No pain is more pronounced than the sudden loss of a loved one. Faith in God is tested — sometimes shattered — when we receive the unbearable call that one of our own has been ripped from the world. The agony and disbelief is beyond comprehension, beyond reason. No explanation stands under the weight of losing a close one.
Matthew Beck has been hired to fill a new position with the Archdiocese of Anchorage as director of youth ministry. He will assume his new post Aug. 3. Beck holds a master’s degree in pastoral ministries from St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn. in addition to an undergraduate degree in secondary education from the University of Idaho.
Fifty years ago, Church Fathers at the Second Vatican Council restored the ancient office of the permanent diaconate and allowed married men to be ordained as permanent deacons in the Catholic Church. All these years later, deacons are now an integral part of modern parish life, serving as lifelines for many busy priests who sometimes struggle to meet the diverse needs of their parishes. Deacons can be married or single. Most — 98 percent — have spouses. These wives play a special and critical role in this rapidly growing ministry.
Here is a list of community events from around the Anchorage Archdiocese in the month of July.
Here is a list of some of the events and liturgies that Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schweitz is scheduled to participate in this month.
Jim Gaffigan, a standup comedian who happens to be a married Catholic father with five children, is a headliner for this year’s Alaska State Fair. A rising star, the popular comic known for his food jokes and self depreciating skits also regularly includes monologues about his large and growing family and the hilarity of raising five children.
Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz has invited Catholics across the archdiocese to join him, July 3, for a Mass and reception in celebration of his 25th year since being named a bishop. The 25th Jubilee events will begin with a Mass of Thanksgiving on Friday, July 3, starting 2 p.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Anchorage. A public reception will immediately follow.
Alaska’s Catholic bishops released a joint statement responding to the U.S. Supreme Court decision June 26 in which the judges ruled 5-4 that same sex marriage is a constitutional right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. The ruling effectively nullifies all state laws upholding marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
The devil is in the distractions. He encourages us to look away from Jesus. This is not to say we don’t address the storms but the storms are reasons to have more faith, not less. It is a time to go to God, not away from him. Our faith in God replaces our fear. If the devil distracts us from our lord and savior, he wins — and he will do everything in his power to distract us.
CatholicAnchor.org As people quietly found their places in the pews of Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Anchorage on the sunny evening of June 19 a crescendo of voices rose just outside the sanctuary. Priests, deacons, Knights of Columbus, seminarians and alter servers took their places for the grand procession, which opened the Eucharistic Liturgy…