Chris Vance is a towering Athabascan Native, devout Catholic and an honored Alaskan athlete. Joining Special Olympics at age eight, he has competed athletically for most of the organization’s modern history. Now 42, Vance was honored this summer by the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame for his role in helping to bring the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games to Anchorage.
Spencer drew from the blessings she found in being adopted as she mad the choice for her unborn child to have two stable parents and a future she could not have provided as an unwed teen.
Growing up, Daney remembers that Native heritage was an unspoken common denominator among his closest peers. They also shared a Christian faith, and the group’s desire to gather for Bible study somehow created a curiosity about drumming, which they would go on to explore.
The group exists to give Catholic women of the country a common voice and an instrument for unified action in matters affecting Catholic or national welfare; to ensure proper recognition of Catholic principles in national committees and national movements affecting the religious, moral and material well-being of the country. The group aims to support the work of existing Catholic women’s organizations in meeting the needs of modern culture.
Despite the dearth of light and heat many Alaskan Catholics see in winter a chance to volunteer more at their parish, pursue intellectual and spiritual works, host social gatherings and celebrate the many holy feast days that fall during this period. The rich liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas and Lent all fall within winter, as do many feast days for especially beloved saints. These are opportunities to light candles, prepare special meals at home and learn about the great saints and heroes of the faith.
Twenty-year-old Brendon Mezzetti is mastering the musical world at his fingertips and offering his growing talents to the liturgical service of the Catholic Church in Alaska. Mezzetti grew up performing in the Alaska Children’s’ Choir and local small theatrical venues. A Suzuki-trained pianist since age eight, his command at the keyboard was initially harnessed while participating in community theater as a pre-teen, where he was casually tasked with transcribing a 256-page score to accompany a stage production. He dove in, and has accumulated honors at every level.
Estill Turner previously felt the chapel was “boxy,” but now the eye flows upward and wraps the room cohesively. Stations of the Cross hang low enough to catch Kindergarteners’ interest with the drama of Christ’s Passion and a relic of Saint Pius X graces a corner shelf.
As a homeless man in Alaska, Jeff Lane lived at the mercy of four omnipresent factors — weather, the law, wild animals such as urban moose and bear, and attacks by teens looking to victimize the homeless. A hierarchy exists among the homeless, according to Lane, and any sense of loyalty to one another is underpinned by the crushing tyranny of alcoholic thirst: the next drink is king.
Teens clamor clearly for two things they feel elude them: true solitude and authentic friendship. Alaska Catholic Youth Conference attendees directly named digital devices as threatening their interior life and distorting their social connections. They perceive their peers as inauthentic and distracted in face-to-face exchanges, leaving little room for the vulnerability and generosity required to build emotional intimacy.
At first glance, to meet the Mahoney clan today is to encounter a winsome remnant of Mat-Su Valley history, with many still sporting fringed leather, western boots and quiet swagger. However, upon lingering in their company, it’s clear that the grit of this family’s bond is no bucolic theater. They are trappers, miners, steel workers, rodeo queens, storytellers, musicians, loggers, hunters, fishermen, bikers, painters, blacksmiths, woodworkers, builders and farmers. They all know how to cook. The Mahoneys’ Catholic faith is the bedrock which continues to shape their milestones, anchor their tragedies and propel them forward in unity.