The concelebrants were vested in red — the color worn when celebrating the sacrifice of those martyred. It was a visible reminder to those gathered of the ultimate price of faith.
“My friends, it has been my sincere pleasure and privilege to serve her in Anchorage as your chief pastor and shepherd,” he said. “Let us continue to pray for each other, and above all, to pray, discern and listen for the Spirit of Truth who will guide us to all truth. Let us continue to seek and beg for the grace to live the truth in love.”
Monks and nuns with Eagle Eye Ministries will conduct an Alaskan Summer Institute from July 11-21, beginning with a four-day hike along the famed Crow Pass Trail.
The priesthood of the ordained was especially highlighted in the liturgy, where dozens of priests and deacons throughout the 138,000-square-mile archdiocese gathered to renew their vows and commit themselves to the service of the Gospel.
Archbishop Paul Etienne highlighted the tension between who people thought the Messiah would be and how he actually accomplished God’s plan — it is a tension that persists today.
On March 10 more than 70 Alaskans seeking full communion with the Catholic Church gathered for the call to continuing conversion and the rite of election
Lent is a time when Catholics typically take stock of what is in need of repentance in their lives, and in the broader life of the Church. “We have much to do repentance for,” Anchorage Archbishop Paul Etienne said
The newly completed rectory is designed to house the Dominican priests, brothers and seminarians who come to serve the people of Alaska.
Thanks to some forward thinking by Saint Francis of Assisi in the 13th century, several lay Catholic Alaskans are now official members of the Franciscan Order.
“I meet people where they are, physically and time-wise,” Deacon Winters said. People have someone to call when they are at the clinic, or in jail, he added. “We minister to those who are bereaved, or just want to talk.”