Consider this: The 4th Sunday of Advent. Bishop Richard J. Malone asks that we take time to reflect on the wonder of the gift of the incarnation. God so loved the world he gave His only begotten Son.

Christmas is creeping up fast. Your "to do" list seems to be getting longer instead of shorter. We all know the true meaning of Christmas is not the cookies, the shopping, the wrapping and the meal planning. So in the spirit of holiday list making, I took the liberty of making one.

Consider this: Bishop Richard J. Malone suggests we invite those around us who have fallen away from the Church back during the Advent season.

Bishop Richard J. Malone has teamed up with the local Episcopal Bishop R. William Franklin to ask Western New York to include women and minorities in the growth of Buffalo.

Monday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day of obligation that celebrates Mary, Mother of Jesus, as being uniquely conceived without original sin.

The tradition of celebrating the diocesan Family Mass the Second Sunday of Advent continued on Dec. 7, when Bishop Richard J. Malone presided at St. Gabriel Church in Elma. Until 2013, the Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo, but is now celebrated in parishes.

Consider the Second Sunday in Advent ... Bishop Richard J. Malone mentions how Pope Francis opened the year of Consecrated Life and thanks religious for their service.

As I write, I am at the airport in Rome awaiting my flight home through Philadelphia to snowbound Buffalo. I followed news of the storm on CNN at the Pontifical North American College, our U.S. seminary in Rome, where I stayed during the meeting.

Bishop Richard J. Malone represented Buffalo and the United States at the Vatican in November, as he was asked to be a part of the International Colloquium: The Complementarity of Man and Woman to reaffirm the Catholic Church's position on marriage. Attending the colloquium was an important affirmation of Bishop Malone's work as chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth.

Bishop Richard J. Malone was present at the Vatican on Nov. 17, when Pope Francis announced he will attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia next September. Bishop Malone is in Rome, participating in the International Colloquium: The Complementarity of Man and Woman, through Nov. 19.

BALTIMORE—Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, invited the U.S. bishops to a 2015 Lay Ecclesial Ministry Summit. He made the invitation during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Fall General Assembly, November 11, in Baltimore. The gathering will take place June 7, 2015, to mark the tenth anniversary of the bishops' statement "Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord" (2005), just prior to the USCCB Spring General Assembly in St. Louis.

During the 2014 General Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the results of a 3 1/2 - year-study on what concerned Catholics were presented. The survey, which showed that Catholics want to know the "whys" of their faith and worry about the church walking a fine line between politics and advocacy, included responses from lay leaders, parish priests, and "engaged parishioners."

Do you ever wonder why we should pray? Bishop Richard Malone asks that we consider prayer as desire.

Bishop Richard J. Malone and three archbishops from the United States have been invited to participate in the International Colloquium: The Complementarity of Man and Woman, which will be held at the Vatican, Nov. 17-19. Bishop Malone is chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth.

In this "Consider this ... with Bishop Richard Malone," the topic is about the Synod of Bishops on family and Pope Francis' prayer and the family.

This year, the Bishop's Committee for Christian Home & Family will celebrate 75 years of helping parents raise Christian children. The program, which has evolved over the past three quarters of a decade, assists parents in the religious and moral training of their pre-school children by offering free educational materials to baptized children.

In December 2014, the Diocese of Buffalo will launch the Catholics Come Home campaign. In the first six years, Catholics Come Home messages were aired as TV commercials in 37 dioceses, and nationally, reaching 200 million viewers, and helping lead hundreds of thousands home to the Catholic Church.

Bishop Richard Malone visited the Holy Land with other United States bishops in September. He shares some of his experiences in "Consider This."

When I was bishop of the Diocese of Portland, we had the custom of hosting an annual social for our governor, state legislators and others in political life. It was an opportunity to thank men and women in elected office for their service to the people of Maine. It was also a moment for me to share reflections on various dimensions of Catholic teaching concerning issues of public policy current at the time.

The recent Extraordinary Synod of Bishops garnered the attention of the media, but for the wrong reasons. The Catholic Church will not be discussing same-sex marriages as some reports have stated, and the topic of people who have divorced and remarried receiving Holy Communion needs more discernment.

