holy Thursday –
Easter Sunday
 Young people are encouraged to
participate in El Congreso
Juvenil, Apr 2-3 in Modesto
 Apr 3 – Attend the Divine
Mercy celebration at St. Michael
Parish in Stockton, and pray
before the relic of St. Faustina
 Apr 22 – Earth Day – Examine
your use of resources
 Pray for the many throughout
our Diocese celebrating
Confirmation
Our Plan
Month
May
Work of Mercy
Instruct the Ignorant
Calendar Connection
Easter and Ordinary Time
 May 5 – Prayer Vigil for those in
need of consolation
 May 8 – Mother’s Day
 May 15 – Pentecost
 May 22 – Trinity Sunday
 May 29 – Jubilee for Deacons
and Corpus Christi
June, July
and August
Feed the hungry and
give drink to the
thirsty
 June 3 – Jubilee for Priests
 June 19 – Father’s Day
 July 4 – Independence Day
 July 31 – Jubilee for Young
People
 Aug 6 – Anniversary of the
bombing of Hiroshima
 Aug 9 – Anniversary of the
bombing of Nagaski
 Aug 15 – Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (not a holy
day of obligation this year)
Suggested Activities
 Pray for our priests during their
annual retreat, May 9-13
 Attend the Priesthood
Ordination Mass at the
Cathedral, May 21 at 10 a.m.
 Celebrate the wisdom of
Mothers passed on through the
generations
 Remember graduates and those
who are completing courses of
study
 Celebrate Fathers and the many
ways they show their love and
care of their families
 Remember the food banks that
run low in the summer
 Clean out closets and share
good quality clothes with those
who are in need
 Bless young people headed to
World Youth Day
 Pray for an end to war and the
elimination of nuclear weapons
 Pray with students beginning a
new school year
 Join a team in your parish that
promotes Life, Dignity and
Social Justice
 Spend time helping at a
homeless shelter
Our Plan
Month
September
Work of Mercy
Welcome the stranger
Calendar Connection
 Sept 4 – Jubilee for workers and
volunteers of mercy
 Sept 5 – Labor Day
 Sept 11 – Grandparents Day and
National Day of Mourning and
Remembrance
 Sept 25 – Jubilee for Catechists
October
Visit the imprisoned,
Cloth the naked and
Forgive offences
 Oct 2 – Respect Life Sunday
 Oct 5 – World Day of Prayer for
Creation
 Oct 8 – Marian Jubilee
 Oct 23 – World Mission Sunday
 Oct 30 – Priesthood Sunday
November
Bury the Dead/ Pray
for the Living and the
Dead
 Nov 1 – All Saints Day (Holy
Day of Obligation)
 Nov 2 –All Souls Day
 Nov 8- Election Day
 Nov 11 – Veterans Day
 Nov 13 – Closing of the Holy
Doors in the Diocese of Stockton
 Nov 20 – End of the Jubilee Year
Suggested Activities
 Show appreciation to all who
work to bring mercy and care to
others (social workers, medical
personnel, teachers, etc.)
 Learn about the struggles of
workers for just wages and safe
working conditions
 Consider the ways in which you
can help in the family and
parish community to pass on the
faith to others
 Recognize the catechists and
religion teachers who form our
young people in the faith
 Pray for all who are making life
and death decisions
 Make strides to reduce your
environmental impact
 Pray the Rosary with your
family
 Support the Missionaries who
bring the Gospel to the world,
through preaching and service
 Learn about Restorative Justice
 Pray for vocations to the
Priesthood
 Take a grieving person to lunch
and be a good listener
 Visit a cemetery and pray for
those who have died
 If you have the right to vote,
vote
Our Plan