Their students may have had the day off, but for the 900 Catholic school teachers in the Diocese of Buffalo, Friday was a day of convocation at Cardinal O'Hara High school. It was a day focused on professional development and served as an opportunity to refocus on the mission of Catholic Schools.

"Moved by Mercy" has been a consistent theme of Pope Francis and one that has particular urgency today. This year's theme for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Respect Life Program fills us with encouragement and hope and calls us to love, defend and celebrate all human life. It calls us to joyfully follow the example of Christ, to love without limits, and further, to act on that sense of true Christian charity.

Bishop Richard J. Malone will be the main celebrant at the Respect Life Mass on Sunday morning. Following the Mass, there will be a blessing of families, babies and expectant mothers.

"I have personally seen the difference that committed Catholic lawyers can make in confronting big societal challenges," said Bishop Richard J. Malone to dozens of judges and lawyers gathered Wednesday at the annual Red Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral.

Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of Buffalo, is calling all creatures great and small to his front lawn on Saturday morning for a blessing of animals. The blessing will take place at 77 Oakland Place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 1, to mark the upcoming Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

In solidarity with students returning to school, Bishop Richard Malone suggests some homework for adults in "Consider This: Back to School."

A new marble based, bronze statue of founder St. John Baptist de La Salle now stands in front of St Joseph's Collegiate Institute on Kenmore Avenue.

For a few weeks now, the "back to school" ads have been signaling the waning of summertime (for which I, a cold weather aficionado, am very grateful this year - apologies to you heat lovers out there!)

What does Mercy look like through the eyes of another person? Bishop Richard J. Malone helps us to answer this question in this week's "Consider This."

Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of Buffalo, will be the principal celebrant and homilist at the annual Red Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral, 50 Franklin St., Buffalo, on Wednesday, Sept. 28, at 12:05 p.m. Hon. Lawrence J. Vilardo, United States district judge, will give remarks at the close of the Mass on behalf of the judiciary.

Two USCCB committee chairmen have issued a joint statement reaffirming the Catholic Church's teaching on marriage "as exclusively the permanent, faithful, and fruitful union of one man and one woman [and] cannot change."

On Saturday, Sept. 17, Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, will ordain five men to the holy order of deacon. One gentleman will be a permanent deacon and the other four will continue their studies for the priesthood. This special Mass will be held at 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Cathedral, 50 Franklin St., Buffalo.

The Bishop's Committee for Christian Home and Family Visitors Program will have its Annual Meeting and Luncheon with Bishop Richard Malone on Thursday, October 6, at 9:30 a.m., at St. Philip the Apostle Parish, 950 Losson Road in Cheektowaga.

"It simply will be cheaper to kill than to treat," said Dennis Vacco as he made a case against physician assisted suicide. The former New York State Attorney General was one of the featured speakers at a forum hosted by the Public Policy Committee of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

They are years away from being eligible to vote, but on their first day of the school year, eighth graders at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament School in Depew got a lesson on Faithful Citizenship.

Bishop Richard J. Malone celebrated an outdoor Mass for the volunteers of Buffalo's Little Portion Friary on Saturday, Aug. 13. Over three dozen of the homeless shelter's volunteer staff attended the annual Mass and picnic with the bishop.

Soon to be saint, Blessed Mother Teresa lived her life caring for the sick, poor, helpless and homeless. This week's "Consider This: Shelter the Homeless," Bishop Richard Malone includes some of her thoughts on this Corporal Work of Mercy

After a few years of planning and one year of construction, the Mother Teresa Home has officially opened on Buffalo's East Side. Hundreds gathered on Thursday afternoon for a dedication Mass at St. Adalbert Church and then watched on a live video stream as Bishop Richard J. Malone blessed the tiny chapel in the Mother Teresa Home next door.

The thrill of World Youth Day needs to continue in our parishes. Bishop Richard J. Malone encourages parishes to continue the spiritual journey in this week's "Consider This."

"What a special day this is for Our Lady of Victory and for all of us." said Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of Buffalo, as he prepared to anoint the new altar at Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna on Sunday afternoon.

