Alaska has the highest number of veterans per capita of any state in the union. It is a tragedy to see that veterans experience homelessness at a higher rate than the general population across the country.
At a recent Mass our Sunday reading was from 1 Peter 3:15-18, and included this line: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” The homilist that day told us we should spend time thinking about what our explanation would be. Hope defines a Christian. Hope is the noisy and exuberant, sometimes somber and diligent, antithesis to quiet desperation. Hope is what gets us out of bed in the morning, albeit occasionally reluctantly.
“Who is Jesus Christ for us today?” The question popped up for me again as I read the Gospel for this 14th Sunday in ordinary time where Jesus’ family and his neighbors find him: “His wisdom was beyond them. After all, is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his family living here with us?” Who is this person really?
If a young Catholic reaches adulthood with a poor understanding and personal appreciation of how the sacraments infuse her life with the grace of God, then she will feel little reason to go to regular confession, attend weekly Mass, marry in the church, baptize her children and bury her loved ones with the aid and guidance of the church. The question for many is, “What difference does it make.”
Catholics in the Mat-Su Valley were invited to an outdoor Mass at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Wasilla last month to pray for their departed loved ones.
Seminarian Madison Hayes took a pivotal step in his journey to become a priest for the Archdiocese of Anchorage. On June 21 he participated in the Mass of Candidacy with Anchorage Archbishop Paul Etienne at Holy Spirit Center in Anchorage. This is the moment when a seminarian formally and publicly declares before the archbishop his desire to become a candidate for the sacrament of Holy Orders.
Editor’s note: Anchorage Archbishop Paul Etienne is scheduled to take part in the upcoming liturgies and events in the month of July.
Editor’s note: The following is a list of news and upcoming events from around the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
A total of 180 teens turned out for the annual four-day Alaska Catholic Youth Conference in Anchorage last month. Three Alaskan bishops and dozens of guest speakers and volunteers provided youth from all across the state with liturgies, sacraments, faith formation opportunities and concrete ways to serve their community.
Tara Clemens was an Anchorage attorney and evangelical Christian who converted to Catholicism during her last months of law school. On May 28 she made first vows as Sister Marie Dominic of the Incarnate Word, a cloistered Dominican nun at Corpus Christi Monastery in Menlo Park, Calif.