The crisis in Ukraine, provoked by what is almost universally decried as an unjust assault by Russia on a sovereign neighbor, has captured the attention of people across the world. It’s led to renewed discussions within the Catholic Church about the Christian attitude toward war, the just war theory, and the frightening dangers of escalation….
By Effie Caldarola Imagine you’ve been assigned to minister as the only priest in one of the world’s most remote spots. There’s no road system, and the only way to serve thenearly thirty villages in what is called, unofficially, the largest parish on earth, is to fly a single-engine plane over rugged terrain to a…
The poet Mary Oliver wrote this: “It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world.” Consider all she packs into that statement. It’s great to be alive, but it’s serious. The morning is fresh, perhaps glorious, but the world is broken. What will I do with this…
Have you ever been invited to Bill Gates’ house? Neither have I, so I was intrigued by a 2018 article in Business Insider, which gave a glimpse into his digs. The place was valued at $127 million back then. It boasted a 2500 square foot exercise facility, including a trampoline room with 20-foot ceilings, a…
By Effie CaldarolaThe North Star Catholic The Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau will welcome its newest priest when 33-year-old Madison Hayes is ordained at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe on August 6. Although Hayes has family ties to Alaska, he didn’t grow up in the state. Originally from Merced, California, he spent 16 years as…
In 2001, Robert Putnam published Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. The book did well, maybe in part because of that catchy title, and a new edition is out now. Its point wasn’t the collapse of bowling leagues, however. Instead, it was a broad look at how membership in community groups was…
A few days ago, on May 20, the Ignatian Year began. That date marked the 500th anniversary of a cannonball shattering the right knee of a young man named Inigo Lopez de Loyola. For all of you who, like me, have had knee transplants or surgery, that sentence makes you squirm. For the young man…
By Effie CaldarolaThe North Star Catholic Death, especially a sudden death, can demand decisions that come at a most difficult time. Not everyone has made plans. For the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau, there are resources that can help. The approach of Memorial Day at the end of May is an opportunity to explore avenues available. “We…
Forest Lawn Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska, sits on 100 acres near the Missouri River, where the dry, monotonous flat terrain of Nebraska begins to give way to the greener hills of Iowa. Established in 1885, the cemetery is a resting place for many prominent Nebraskans. But it’s also the burial site, in pauper’s field, of…
A friend in our group asked if we thought Mary, Jesus’s mother, had been present at the Last Supper. There’s much we don’t know about the Last Supper. We know that many women, including Mary, had followed Jesus into Jerusalem because Scripture records their presence at the Crucifixion. And let’s face it, someone had to…