What does mercy look like? Bishop Richard J. Malone tells us in this week's "Consider This: Look Beyond Yourself."

Saints... you can sense their influence, in a mysterious way even their presence, everywhere in Kraków. St. John Paul II and St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, of course, are prominent. Then there is the cell at Auschwitz that memorializes St. Maximilian Kolbe, who gave his life so that another prisoner could live. Today I offered catechesis and celebrated Eucharist with hundreds of pilgrims from Ireland in a parish church dedicated to the great St. Casimir.

Throughout the long history of our diocese, we have been served by hundreds and hundreds of dedicated priests. Today, there are 128 retired diocesan priests incurring the cost of living either on their own or the cost of living in one of our diocesan retirement homes.

Bishop Richard Malone talks about the first Bishop of Buffalo, Bishop John Timon and shares some interesting and funny anecdotes about his life in "Consider This."

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops offers some thoughts on Faithful Witness to Marriage

ZAKOPANE, POLAND - Bishop Richard J. Malone once again met up with diocesan pilgrims who flew to Poland for World Youth Day. Although much of the bishop's time in Poland was spent at catechesis sessions for other dioceses, he managed to meet up with pilgrims from Buffalo on several occasions.

Bishop Richard J. Malone reminds us that Pope Francis encourages us to be Missionary Disciples and to make mercy the theme of our life in "Consider This: Good News Every Day."

WASHINGTON - More than 40,000 Americans are registered to attend World Youth Day (WYD), July 26-31, in Krakow, Poland. To assist this record breaking number of participants from the United States, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth has lined up a series of resources and a variety of digital platforms to engage youth and young adults at home and abroad.

Pope Francis encourages says us to open our eyes to the world without cynicism and indifference. The world will not change until we show compassion and mercy to everyone we meet. Bishop Richard Malone explains in "Consider This."

It was American Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr who famously declared that the Christian teaching on original sin is "the only empirically verifiable doctrine of the Christian faith."

The 2016 Appeal for Catholic Charities of Buffalo ended on a high note this evening as Bishop Richard J. Malone took to the stage at Kleinhans Music Hall immediately prior to the Forte Tenors concert to announce this year's campaign surpassed its $11 million goal, with cash and pledges received totaling $11,108,356.45.

Recently, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, offered the following challenge: "But nowadays who is making an effort to strengthen marriages, to help married couples overcome their problems, to assist them in the work of raising children and, in general, to encourage the stability of the marriage bond?"

Bishop Richard J. Malone is the first to admit that he wears two hats for the Church. He is not only the "chief shepherd", but also the CEO of a corporation that is the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

Pope Francis has given to the Church four major teaching documents - two encyclical letters and two apostolic exhortations. In each of these documents, the pope invites us to deeper, stronger, and more authentic ways of living our faith as friends and followers of Jesus Christ sent on mission to bring the Gospel to the world.

Bishop Richard Malone reminisces about his Dad and the important role fathers have in the family in this week's "Consider This."

Bishop Richard J. Malone and 200 pilgrims from the Diocese of Buffalo will travel to Krakow next month to be with Pope Francis. Bishop Malone shares his enthusiasm for the trip and the World Youth Day prayer in "Consider This."

It was a typical November day, perhaps overcast with a chill in the air. And like so many other mornings when I arrive to St. Amelia Parish in Tonawanda, I opened my email and checked my messages.

Bishop Richard J. Malone addresses the Obama administration's instruction to schools that allow students to use a restroom consistent with whatever gender identity they choose. The bishop shares Pope Francis' message of "...young people accepting their body as it was created" in this latest episode of "Consider This."

With about four weeks remaining before the close of the 2016 Appeal in support of Catholic Charities of Buffalo, the annual campaign has raised $10,550,794.76 in cash and pledges, representing almost 96 percent of its $11 million goal.

The sixth Corporal Work of Mercy is Bury the Dead. Bishop Richard J. Malone explains the three Catholic funeral rites in "Consider This."