And our use of the world’s resources also reflects our relationship to others: when most of the commercial chocolate available is produced by slave labor, often by exploited children, do I have a responsibility to drive across town and buy the cocoa which is in my cupboard now? The one that’s labeled “Equal Exchange, Fairly Traded, Small Farmer Grown” and is much more costly than the kind at the grocery store?
Defiant Requiem tells the story of the performance of Verdi’s funeral Mass by 150 prisoners at Terezin, also known as Theresienstadt, a camp in Czechoslovakia where Jewish artists and intellectuals were imprisoned. Dr. Grant Cochran, conductor of the Anchorage Concert Chorus, said the compelling story is what led his group to endeavor to bring the performance to Anchorage’s Performing Arts Center.
No one knew the late Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus Francis Hurley like the person who served as his secretary for 53 years. In White’s words, he was a dynamic priest “who got his work done with a flourish,” but it was also true that he was a visionary not always hung up on details. White kept a sharp eye on those details. In her gentle but firm voice, she dealt with every phone caller and every visitor. Friends describe her as the picture of discretion. “I learned so much from him about seeing good in people — about quiet, charitable giving,” White said. “He did so much of this: helping to pay families for children’s college tuition or mortgages during bad times, gas and electric payments that were overdue, food.”
The other day I attended an open house at a local Islamic Center in my Midwestern city. The center is a modest building, with a crescent moon ornament adorning its roof, in a middle-to-lower-middle class part of town.
I had just returned from a meeting of Ignatian Associates, a faith-based group centered on prayer and apostolic activity. When I arrived at the meeting, I noticed the table was piled with loaves of bread, oatmeal bread, French bread, baguettes, none of them wrapped. They looked like someone had just dumped them.
The Catholic Hispanic population is one of Alaska’s fastest growing segments, and the recent arrival of two new priests has boosted outreach to this diverse group within the Anchorage Archdiocese with an eye to eventually serving pockets of Hispanic Catholics throughout the archdiocese.
The incoming priests are members of the Congregation of the Mission, popularly known as Vincentians. “This assignment is an international mission given us by our superior general in Rome,” Father Bellisario told the Catholic Anchor. The international aspect means priests can be called from various countries to help serve in Alaska.
The annual St. Francis of Assisi Awards honor Alaskans from across the Anchorage Archdiocese who embody lives of service in the spirit of the much beloved Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order. This year, eight individuals or groups were honored for their selfless dedication during the awards banquet at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Anchorage.
On a beautiful October Sunday, Omaha held its first “Feeding the 5,000” event at the landing down by the Missouri River. Although the title is a reference to Jesus feeding the crowd, the event’s sponsors are not linked to a religious group. Still, I think Pope Francis, who said wasting food is like stealing from the table of the poor, would enthusiastically approve.
When my husband came back from a morning jog, he drank coffee on the patio as usual. Glancing into the large planters where his tomato plants still bore ripe red fruit, he made an eye-opening discovery.
The upcoming museum event will be held Oct. 29 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center. It will feature short oral history vignettes presented by people who lived through some of the archdiocese’s early days. Tales of what is was like to settle Anchorage, build churches and follow vocations to the priesthood will all be part of the evening’s stories. In addition to personal memories, a more formal history will be presented in a photo montage and commentary about the archdiocese’s history.