The fallout since the attacks is what has been most surprising to my brother bishops and me. Here in America, a land of immigrants, governors from across our nation announced that they would refuse to take in Syrian refugees. Here in Alaska, Governor Walker has not supported this, for which I am grateful.
Kathleen is quick to point out that deteriorating marriages don’t all look the same. The reasons for marital breakdown are many. “Retrouvaille isn’t just for those who are contemplating divorce. It’s for couples who are experiencing disillusionment, or even misery, in their marriages. They may be living with it and not contemplating divorce.” Marriage, according to Retrouvaille, consists of four stages: romance, disillusionment, misery and awakening to joy, with most couples getting divorced in the misery stage.
The ranks of Alaskan men discerning, training and being ordained to the Catholic priesthood is growing into a steady stream. After nearly a decade without any ordinations to the priesthood, over the past three years two Alaskans have been ordained priests. Five more young men are in formal seminary training and several others have visited seminaries in recent months to consider the priesthood. This vocational uptick is not limited to Alaska. Last year, for the first time in 14 years, the Catholic Church ordained more than 500 men to the priesthood. That is expected to continue in 2015
Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz has designated two holy doors, one at Holy Family Cathedral and one at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral, both in Anchorage. On Dec. 8, during the 12:10 p.m. Mass at Holy Family, Archbishop Schwietz will begin the Jubilee Year of Mercy in Southcentral Alaska with a special rite. A second such rite will take place Dec. 13 at Our Lady of Guadalupe during a 3 p.m. Mass. The faithful are invited to make a brief pilgrimage to a holy door, as a sign of the deep desire for true conversion.
A memorial Mass for Dominican priest Father Paul Scanlon will be held at Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 1 p.m. The Mass will be bilingual.
Father Scanlon who had a major hand in establishing Dominican friars in Anchorage, died on Nov. 19 of respiratory failure in Los Angeles, Calif. He was 82. Earlier this year he was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease.
Here is a roundup of upcoming Advent and Christmas events from across the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska.
On Saturday, Dec. 6th, Anchorage children will gather at St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church with hopes of spotting Saint Nicholas, the third century bishop of Myra and the inspiration behind much of the Christmas gift-giving tradition. The public is welcome to join in as the parish celebrates its patron saint with a Divine Liturgy followed by singing, dancing, gift exchanges, skits and a potluck feast.
The gradual decent into Christmas incoherence is not merely the fault of the unchurched masses. Practicing Christians, too, have failed to pass on many of the rich traditions that celebrate and teach the spiritual heart and meaning of Christmas. Reasons vary, but our once Christian-saturated culture has grown increasingly secular, and that affects us all, including how we celebrate Christmas. The answer to this malady doesn’t lie in pressuring Starbucks to baptize its red-washed holiday cups. Those are only the final fruits of a long chain of events. A “Merry Christmas” cup isn’t going to turn the tide. The renewal of Christmas will begin elsewhere…
I know some people find it difficult to believe that bread and wine change and become the Body and Blood of Jesus. In fact recent polls indicate that more than 35 percent of practicing Catholics do not believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I can understand their doubts. It goes against our logic to believe that here before me is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ — God’s only begotten Son and my savior. But anyone schooled in logic will tell you that it is not enough to say I don’t understand it therefore I won’t believe it.
As a practitioner both of American secular law and the canon law of the Catholic Church I observe differences and similarities between these two legal systems. One sharp difference is the clear acceptance by canon law of the natural law as a source of foundational legal principles, contrasted with the almost total silence and even hostility toward natural law in the modern American legal system. There is no good reason for this radical difference and that the rejection of natural law as a direct source of legal norms has detached American law from its foundational roots in natural justice.