To achieve its goal, the parish launched “Super Sundays,” which strives to make youth faith formation enjoyable and lively, while drawing parents out of their cars in the parking lot and into classes of their own. Bob McMorrow, the parish’s director of evangelization and catechesis, said that he knows from his own large family that kids sometimes balk at going to religion class. Being a dad, he had a few ideas about how to change attitudes.
Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Anchorage are exploring ways to expand their classes beyond traditional full time students. The idea is to give students greater options in Catholic education by allowing students, often homeschoolers, to enroll on a part-time basis. Part-timers can pick certain classes without being enrolled at the school full-time. Tuition is pro-rated.
As I write this, today might be the anniversary of my brother’s death. We’re not sure what day he died. My family — two brothers, a cousin, my mom and I — had traveled to New York City to do a surprise intervention with my brother. He had become dependent on cocaine, and my mother had secured the help of a fairly pricey interventionist who was going to lead us in confronting Bill and getting him into rehab. Alas, we were too late.
The Little Sisters of Jesus, with a unique charism and a long history of service to Western Alaska, have left their longtime home in the Nome area. The religious order has been a quiet presence in remote places like Diomede, Nome and King Island’s fish camp at Woolley Lagoon since the 1950s. Today, Alaska’s nine remaining Little Sisters live in an Anchorage convent, most in the St. Anthony Church area.
Harper Lee was notorious for avoiding journalists, and now she, or her representatives, say she gave no authorization for the book. But clearly, Mills spent months fishing, feeding ducks and drinking coffee with the reclusive writer. As part of her arrangement, Mills agreed to avoid certain subjects, and consequently the book seems a little banal. She says Lee is the best conversationalist this side of the Mississippi, but she offers few good examples. The book’s best quote, an African proverb, came from a friend of Lee’s, and is actually the point of this column: “Every time an old man dies a library burns down.”
Long-time member Kerry Whitney said her experiences serving with the St. Vincent de Paul group have deepened her faith over the years. “They know we care about them, not their color, race, creed or financial situation — just them as they are,” Whitney added. “Most of them have already been turned away from all other agencies when they come to us for help. We are their last hope so to speak.”
Fall brings with it the sense that disorder is giving way to challenges and possibilities. I think autumn is a wonderful time to recommit to a prayer routine. If yours lapsed during the summer, or if you found yourself praying in the beauty of mountains and lakes, you are probably turning back to a more organized form of prayer now.
Alaskans have a new opportunity for adult faith formation via the internet as the state’s Catholic dioceses enter a partnership with The Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF) at the University of Dayton. Deacon Mick Fornelli has worked with the University of Dayton on the project, which offers adult religious education and faith formation online anytime and anywhere.
More than 400 Catholic school students have filled the hallways, classrooms and chapels of the five schools located in the Anchorage Archdiocese. With the start of the new academic year, educators are offering a variety of options to Alaskan parents seeking to provide their children a faith-based educational alternative to public schools.
But that further points to the fact that the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration must act together to provide solid, comprehensive immigration reform, and must present a unified face in deterring misunderstandings across our borders. It’s time to stop playing politics with this problem.