Presided by Bishop Paul S. Loverde, the next Prayer Service will be Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Saint Mary of Sorrows, 5222 Sideburn Road, in Fairfax.

The 2015 Catholic Charities Ball, “Growing In His Love,” will be held Feb. 13, 2015 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, in Tysons Corner.

The 12th annual “Live Jesus”, a Lenten morning of reflection, fellowship and prayer hosted by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales will be held on Saturday, March 21, 2015, at St. John Neumann Catholic Community in Reston, Virginia.

Sign up to donate Jan. 31-Feb. 1. Or for your convenience, you can sign up online: www.inovabloodsaves.org.

You are invited to celebrate with Bishop Loverde the consecrated men and women who serve the Diocese of Arlington.

The Arlington Catholic Herald is the official newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington and has a weekly circulation of over 61,000. The Arlington Catholic Herald is distributed locally, nationally and internationally. The paper received six awards from the Catholic Press Association in 2005. For more information, visit http://www.catholicherald.com/.

This month Bishop Loverde will send a mailing regarding the 2015 Bishop’s Lenten Appeal (BLA). The theme for the 2015 BLA is “Stewards of Christ Sharing Gospel Joy!”

The Dominican Retreat will be hosting a men's retreat on Jan 16-18 in McLean, VA. The weekend is focused on the Dag Hammarskjold quote, “For all that has been – Thanks! For all that will be – Yes!” It will be a time of personal prayer and reflection through daily mass, lectures, discussion groups and adoration just to name a few. This is the final men's retreat as the center will be closing its doors next December. There are only 13 openings left so don't wait! For details and reservations, visit http://dominicanretreat.org/events/retreat-for-men/ or call Matt Fisher at 571-330-6575 for questio

The Arlington Diocesan Peace & Justice Commission will be holding a conference on Saturday, Jan. 10 entitled “A Catholic Perspective on Issues before the Virginia General Assembly 2015,” from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon at Holy Family Parish’s Father Griffin Hall, 14160 Ferndale Road, Dale City. There will be presentations by Rev. Gerry Creedon, Chair of the Peace and Justice Commission; Jeff Caruso, Executive Director for the Virginia Catholic Conference; and Amanda Jay and Michael Lewis, both Associate Directors for the Virginia Catholic Conference.

Let's all make a New Year's Resolution to work in solidarity with all peoples of the earth. An easy way to start is to purchase Fair Trade items whenever possible. Many stores have signs explaining their use of Fair Trade ingredients and offering Fair Trade goods for purchase. Fair Trade coffee, tea, hot cocoa and chocolate bars will be on sale in the church commons this weekend after all the Masses