News - December 2021 RSS Feed

We are about to begin a new year. For many people a new year brings a sense of hope. There can be a feeling that this new year will be better than the last. There’s a clean slate before us. People make resolutions ranging from dieting and exercise to praying and personal change all aimed at making 2022 better than 2021.

Sister Lucille Marie (Lucille Evelyn) Beauchamp, D.C., died Dec. 14, 2021 at Seton Residence in Evansville, Ind., at the age of 99.

As we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.” — Titus 2:13

This paper comes out on New Year’s Eve.  I don’t know when you will see it, but please allow me to wish you a grace-filled year in 2022.  But let’s be clear about God’s blessings.

Anne Baggett compiles information for Looking Back from past issues of this newspaper. Anne is a member of St. Mary Parish in Mobile.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, I recently read on social media a statement by an unbeliever who wrote: “How can Christians believe that God was a little baby who dirtied his diapers and had to be helplessly fed by one of His creatures? Their God is a weak and puny God.”

St. Michael Parish School in Auburn may have small beginnings, said parish pastor Msgr. Michael Farmer, but there’s certainly big excitement.

MOBILE — Catholic clinical psychologist Dr. Ray Guarendi has a message for parents who’ve had adult children leave the faith. Stop beating yourself up over it.

NEW HAVEN, Conn.  — The Knights of Columbus made its latest documentary, "St. Joseph: Our Spiritual Father," available to view for free at kofc.org beginning Dec. 8 to coincide with the end of the "Year of St. Joseph."

Bishop Toolen Catholic High School graduate Master Gunnery Sgt. Cynthia House was honored last month as the first Mobile Bay Area Veteran of the Year selected by the South Alabama Veterans Council.

WASHINGTON — The year is ending pretty much the same way it started, with the United States wondering whether it will experience a surge in COVID-19 cases when the calendar changes numbers.

At the first Christmas, three Wise Men traveled across hundreds of miles of desert to Bethlehem just to see the Infant Jesus (Matthew 2.1-12).  How much easier is it for us to go to Mass to receive Jesus’s actual Body and Blood, the Eucharist? The Wise Men saw Jesus just once. We can receive him every day.  

MAYFIELD, Ky. (CNS) — Mourning, prayer and a resolve to rebuild shattered lives, homes and businesses in Mayfield followed one of the most powerful twisters in U.S. history that leveled the city of 10,000 in western Kentucky overnight Dec. 10.

In 1531 a "Lady from Heaven" appeared to Saint Juan Diego, a poor Indian from Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City. She identified herself as the Mother of the True God and instructed him to have the bishop build a church on the site. As a sign for the bishop, she left an image of herself imprinted miraculously on his tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth. The tilma shows no sign of decay.

Every angel tree gift will shine the light of hope and happiness for a child in need this Christmas morning. That is a beautiful example of stewardship. The season of Advent and Christmas offer so many opportunities to be a light of hope showing love for our neighbors in need. 

This will be the final issue of "The Catholic Week prior to Christmas."  I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.  I pray that you will be filled with the light of the Gospel and that the Lord will fill you with His Grace.  It is so easy to get caught up in the trappings of Christmas and we can lose our focus on the true gift that is being offered.

Anne Baggett compiles information for Looking Back from past issues of this newspaper. Anne is a member of St. Mary Parish in Mobile.

Last month I attended our annual meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Each November the U.S. bishops gather in Baltimore to discuss the state of the Church in our country. Baltimore is an appropriate place to come together since it is our nation’s oldest diocese. This is the traditional place for our bishops to meet. Older Americans would remember the “Baltimore Catechism” which was widely used in the 1940s and 1950s. Its name reflects that it was written by the bishops at a Baltimore meeting.

All are invited to an Advent mission led by Fr. Matthew Baugh, SJ, at 7 p.m. Dec. 14-16 in the old church building at St. Ignatius Parish, Mobile.  The sacrament of Reconciliation will also be available Dec. 16.  

BALTIMORE (CNS) — The U.S. bishops spotlighted two major initiatives focused on the central role of the Eucharist Nov. 17, the second of two days of public sessions of their fall general assembly.