The Loyola University New Orleans College of Law is offering the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to provide free tax preparation assistance for people with low to moderate incomes. The sessions, designed by the Internal Revenue Service, will continue through April 12.

El lunes, 23 de enero, fue el primer día oficial de su visita “ad limina” a Roma junto con otros 21 obispos de Luisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee y Kentucky. Fue usted el celebrante principal de la Misa de apertura en la tumba de San Pedro en la Basílica de San Pedro.

Deadline: Submissions due Thursday (10 days before each issue) calendar@clarionherald.org (504) unless noted Feb. 4-11 SCHOOLS ST. MARY MAGDALEN, Parents’ Club annual Grandparents’ Days with breakfast, book fair and classroom visits, Feb. 7, A through J last names; Feb. 8, K through Z. ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, Mass to honor the ministry of Msgr.

Salesian Father Francis “Frank” Wolfram, who served as principal of Archbishop Shaw High School from 1974-78, died Jan. 25 in the Bronx, N.Y., after a long bout with cancer. At the time of his death, Father Wolfram, 79, was secretary of the New Rochelle Province of the Salesians and a member of the provincial residence community in New Rochelle.

Congregation of St. Joseph Sister Lory Schaff, who in 1969 helped launch Hope House to serve residents of the St. Thomas Housing Development, died Jan. 21 in New Orleans after a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Deacon Charles “Rusty” F. Read Jr., who was ordained a permanent deacon in 1993 and served at St. Peter Church in Covington and St. Anselm Church in Madisonville, died Jan. 21 at his Covington home following a lengthy battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Consecrated life entails giving oneself completely to God and living for others, Pope Benedict XVI said. Speaking at his weekly general audience Jan. 25, the pope continued his catechesis on Christian prayer, looking at the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the ministerial priesthood.

Forty elementary and high schools exhibited original pieces of student art at the 2012 Catholic Schools Week Art/Music Festival at Lakeside Shopping Center, Jan. 24-28. The annual festival, which also features vocal and dance performances, is sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Schools.

Other than life in the womb, there is perhaps no stage of development more under siege in today’s spiritual landscape than the teenage and young adult years. Cultural pressures and deceptive worldviews press in on every side.

Four years later, I remember the stinging rebuke, vividly. In the days leading up to the Giants vs. Patriots Super Bowl, I was trying to be coy. So, in this space I wrote that the heavy underdog Giants would be out of the game before Bacchus reached Gallier Hall.

Now that principals of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association have opened the door for its member schools below the Class 5A level to compete one classification higher than that dictated by their student enrollments, the opportunity exists for a Catholic League reunion in 2013.

Of the many worthy second collections taken up in the Archdiocese of New Orleans each year, the one scheduled at all Masses Feb. 11-12 will have a direct benefit to the continuing local work of Catholic Charities.

The Metropolitan Tribunal, which reviews and passes judgment on all canonical cases brought before it, is organizing a workshop for priests, deacons, parish associates and other procurators. ➤ Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 ➤ Time: 9 a.m. to noon, followed by lunch ➤ Place: Schulte Auditorium, Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans Register with Louann Hood by telephone 861-6291, fax 861-9525, or email tribunal@archdiocese-no.org by Feb. 15.

Why do we stand for the Gospel? While sitting is a position of receptivity for the other two readings, we stand for the Gospel as a sign of respect for the words of Jesus and to manifest an eagerness and attentiveness to hear his Word.