Learning to confidently speak English as a second language is challenging for many newcomers to the United States. This is especially so when attempting to communicate about deeply personal and emotional topics — like the state of one’s marriage. In such cases, many non-English speakers lean back on their more familiar mother tongue.
For the first time in human history, we live in a culture that says we can create our own meaning of life apart from God — a culture that denies all absolutes or norms. It says we can make up our own purpose in life, a self defined purpose.
When Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz lays his hands on 47-year-old Deacon Arthur Roraff to ordain him a Catholic priest it will mark the second such ordination in the past three years for the Anchorage Archdiocese. This comes after an eight-year drought. But things are changing and several more men are in line for ordination in coming years.
“I think I picked the right person, the perfect person for me,” Gilbert (known as “Gil”) conclusively stated. Sandra leafs through a book filled with photographs of her family. Gil sat in a rocking chair. Occasionally, he asked her to complete his sentences. After 54 years they are still in love.
As a relative newcomer to the organization, I am sure there are many out there who know this story better than I, but we began first as the St. Francis House Food Pantry. In the beginning, Holy Family Cathedral began to distribute food to the hungry in our community. That was nearly 50 years ago.
It has often occurred to me, having lived on a farm as a youngster, that folks who live close to the earth have a certain natural affinity for the metaphysical, the intuitive even the spiritual aspects of life and its meaning.
A long-time missionary servant to Alaska, Mercy Sister Arlene Boyd, died June 9 in Albany, New York. She was a Sister of Mercy for 59 years, spending most of that time teaching religious education and serving the poor and marginalized in Alaska. Sister Boyd lived through the earliest days of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, which was founded in 1967. Around that time late Anchorage Archbishop Joseph Ryan persuaded the Sisters of Mercy in Albany to send some of their sisters north to the new archdiocese.
The hike is open to priests, fathers and men who are Catholic, as well as those who are considering Catholicism or those who simply want to strengthen their commitment to fatherhood and family, Deering explained. The trek is not meant to be a “fathers and sons” hike, but intended to challenge adults physically and spiritually.
This winter, my faith-sharing group in Omaha took on the project of preparing an apartment for a refugee family who would be arriving in the spring. We worked with Nebraska’s largest resettlement agency, Lutheran Family Services, who gave us a detailed list of household items needed, and later, a list of food to stock the family’s home for the first few days.
Eagle Eye Alaska is an innovative annual hike and retreat that takes young adults into Alaska’s backcountry in an effort to inspire and reconnect them to the practices, sacraments and prayers of the Catholic faith. The upcoming Eagle Eye retreat, for ages 20-35, takes place July 10-19. The yearly trek includes priests and religious from the Community of St. John who attend the backpacking trip and provide formation throughout the weeklong retreat.