By Annette AllevaThe North Star Catholic It has been a year since our churches, schools, and many businesses were shuttered, a year since a novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 shifted our lives, vocabularies, and ways of worshiping, learning, and socializing. It has been a year of challenges, adaptations, losses, hope and creativity. As the herculean…
By Father Pat TraversVicar General, Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau On the Feast of the Holy Family last December, Pope Francis asked Catholics throughout the world to celebrate a year of reflection on the family inspired by the teachings he offered five years ago in his 2016 Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia. The “Amoris Laetitia Family Year” will…
By Brian A. RossPrincipal, Lumen Christi Catholic High School Last August, despite the challenges of COVID-19, Lumen Christi Catholic High School opened its doors to in person learning for 92 students, the largest student body in the school’s proud 25-year history. From its humble beginnings in 1996 to today, Lumen Christi has become synonymous with…
By Joyce LundPrincipal, Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School Music has been a treasured ministry at OLV for the past ten years. Students have brought music to various venues capitalizing on the abundance of talent within the student body. With the current COVID mitigation plans restricting singing at the parishes, creative minds decided to…
By Dominique JohnsonThe North Star Catholic Born and raised in Sitka, Deacon Ron Mathews received the sacraments at St. Gregory Nazianzen Parish, where he now serves. However, his journey to the diaconate was not straightforward. “I really thought that I was more being allowed, by God, to be a deacon. I didn’t really think I’d…
By Father Michael Kim, KMSThe North Star Catholic Cordova is located on the shore of Orca Inlet in Prince William Sound and is the home of St. Joseph parish. The parish was established in the summer of 1908, and the first church was dedicated to St. Joseph that fall. The original church was built on…
By Father Leo WalshThe North Star Catholic In 1971, Archbishop Ryan recognized a need for a new parish to serve the Catholic faithful on the east side of Anchorage. Without a facility, parishioners of St. Anthony Church came together to form this new parish community. The fledgling community met for several years in the gym…
In the past thirty years, many of us have been exposed to Public Service Announcements (PSAs). Some of a certain age can remember PSAs from the 1960s and 1970s, especially related to campaigns against smoking, preventing forest fires and bringing awareness to care of the earth through littering prevention efforts. The message was to improve…
As the sun rises on spring and Alaskans begin to regain a sense of normalcy in a post-pandemic life, now is the time to check in with aging neighbors and friends. Catholic Community Service (CCS) has the great honor to perform corporal works of mercy on behalf of the Catholic Church in Southeast Alaska. Catholic…
Dear Fr. Leo: In the gospels, when Jesus called his apostles, they each just got up and followed him. What about the other responsibilities they had? Isn’t that abandonment? What about their other day to day life accountabilities? – S. Dear S:Yes, they did leave everything to follow him and yes, it is abandonment –…