The ruling against Alaska’s marriage amendment comes at a time when the Catholic Church is grappling with how to support and defend long-standing ideals regarding marriage as the life-long union of one man and one woman and family life as the basic institution for the rearing of children.
There are two basic forms of religious persecution. The first is more subtle and moves by almost imperceptible degrees in an effort to restrict and prohibit people of faith from running charitable outreaches and schools or conducting their business in a manner that reflects and respects their deeply held religious beliefs.
The dawning of legalized marijuana across the states in recent years, has prompted church experts to try to clear the haze about the much-debated drug. In November Alaskans will vote on whether to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Last year Colorado and Washington passed unprecedented laws making legal recreational use of marijuana. Lawmakers in those states have attempted to make ways to shift marijuana from the black market to a regulated and taxed commercial enterprise. Medical use alone is already legal in 18 states including Alaska.
This year Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School in Wasilla is piloting a new curriculum for the 4th and 5th grades, as it discerns whether to implement a classical approach to education throughout the K-8th grade school.
The school was founded eight years ago but with a change in administration last year, the school was at a natural point to pilot a new curriculum approach, said acting Principal Joyce Lund.
“A number of schools, private and even diocesan schools are finding growth and enthusiasm in the rediscovery of rigorous, classical liberal arts curriculum,” she said, noting that over the last 15 years classics-based schools have seen rapid expansion.
“Islam: Friend or Foe,” was the headline that drew nearly 50 attendees to a banquet room of the Sea Galley Restaurant in Anchorage earlier this fall. The speaker, popular Catholic scholar, writer and teacher Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio, was in Anchorage to kick off this year’s Theology & Brew monthly speaker series for young adults in the Anchorage Archdiocese.
At this time last year, I had tucked away in my dresser an 88-page divorce decree that narrated my descent into alcoholism, loss of myself, fear of my husband and the absolute death blow to marriage: infidelity. With the divorce, I was ready to write the last chapter of the story of our family. Though I created the story, I mourned and resented every word written down; for I am Catholic, and Catholics do not believe in divorce.
When you meet someone, be your most authentic self. As a friendship develops do these very simple things. Let people know you are a Catholic Christian (in a natural, unforced way). Ask friends about their faith — and just listen. Listen to your friend’s problems — maybe offer to pray for them. Share your problems with them — testify to how your faith helps you. Give them a book to read on the spiritual life. Share your story of faith in an authentic way. Answer objections to Christianity and questions that might come up.
I like my job. But truth be known, I have just spent the last hour and some odd minutes in the presence of Christ. Not figuratively. For real. Right there, not 30 feet away. I have just come from adoration, where I have knelt and prayed and felt the welling of emotions: glad for the gift of Eucharist, tearful and intimidated by Christ’s Passion, yet elated by what that means. Giddy that my faith grows with each visit, but mostly I feel an overwhelming internal warmth in the privilege of spending time in silence with him.
The ongoing 40 Days for Life campaign in Alaska and around the world runs through Nov. 2. The international 40-day prayer vigils take place each fall and spring with pro-life advocates gathered outside abortion facilities to peacefully stand vigil, pray for unborn babies and help mothers choose life for their children.
For 500 years, since the rupture of Christian history by the Protestant Reformation, Catholics and Protestants have been on opposite sides of a theological battlefield. Now they are joining arms on some of society’s greatest moral debates — abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, to name a few. “While they were carrying on these [theological] battles, just a few decades ago, they found out that…the whole social and moral scene had collapsed,” Catholic attorney Bob Flint of Anchorage told the Catholic Anchor in an interview. “The world changed,” he said.