By Dominique JohnsonThe North Star Catholic Since 2017, when he arrived in Anchorage, Father Shijo Kanjirathamkunnel, C.M has overseen the Hispanic ministry outreach in Alaska, serving the former Archdiocese of Anchorage, the former Diocese of Juneau and the Diocese of Fairbanks. The vision for the outreach ministry was to serve the growing Hispanic Catholic population…
By Annette AllevaThe North Star Catholic The sacrament of marriage is highly esteemed in the Catholic Church. It is the foundation upon which families are built and individuals are nurtured to reach their potential. As such, it is both necessary and wise for the Church to instruct, guide, and support married persons in their journey,…
By Renamary RauchensteinThe North Star Catholic St. Bernard of Menthon Parish is in Talkeetna, on the parks highway north of Anchorage and Wasilla. The parish consists of St. Bernard in Talkeetna and its mission church, St. Philip, in Trapper Creek. St. Bernard was built in 1969. Our congregation has about 25 families in each church,…
By Don Koenigsand Father Steve GallagherThe North Star Catholic Catherine of Siena Catholic Parish is located on Mitkof Island in the panhandle of Southeast Alaska in the community of Petersburg. The community was established in 1910 by Norwegian fishermen. In 1939 the Catholic Extension Society constructed the first church to serve approximately 50 Catholics. Mass…
Dear Fr. Leo,Do we worship on Sunday because that is the day that Our Lord rose from the dead? In rising from the dead, did he cancel the Old Testament practice of observing the Sabbath on Saturdays? Is that why we call it the Lord’s Day? – S Dear S,These are three good questions. I’ll…
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…
“The food is falling off the shelves.” You can imagine my delight and gratitude when our AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America), Katie Gordon, told me how crowded the shelves at St. Francis House Food Pantry were this week because we had so much food. The Catholic Social Services (CSS) staff have had to…
By Brian RossLumen Christi High School principal “The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.” This quote from Saint Gregory the Great adorns the main hallway at Lumen Christi Catholic High School in Anchorage, where reproductions of the “Virtue Series” by Giotto di Bondone surround Lumen students as they walk to and…
By Mary Beth BragielThe North Star Catholic What do you know about Divine Mercy? When you hear that expression, do you picture Jesus with red and white rays coming from His Heart? Do you think of the phrase, “Jesus, I trust in You”? Have you heard of it, but don’t really know what it is?…
By Annette AllevaThe North Star Catholic It has been a year since our churches, schools, and many businesses were shuttered, a year since a novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 shifted our lives, vocabularies, and ways of worshiping, learning, and socializing. It has been a year of challenges, adaptations, losses, hope and creativity. As the herculean…