News - June 2023 RSS Feed

Long summer days can truly be a gift. Every season has its own beauty and blessings, but summer, more than other times of year, has the tendency to bring the moments of relaxation which are a step aside from the hectic pace of life. Whether it be sitting in the shade, or enjoying a calm lake, or being mesmerized by a nighttime sky filled with lightning from a far away thunderstorm, or enjoying a cool breeze after a sweltering day, calming summer moments can be so special because they are so nondemanding. As a friend of mine used to say about summer evenings: “Sometimes I sit and think and other times I just sit.”

PRATTVILLE — The Knights of Columbus Council at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Prattville awarded two $1,000 scholarships to 2023 high school seniors William Sheppard and Jenifer Resendez-Blacazar.  William is headed to seminary and will begin studies at St. Joseph Seminary College in Louisiana.

Youth from St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Fayetteville, Ark., recently worked for three days at Little Flower Parish in Mobile while in town with the Alive in You Catholic Conference and Service Camp.

"Two cups of flower, 2 cups of sugar, 2 sticks of butter…" Measuring the perfect portions of each ingredient is critical to baking the perfect cake. Likewise, it is our responsibility to use wisely our God given gifts of time, talent and treasure in our life to be a good and faithful steward. 

As we approach the Fourth of July, I would like to reflect a bit on the notion of freedom.  It seems to me that there are some very faulty understandings of what freedom is, what the source of freedom is, and why we were given freedom by our creator.

"Mrs. Davis," currently streaming on the Peacock network, is my favorite show. It is quirky as all get out, featuring a quest for the Holy Grail, an imprisoned pope, a journey inside the intestines of a whale, an exploding head (don’t ask), and a roller coaster of death. The lead character is a committed religious sister who regularly communes with Jesus and who manages, more or less, to save the world. Now if you’re looking to Mrs. Davis for theological precision, you will be severely disappointed (and please don’t write me letters reminding me of how weird its theology is; I know), but there is indeed a spiritual motif of supreme importance that stands at the very heart of the show, and it is well worth plowing through all of the intense oddness to grasp it. It has to do with idolatry and, more precisely, with our tendency to create idols.

When I was recently visiting with friends, a group of young girls was playing in a neighboring yard. Every few minutes, for more than an hour, one of them would scream at the very top of her lungs. A woman in our group finally commented, “When I was a kid, if I ever screamed like that, Mom would have pulled me aside and said, ‘Don’t you dare raise your voice like that in public!’ ”

50 Years Ago Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for St. Patrick Catholic Church and Catholic Center in Robertsdale.

MOBILE — The Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul that covers the area of the Archdiocese of Mobile reported that Vincentians throughout the archdiocese provided more than $628,000 worth of aid to the poor and needy in southern Alabama during the 2022-23 fiscal year. 

El Día del Padre se acerca rápidamente, solo faltan unos días para que las tarjetas de felicitación, llamadas telefónicas, corbatas y otros regalos de hijos, sobrinos o nietos comiencen a llegar a nuestros hogares. Este es un día muy especial para todos los padres, ya que nos recuerda la gran bendición que es participar con Dios en la creación de nueva vida.

Fairhope - St. Michael Catholic High School debutó el 7 de junio en su muy esperado nuevo campo de fútbol. La colocación de la primera piedra marcó un hito importante en el compromiso de la escuela para proporcionar excelentes instalaciones deportivas para sus estudiantes, profesores y la comunidad local.

MOBILE - El entonces diácono Thomas LaPointe dijo el mes pasado que estaba preparado para ser sacerdote gracias a sus años de formación en el seminario y otras experiencias ministeriales.

Cientos de jóvenes soldados, veteranos condecorados y simpatizantes militares se reunieron en Columbus, Georgia, el 11 de mayo para la rededicación y el nombramiento de Fort Moore Maneuver Center for Excellence (anteriormente Fort Benning) en honor del teniente general Hal Moore y su esposa Julie, una de las parejas más influyentes del Ejército y feligreses de la parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel de Auburn hasta su fallecimiento.

Felicitaciones a los seminaristas de la Arquidiócesis de Mobile, Diácono Thomas LaPointe, Edward Charnock y Andrew Thompson, quienes recientemente recibieron títulos de sus respectivos seminarios.

La emergencia de salud pública COVID-19 ha terminado oficialmente y el verano promete tiempos más felices en los próximos meses.

¿Se vas de vacaciones este verano? Muchos de nosotros reservamos tiempo en verano para explorar nuevos lugares o viajar a lugares conocidos para visitar a familiares y amigos. Ya sea en un viaje por carretera, cruzando el mundo en avión o surcando los mares, viajar es una aventura divertida y nos ofrece grandes oportunidades, como discípulos cristianos, de responder a la llamada de Dios a ser buenos mayordomos.

Cuando nos damos cuenta de que alguien a quien queremos puede tener tendencias suicidas, puede ser complicado averiguar cuál es la mejor manera de responder. Obviamente, la amenaza de suicidio de un amigo o familiar debe tomarse en serio, y debemos responder con apoyo y acompañamiento afectuosos. Sin embargo, proporcionar esa ayuda no será necesariamente sinónimo de conceder todas las peticiones o afirmar todas las afirmaciones que hagan.

En mi última ofrenda hablé de las madres.  Esta vez me gustaría hablar de las familias (la próxima vez hablaré de los padres).

Congratulations to Archdiocese of Mobile priests Fr. Matthew O’Connor and Fr. Cecil Spotswood on their retirements, which were effective June 24.

Chad Barwick is back home. The new superintendent of Catholic schools/executive director of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Mobile officially began June 14. Barwick is only the second superintendent in the past 40 years for Catholic schools in the archdiocese as he’s succeeded longtime superintendent Gwen Byrd, who retired at the end of the 2022-23 school year.