By Joyce LundPrincipal, Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School Music has been a treasured ministry at OLV for the past ten years. Students have brought music to various venues capitalizing on the abundance of talent within the student body. With the current COVID mitigation plans restricting singing at the parishes, creative minds decided to…
By Dominique JohnsonThe North Star Catholic Born and raised in Sitka, Deacon Ron Mathews received the sacraments at St. Gregory Nazianzen Parish, where he now serves. However, his journey to the diaconate was not straightforward. “I really thought that I was more being allowed, by God, to be a deacon. I didn’t really think I’d…
By Father Michael Kim, KMSThe North Star Catholic Cordova is located on the shore of Orca Inlet in Prince William Sound and is the home of St. Joseph parish. The parish was established in the summer of 1908, and the first church was dedicated to St. Joseph that fall. The original church was built on…
By Father Leo WalshThe North Star Catholic In 1971, Archbishop Ryan recognized a need for a new parish to serve the Catholic faithful on the east side of Anchorage. Without a facility, parishioners of St. Anthony Church came together to form this new parish community. The fledgling community met for several years in the gym…
In the past thirty years, many of us have been exposed to Public Service Announcements (PSAs). Some of a certain age can remember PSAs from the 1960s and 1970s, especially related to campaigns against smoking, preventing forest fires and bringing awareness to care of the earth through littering prevention efforts. The message was to improve…
As the sun rises on spring and Alaskans begin to regain a sense of normalcy in a post-pandemic life, now is the time to check in with aging neighbors and friends. Catholic Community Service (CCS) has the great honor to perform corporal works of mercy on behalf of the Catholic Church in Southeast Alaska. Catholic…
Dear Fr. Leo: In the gospels, when Jesus called his apostles, they each just got up and followed him. What about the other responsibilities they had? Isn’t that abandonment? What about their other day to day life accountabilities? – S. Dear S:Yes, they did leave everything to follow him and yes, it is abandonment –…
How’s your Lent going? About this time of the season, we’re either well into a rhythm of observance, or we feel the time slipping by and think we’re not “doing” enough.
I got lost once, and I was scared. It was night. It was dark. It was clear with no moon. I was alone. I was driving across the desert in Arizona on my way from one interstate highway to another. The trusted GPS on my phone told me to go right. I turned right. It…
By Dominique JohnsonThe North Star Catholic Sister Frances Vista, D.C., recalls having an interest in religious life when she was 13 years old, living in the Philippines. “I saw a group of sisters wearing habits walking in a little town in the Philippines. I thought, wow, look at them; they look so happy,” Sister Frances…