During the veneration, a priest or deacon holds a wooden crucifix while the faithful process to him at the foot of the sanctuary, as if to receive communion. There each person reverences the crucifix with a kiss or a bow.
Hundreds of faithful will take part in the annual Good Friday Faith Walk on April 14. The outdoor devotion will begin at various points across Anchorage with groups walking and praying the 14 Stations of the Cross. As they wind through city streets, the participants will meditate on the steps Jesus Christ took through his Passion and death on the very first Good Friday.
Under the guise of compassion, a physician assisted suicide bill (House Bill 54) has been filed by Representative Harriet Drummond in the Alaska Legislature. This so-called “Right to Die” bill is nothing less than state sponsored homicide. Homicide is the killing of one human being by another.
Due to the lack of a quorum, the Alaska Senate Health & Social Services Committee was forced to push the public testimony hearing on Senate Bill 72 to Wednesday, April 12.
The proposed law aims to establish “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression” to the list of protected legal classes in Alaska. It was set for public testimony on April 10 and many groups and individuals had prepared to weigh in on both sides.
Anchorage Archbishop Paul Etienne has a very active blog. This week he is sharing his Holy Week reflections and homilies as the Catholic Church begins the high holy days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter vigil Mass on Saturday night.
Palm Sunday is April 9, the last Sunday in Lent. This day marks the beginning of Holy Week and a time when Catholics commemorate the triumphant arrival of Christ into Jerusalem, just days before his crucifixion.
The grittiness of Catholicism, in which Lent began with priests etching black ashen crosses on the foreheads of a billion or so men, women and children, will culminate in the holiest week and the grandest liturgy of the year — the Easter Vigil Mass.
To fear the pain and unknowns of death is a normal human emotion, but faithful Christians can find solace in the hope of resurrection. The solemnity of Lent and celebration of Easter serve as a reminder of the promise of eternal life.
A second public hearing has been set for April 6 at 3 p.m. on a bill to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide in Alaska, while making taxpayers fund the deaths. The first round of public comment on March 28 was filled with emotional testimony from both sides. Sponsored by Anchorage Democrat Rep. Harriet Drummond, House Bill 54…
On March 9 Alaskans have a chance to weigh in on a bill that aims to force health care insurers in Alaska to provide coverage for the contraceptive pill, so-called “emergency contraception” and IUDs — all of which can cause early abortions of living human embryos.