Forest Lawn Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska, sits on 100 acres near the Missouri River, where the dry, monotonous flat terrain of Nebraska begins to give way to the greener hills of Iowa. Established in 1885, the cemetery is a resting place for many prominent Nebraskans. But it’s also the burial site, in pauper’s field, of…
Dear Fr. Leo: Would it be okay to imagine a biosphere (a spiritsphere?), perhaps, surrounding the earth containing the spirit world where souls head toward at the time of death? I hope that the spirits and images of those I love would be apparent to me if I find myself so lucky to meet them…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us always! During the installation Mass in September, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Pope Francis’ representative to the United States, read the Holy Father’s decree of May 19, 2020, uniting Anchorage and Juneau into the new Metropolitan Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau….
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…