News - February 2018 RSS Feed

An Interfaith Prayer Service in Solidarity with Immigrants and Refugees on Feb. 25 at the archdiocese’s Hispanic Apostolate in Metairie began with a quote from Exodus: “You shall not oppress or afflict a resident alien, for you were once aliens residing in the land of Egypt …You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them, and they cry out to me, I will surely listen to their cry” (Exodus 22:20-22).

In 1995, as inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola lowered the makeshift, cardboard casket containing the body of fellow inmate Joseph Siegel into freshly dug ground at the prison’s Point Lookout cemetery, Siegel’s body fell through the bottom of the coffin.

For fans of big league baseball, this is a great time of the year. Spring training games have started, and first pitch of the regular season is less than one month away.

Calling the war in Syria “inhumane,” Pope Francis called for an end to the fighting, immediate access to humanitarian aid for those in need and the evacuation of the injured and infirm. “My thoughts often turn to that beloved and martyred Syria where the war has intensified, especially in eastern Ghouta,” he said Feb. 25 after praying the Angelus with people gathered in St. Peter Square.

ST. GENEVIEVE PARISH,  Lenten mission, “Journeying with a Merciful God.” March 5: Mercy Among Us; March 6: Mercy Encountered (Reconciliation); March 7: Mercy Shared (Mass), 7-8 p.m., with Oblate Father Emmanuel Mulenga. Refreshments served March 7 after Mass. 58203 Hwy. 23, Slidell. (985) 643-3832. www.stgenevieve.us.

Three students have been named 2018 Archdiocese of New Orleans “Students of the Year.” These students were selected based on criteria that measured academic achievement, outstanding leadership skills, character and significant involvement in their schools and communities.

Father Michael Champagne, a member of the Community of Jesus Crucified in the Diocese of Lafayette, is a son of Acadiana, so it’s not really surprising that he has led a Corpus Christi boat procession down Bayou Teche, stopping at Catholic churches along the way for rosary and benediction.

You attended the regional V Encuentro gathering in Miami last week as the lead bishop for the southeast region of the United States. Can you explain what the meeting was all about?

Asistió a la reunión regional del V Encuentro en Miami la semana pasada, como el obispo principal de la región sureste de los Estados Unidos. ¿Puede explicar de qué se trató la reunión?

Pastors/administrators are reminded that nominations for the Order of St. Louis IX Award, which honors lay Catholics for exemplary service to the parish, are due by March 1.

Ursuline Academy students, from left, Charlotte Kimble, Caroline MacLaren and Alexandra Sabrio, won an essay contest sponsored by the New Orleans Chapter of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. The students will represent New Orleans at a Youth Leadership Program in Philadelphia in April.

Three women who participated in a recent Holy Spirit Women’s Retreat in Lafayette sponsored by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of New Orleans (CCRNO) said they felt relieved of physical pain following a healing service conducted by Scripture scholar Dr. Mary Healy.

When I found out I had an actual office – and not a cubicle – the first thing I noticed was the door. I controlled who was able to enter the threshold. If I needed space, or just time and privacy to work alone, I could shut the world out.

The individual Louisiana State Wrestling Tournament champions: Division I

Academy of Our Lady (AOL) students celebrated St. John Bosco’s feast day and Catholic Schools Week by volunteering in the community Jan. 30-Feb. 2. Each day, students from each grade level ventured out to service sites such as City Park, The Arc of Greater New Orleans, Second Harvest Food Bank, Crossroads Louisiana, Café Hope, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Habitat for Humanity, Jean Lafitte National Park and Preserve and the SPCA.

Religious sisters in the Archdiocese of New Orleans are continually turning the stereotype of “the quiet and aging nun” on its head with their enthusiastic involvement in ministries ranging from health care to housing to education.

Everyone who goes to Mass has the right to hear the word of God in all its fullness, which means it must be read well and explained well with “fervor,” Pope Francis said. People have the right to hear God’s word in a way that “knocks at the heart and changes hearts,” he said at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Feb. 14.

Maybe it is my fault. Last fall, I told my wife to push our summer vacation back, after July 1. When LSU reached the championship round of the College World Series in 2017, we returned home on June 29.

“To call the world’s nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger and its immediacy,” warned Rachel Bronson, Ph.D., president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.