Bishop Richard Malone tells a story about a science student's discovery under a microscope in a new "Consider This."

Bishop Richard Malone explains Church teaching on marriage as the union between a man and a woman in a new "Consider This." United States Bishops are gravely disappointed in Supreme Court case ruling on marriage.

Bishop Richard J. Malone is joined by his dog Timon as he offers inspiration for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Bishop Malone will bless pets at his home on Oakland Place in Buffalo on Oct. 4 at 10 a.m.

As most of you know, I returned recently from a Bishops' Prayer Pilgrimage for Peace in the Holy Land. You can read more about that experience online. It was an intense experience that will take me some time to process, both in my mind and in my heart.

Bishop Richard Malone talks about St. Vincent de Paul in "Consider This" ...

Pope Francis gives us words of wisdom nearly every day. Bishop Richard Malone shares some of these words in "Consider This" ...

JERUSALEM—A delegation of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, led by Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, visited the Gaza Strip, September 14. The bishops celebrated Mass with the local Christian community, talked to residents and surveyed the destruction of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas militants. They also met the staff of Catholic Relief Services, the bishops' international relief agency, who have been working to provide disaster relief to those impacted by the violence.

Bishop Richard J. Malone and Catholic Bishops from the United States traveled to the Holy Land for the Prayer Pilgrimage for Peace.

Bishop Richard J. Malone is one of 18 United States bishops traveling through the Holy Land over the next week and a half. Follow their journey through a series of social media platforms, combined here for easy reading.

The title of this column is borrowed from a fine book on monastic culture and spirituality by Father Jean Leclerq, OSB. While monasticism is a blessed vocation within our Church, it is not, however, my topic this month. The love of learning and the desire for God is.

Bishop Richard J. Malone delivered a keynote address to respect life coordinators that clarified Pope Francis' position on life issues. He also stated his views in no uncertain terms. "I believe that the primal evil in our time is the assault on unborn life," the bishop said during a Sept. 6 inservice held at the Catholic Center in downtown Buffalo.

This month, Bishop Richard J. Malone will be among a group of American bishops embarking on a trip to the Holy Land in hope of encouraging domestic prayer for a land of political unrest. From Sept. 11 until Sept. 19, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has organized the Bishops' Prayer Pilgrimage for Peace in the Holy Land, during which they will pray for an end to conflict.

Bishop Richard J. Malone will be among 18 Catholic bishops from the United States taking part in the Bishops' Prayer Pilgrimage for Peace in the Holy Land, scheduled for Sept. 10-19. Bishop Malone will deliver a prayer at Jacob's Well in Ramallah on Sept. 14, and lead a Muslim-Christian Prayer for Peace with students at Bethlehem University on Sept. 18.

Young students of SS. Peter & Paul School in Williamsville had a surprise as they got off the bus for the first day of class, Sept. 3. Bishop Richard J. Malone welcomed each of them and promised them an exciting year ahead.

Bishop Richard J. Malone says students returning to school to learn is a good time for all of us to study about our faith.

Ever wonder about the purpose of saints, or why a church may have statues of figures other than Jesus and/or Mary? Bishop Richard J. Malone answers these questions in a new episode of his online show, "Consider This."

For several years, I have been following the research of Christian Smith, currently a professor and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at Notre Dame University. Smith and his colleagues began in 2001 the National Study of Youth and Religion, the most comprehensive national study ever conducted about American teens' religious and spiritual lives.

Catholic Charities ran a strong finish in the final lap of the 2014 annual appeal, exceeding its goal of $10.8 million with a total of $11 million at the close of its fiscal year Monday.

An early Mass at St. Rose of Lima Parish in North Buffalo celebrated two important tenets of the American Catholic faith, as Bishop Richard J. Malone observed the Fortnight for Freedom and Rosary Novena for Life Saturday morning.

Bishop Richard J. Malone calls St. John the Baptist "the great evangelizer." Find out why in a new episode of the weekly "Consider This" YouTube show.