June Community Calendar for Anchorage Archdiocese
Here are some calendar events scheduled in June across the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska. For more news, opinion and features go to www.CatholicAnchor.org.
Fertility restoration brought life, strengthened our faith
Just prior to my fifth pregnancy, my husband Alex and I decided that we would close off our marriage to new life. With a vasectomy on the calendar, our daughter Bethany was conceived, and Alex went through with a sterilization that cost about $800 and took an hour. And that was it. No longer would we ponder the possibility of new life each month in our marriage; our family had grown even beyond what is considered a normal size and we certainly had plenty of children already, right?
Jesus makes absolute, universal claims like no other
Some believe it is arrogant to say that Jesus is the Savior of the world — the only name by which any can be saved. Such statements are narrow and dangerous, we are told, and they offend and alienate others. Past generations might have held such a view but we live in the modern world in which our neighbors are secular or Muslims or from various faith or non-faith backgrounds.
Longing for God
It has often occurred to me that the longing for God — for the sacred — is one of humankind’s deepest primeval yearnings. We obviously know that we are not our own creation but that a divine power has made this deep mystery possible. Hence the normal response is to find words of gratitude amid an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
LETTERS: Parishioners welcome seminarian who will soon be their new priest
We would like to welcome Deacon Arthur Roraff to our parish, St. Andrew Church in Eagle River. We look forward to your pastoral guidance and new enthusiasm of entering into the priesthood.
Doubts and challenges to faith are fair game at Alaska parish’s outreach
In a world that so often marginalizes and ignores matters of faith and religion, burning questions loom of the afterlife, of God, of a creator and how to live out fleeting lives here on Earth. For some that leads to questions about the Catholic Church. “Seekers,” a group that meets at St. Patrick Church in Anchorage, has gained momentum among Alaskans looking for answers to spirituality in general and interest in the Catholic faith.
EDITORIAL: Prioritizing sacred art
Given that the mission of the Catholic Church is to inspire and invite people into a deeper love of God in all his beauty and splendor, perhaps even frontier churches should reconsider ways to foster the vital role that sacred art has played since the earliest days of Christianity.
Alaska’s Pieta explores difficult questions of modern world
For Santo, the journey to making this sculpture began when he was an altar boy at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, and the pastor showed him a photo of Michelangelo’s renowned Pieta. He remembers wondering why that would happen — why God would allow Mary to go through so much suffering because of her Son’s Passion and death. This question, he believes, is the essential difference between his Pieta and that of Michelangelo. He said that through the centuries, most artists have not wanted to make another Pieta, for fear that it would not measure up to Michelangelo’s masterpiece, often considered the greatest sculpture ever created.
Holy Rosary Academy graduates six seniors in Anchorage
Holy Rosary Academy in Anchorage graduated six seniors this year. The k-12th grade school held its baccalaureate Mass at Holy Family Cathedral on May 19. Dominican priests from the downtown cathedral presided at the Mass and the choir consisted of the school’s faculty.
Lumen Christi graduates 11 Alaskans
Lumen Christi High School in Anchorage graduated 11 seniors this year. The 7-12th grade school held its baccalaureate Mass on May 13 at St. Benedict Church in Anchorage. The next day, May 14, the seniors participated in the graduation ceremony at in the school’s gymnasium. Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz attended and spoke to the graduates.