September's Season of Creation ends on the Memorial of Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4). Meanwhile we launch Rosary Month. It's also National Fair Trade Month—but don't wait for October to shop responsibly and be mindful of your suppliers.

When have you felt that God in Jesus has most identified with your sufferings?

The first human words recorded in the Bible occur at the creation of the woman. The man had nothing to say about his own creation, perhaps subdued at the idea of conversation with the Creator. And then woman arrives on the scene, and the man, who has made no utterances apart from the day-in, day-out grind of inventing names for the animals, suddenly becomes positively poetic: “This one, at last, is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh!”

Studies show that the name given a child at birth can play a significant role later in life. Many nationalities and ethnic groups have different naming customs and or traditions. 

I find Jesus’ pronouncement that the kingdom of God belongs to children both reassuring and frightening. It’s reassuring to think that less-than-perfect people, like you and me, will inherit heaven, those of us who are both adorable and infuriating, who whine, complain, dawdle, disobey, sass, and deceive, and who cuddle, cajole, trust, tease, laugh, love, console, and forgive over and over again.

We express gratitude and ask forgiveness from the one for whom and through whom all things exist.

The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.