One letter this month address how abortion support among some Catholics wounds the wider church. Another letter relates the inspiration one deacon received upon reading about how Deacon Curt Luenberger faced an illness that brought him to the brink of death.
Editor’s note: The following is Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz’s Dec. 15 homily given at the ordination of Bishop Chad Zielinski as the head of the Fairbanks Diocese.
Bishop-elect Chad Zielinski will become the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks on Dec. 15. Eight Archbishops and bishops will participate in the ordination Mass scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. The Mass, celebrated by Anchorage Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz, will both ordain Bishop-elect Zielinski as a bishop and install him as the head of the Fairbanks diocese. More than one thousand people are expected to attend.
Simbang Gabi is a series of special Masses leading up to Christmas. The celebration of the nine-day novena of Masses is one of the longest-running and most popular Catholic Filipino religious traditions. At the Masses, the faithful especially focus on the Blessed Virgin Mary in the preparation for the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ. In Anchorage, Simbang Gabi Masses will take place as scheduled:
Here are several holiday events planned in the Anchorage Archdiocese, including the Christmas Eve Mass with Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz at the Brother Francis Shelter for homeless Anchorage residents.
Catholic Social Services in Anchorage is calling for volunteers to help carry out its holiday outreach effort. In particular the agency is looking for participants in its Helping Holidays program which benefits those being served by Refugee Assistance & Immigration Services, Family Disability Services, and Homeless Family Services. Volunteers who assist with these outreaches have the opportunity to help others in a “personalized way for our community” by giving “to a family that could use some help this holiday season,” the agency noted in a recent statement.
The BBC reality tv program is aimed at children and young teens. Each episode takes a couple of ordinary British students, perhaps bright kids who are underachievers and a bit precocious. They show up at a school with high standards of discipline. Over the course of the week, the goal is to have them experience the affirmative values of a school that runs a tighter ship than they’re used to.
In the newly released Alaska show, the two girls arrive at Holy Rosary Academy in Anchorage with plenty of makeup, fingernail polish, teased hair, and some fairly showy winter garb.
Editor’s Note: Below is a description of some of the upcoming Advent and Christmas events planned in the Anchorage Archdiocese. Stay tuned for more in the coming days.
The 27th annual collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious will be taken up Dec. 6-7 in the Anchorage Archdiocese. The parish-based appeal is coordinated by the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) in Washington, D.C., and offers financial support for the day-to-day care of more than 35,000 senior Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests. The Anchorage Archdiocese contributed $69,899 to this collection in 2013.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, Anchorage children will gather at St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church with hopes of spotting Saint Nicholas, the third century bishop of Myra and the inspiration behind much of the Christmas gift-giving tradition.