JANUARY: This year, we make space on our calendar for special feasts of Central and South America and the Caribbean observed by Catholic immigrants in this country. This segment contains three: the Black Christ of Esquipulas, Guatemala (15); Our Lady of Altagracia, protectress of the Dominican Republic (21); and Our Lady of Suyapa, patroness of Honduras (Feb. 3). These images may already be familiar, even if you didn’t know their names. These celebrations join three U.S. saints’ days this month: Elizabeth Seton (4), John Neumann (5), and Marianne Cope (23).

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18-25) is an opportunity to ponder the Decree on Ecumenism from Vatican II. How is your diocese or parish participating in this healing effort? A Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn (22), World Holocaust Remembrance Day (27), and National Day of Prayer for the African American Family (Feb. 2) are all occasions to reflect on the safety of the vulnerable in our midst.

The Sunday of the Word of God (24), a relatively new designation instituted by Pope Francis in Aperuit Illis (“He opened”) celebrates how Word is also a sacrament of divine presence for believers. Catholic Schools Week (begins 31) and World Day for Consecrated Life (Feb. 2) both remind us of the richness of the church, now and in the future.

You may download TAKE FIVE FOR FAITH in the following file formats:

PLEASE NOTE: To offer parish bulletin editors and web editors more flexibility, TAKE FIVE FOR FAITH weekly inserts do not include artwork. If you are looking for artwork, we encourage you to search under Google Images online. (Hint: Select the tools link in Google Images to search for art labeled for reuse.)

• PDF: Paste into word-processing program as art or print as one-page handout. See details below for placing PDFs in WORD or PUBLISHER or converting PDFs to black and white. 
• RTF: Open in word-processing program and adapt/reformat as you wish.

To VIEW a file: 

1. Click the desired PDF or RTF file link. 
2. The file will automatically download into and be visible in your web browser OR you will be prompted to download the file.

To DOWNLOAD a file:

1. Right-click the desired PDF or RTF link (or simply click the link, depending on the browser you are using). 
2. Select "Save Target As..." or "Save Link Target As..."
3. Indicate where to save the file on your computer and file will download.
4. Open PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Reader or RTF file in a word-processing program.

Note if you are working in a program that doesn't allow for PDF files to be inserted as images (such as WORD or PUBLISHER):

1. Open the PDF in Acrobat.
2. Choose "File" and then "Export to."
3. Select "Image" and then "jpeg."
4. Name and save.
5. Go into your layout program (Publisher/Word), choose Insert/Pictures, and insert the jpeg of the Take Five.
6. To convert to black-and-white, go to the image control: color section and select the drop down menu that says automatic and change it to grayscale. Then hit ok.

To CONVERT a color PDF to BLACK-and-WHITE in INDESIGN:

Save the final file as a grayscale pdf. To do so:

1. Open the document and select Print to pdf format.
2. When the print menu appears, select output and change the color to composite gray. The pdf file saved will be in black and white rather than color. 

* Many other desktop publishing programs have similar steps as those mentioned above to convert color graphics to grayscale.