News - May 2023 RSS Feed

The Saturday after Memorial Day is a very special one for me. Each year our priests begin their annual retreat on Memorial Day and we conclude the retreat week with the Ordination Mass in the cathedral. It is difficult for me to express in words how blessed I feel to be able to ordain a new priest. It is one of the greatest joys of any bishop.

Hundreds of young soldiers, decorated veterans and military supporters gathered in Columbus, Ga., on May 11 for the rededication and naming of Fort Moore Maneuver Center for Excellence (formerly Fort Benning) in honor of Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and wife Julie, one of the Army’s most influential couples and parishioners of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Auburn until their passings.

Congratulations to Archdiocese of Mobile seminarians Deacon Thomas LaPointe, Edward Charnock and Andrew Thompson, who recently received degrees from their respective seminaries.

The COVID-19 public health emergency has officially ended and summer promises happier times in the months ahead.  And yet our surgeon general, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, has just issued an advisory signaling a new public health threat in our country. The issue is loneliness. 

Are you taking a vacation this summer? Many of us set aside time in the summer to explore new places or travel to familiar places to visit family and friends. Whether you are going on a road trip, flying across the globe, or cruising the seas; traveling is a fun adventure and presents great opportunities for us as Christian disciples to answer God’s call to be a good steward. 

When we realize that someone we love may be suicidal, it can be complicated to figure out how best to respond. The threat of suicide from a friend or family member obviously needs to be taken seriously, and we need to respond with loving support and accompaniment. Providing such help, however, will not necessarily be synonymous with granting every request or affirming every assertion they make. 

In my last offering I spoke about mothers.  This time I would like to talk about families (next time I will talk about fathers).

Providence Hospital Auxiliary officers were: Mrs. Francis Sullivan, president-elect; Mrs. Hugh Casteix, first vice president; Mrs. Vidmer Mayson, second vice president; Mrs. M. J. Walsh, treasurer; Mrs. Ed Stuardi, assistant treasurer; Mrs. Joseph Belanger, recording secretary; and Mrs. Peter Bertucci, corresponding secretary.

May is the month when we traditionally honor Mary. Sometimes non-Catholics will ask me why Catholics honor Mary. Since this devotion to Mary may be unfamiliar to them, it can seem strange and even inappropriate. My usual first response to the question of why Catholics honor Mary is to say that we honor Mary because God honored Mary. God chose Mary as the one through whom God would take flesh. What greater honor could there be? God took the flesh of Mary to become His own.

Dear Brothers and  Sisters in the Lord, We are blessed by the dedicated ministry of our priests. Their priestly ministry blesses us in many ways. They have many responsibilities but first and foremost they must be men of prayer. Without the foundation of a prayer life and a relationship with the Lord, their ministry would become empty. In order to support their spiritual life, an annual three day priest’s retreat is conducted every year beginning on Memorial Day. It is held at Manresa Retreat House in Convent, Louisiana.

Forty years as a beloved superintendent plus 57 years altogether as an educator equals countless lives touched.

After four years in the corporate world and six years in seminary, Deacon Thomas LaPointe is ready for what he’s been called to do.

MOBILE — Ret. Cpl. Robert Curtis Andry of St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Chastang was a founding member of the Knights of Peter Claver Gulf Coast District about 80 years ago. 

Brother Celestine Algero, S.C., a longtime educator who was supervisor of instruction at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School and also as chair of the Education Department at Spring Hill College, died May 1 at St. Joseph Hospice in River Ridge, La., at the age of 91.

Little Flower Catholic School in Mobile has had an exciting month with the addition of a new library and playground.

Sharp students from Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Mobile displayed their knowledge of the Catholic faith at the second annual Catholic Challenge Cup! The team event, which included mostly middle school-age students, at Our Savior Parish is similar to a Scholars' Bowl, but it’s all centered on the Catholic faith. Congratulations to individual champion Isabella DeFalco of St. Ignatius Catholic School!

Imagine that most of the English-speaking world watched at least sections of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III last week at Westminster Abbey.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson established Mother's Day as an official holiday in the United States, to be celebrated on the second Sunday of May annually.  Then, in 1945 Pope Pius XII solidified May as Mary’s month by establishing the Feast of the Queenship of Mary on May 31.

Surely, I wait for the Lord; who bends down to me and hears my cry, draws me up from the pit of destruction, out of the muddy clay, sets my feet upon rock, steadies my steps, and puts a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God.  Many shall look on in fear, and they shall trust in the Lord.” ~Psalm 40:2-4

Juntos Como Hermanos es el título de un himno que la mayoría de los Católicos Hispanos reconocen al escuchar los primeros acordes, y que con frecuencia se canta al iniciar la Misa.