The annual Red Mass takes place on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 9:30 a.m. at Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage. Held annually in many American cities, the Red Mass is a special Mass at which the Catholic Church prays for all who practice law, especially asking the Holy Spirit’s guidance for attorneys, judges and politicians. Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz and Juneau Bishop Edward Burns will concelebrate the Mass.
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.
It saddened my heart to read that Alaska’s U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, both baptized Catholics, voted for a failed measure that would have forced employers to follow the federal HHS mandate requiring them to provide, as part of employee health insurance policies, contraception, sterilization and abortion inducing drugs, regardless of the employer’s…
Les Misérables, one of the most popular stage productions of all time, and a story with strong Catholic and Christian underpinnings, is coming to Anchorage’s Atwood Concert Hall for 13 live performances Oct. 17-26. Just prior to the arrival of the Broadway play, a free screening of the 2012 academy award winning movie version of the story will show at the Beartooth Theater pub in Anchorage.
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.
One of the leading voices in the modern version of the pro-life movement will be in Alaska next month to speak at two banquets held by Alaska Right to Life. Co-founder of the international 40 Days for Life prayer vigils, Shawn Carney, will deliver the keynote address at two gatherings, one on Thursday, Oct. 2, and another on Saturday, Oct. 4.
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.
Pope Francis understands the crisis of marriage culture in its multiple dimensions, just as he understands that the family, which begins in marriage, is a troubled institution in the post-modern world; that’s why he’s summoned two Synods on the topic of the family. And that’s why the Synod, fully aware of the gravity of the situation, should begin, continue and end on a positive note, offering the world a pearl of great price: the Christian understanding and experience of marriage.