CatholicAnchor.org Sundays, 11 a.m., Mass, AK Native Medical Center Sundays, 4 p.m., Dominican Rite Mass, Holy Family Mondays, 7 p.m., Seekers Group, JPII House, St. Patrick Thursdays, 11 a.m., Native Kateri Circle, St. Anthony April 3, Good Friday Faith Walk (times/locations on page 18) April 4, Easter Vigil Mass April 5, Easter Sunday April 19,…
CatholicAnchor.org April 1, 1:30 p.m., Reconciliation service, Cafeteria in Student Union Building at UAA April 2, 9 a.m., Good Friday Faith Walk Award to student, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School April 2, 7 p.m., Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Family Cathedral April 3, 10:30 a.m., Good Friday Faith Walk, beginning at Pastoral Center April…
In a few months I will return to Alaska. It is the bookend of another trip I took five and a half years ago when entering St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota to begin my formation as a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Anchorage. As this journey comes to an end it is natural to look back on this blessed time.
In the fall of 1965, Father Renner began a 15-year career teaching at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He taught mostly German, but also he started the university’s Latin program. Over the years, he traveled extensively across Alaska gathering material for a series of books, including “Alaskana Catholica,” an encyclopedic look at the history of Catholicism in the state.
“A very diverse yet tightly-knit spiritual family has grown up around the monastery,” explained Therese Syren, a parishioner of Holy Family Cathedral, whose family was instrumental in building the monastery 30 years ago. “Any given day one can find a half-dozen nationalities represented in the congregation at Holy Mass there,” she said. The deaths of the monastery’s two eldest nuns are great losses, but their congregation’s mission is unchanged, explained Father Lilly. “Their work will definitely continue,” he said.
Why does a 15-year old Lutheran girl decide to become Catholic? When Anchorage teen Jamie Nagel began to think about joining the Catholic Church, she and her mom talked. Her mom wanted her to at least be confirmed in their family’s faith, and asked her to go through Lutheran confirmation classes, which were held in junior high. “I went to all the classes. Then I sat down and talked to her,” Nagel said.