With the end of the softball season at hand, the all-important power ratings will pair schools from around the state for berths in the “Fast Pitch 56” state tournament that begins April 27 in Sulphur’s Frasch Recreation Complex.

Athletic contests and plays aren’t the only events that can fill a Catholic elementary school gym on a Saturday night. On March 31, more than 500 spectators gathered at Rita School in Harahan as 140 students from eight Jefferson Parish Catholic elementary schools performed dances, songs – and even a fashion show – to salute their schools’ foreign language programs.

After four decades of witnessing a floundering football program, I felt Corey Bordelon was the coach who had the best chance of rekindling De La Salle’s once glorious past on the gridiron. And the 34-year-old coach was on the right track before he resigned last week for personal and family considerations I won’t get into.

Father Walter Austin, pastor of Ascension of Our Lord Parish in LaPlace, addresses his 19 classmates from the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the Dioceses of Baton Rouge and Houma-Thibodaux in the “Good Leaders, Good Shepherds” program of the Catholic Leadership Institute.

They met on a blind date for a high school dance. She was from Mount Carmel and he was from Jesuit, and they just clicked. “He was very clean-cut looking and just easy to talk to and be with,” Janice LeBlanc said of her future husband E.J.

The following are excerpts of Archbishop Aymond’s homily at the Chrism Mass celebrated April 3 at St. Louis Cathedral. At the Chrism Mass, the sacred oils used sacramentally by the church throughout the year are blessed, and priests gather to renew their commitment to priestly ministry.

See the image gallery Jesus called his disciples – fishermen by trade – fishers of men. On the banks of a City Park lagoon in March, several permanent deacons and deacon aspirants and candidates of the Archdiocese of New Orleans found out what it was like to be fishers of children.

See the image gallery Rallying Catholic teachers to be role models of faith and preparing them and their students to understand the true meaning of Christ in the Mass begins with education. That’s where Todd Amick, as director of the archdiocesan Office of Eucharistic Renewal, comes in.

The death of a loved one is an overwhelmingly stressful time for a family, and that stress can lead to challenging moments in planning a Catholic funeral. After consulting with area funeral directors, the archdiocesan Office of Worship has produced a brochure to help grieving families better plan a Catholic funeral, with particular attention paid to two areas of concern and potential misunderstanding: cremation and eulogies.

See the Image Gallery In blessing the sacred oil and chrism  for sacramental use in the church throughout the year, Archbishop Gregory Aymond spoke about the necessity of Catholics being the hands and heart of Jesus in today’s world

La semana pasada se anunció el ombramiento de un nuevo rector-presidente del Seminario de Notre Dame, el Padre James Wehner, quien comenzará a servir en su cargo el 1 de julio. El Padre Wehner ha servido durante los últimos tres años en una capacidad similar en el Colegio Pontificio de Josephinum en Columbus.

Deadline: Submissions due Thursday (10 days before each issue) calendar@clarionherald.org (504) area code unless noted April 8-15 PARISHES ST. RITA, monthly peace Mass, April 12, 7:30 p.m. with celebrant Holy Cross Father Thomas Chambers.

See the image gallery When an Ursuline Academy student was praying in the front pew of a darkened interior chapel of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor on State Street two weeks ago, she looked up and noticed this striking image on a pillar that bears a resemblance to the Suffering Christ.

The Cuba that Pope Benedict XVI visited March 26-28 is a country where the Catholic Church enjoys significantly more freedom and official recognition than it did when Blessed John Paul II made the first papal visit to the island in 1998.

For all you “Free Sean Payton” advocates out there, I have news for you. Sean Payton got what he deserved. The NFL says that Payton “falsely denied” the bounty program existed. The NFL report shows that Payton encouraged false denials by assistant coaches, telling them to “make sure they have their ducks in a row.” In 2012, the NFL said it interviewed Payton this season, and he said he was “entirely unaware” of the program.

Led by another solid perform­ance in field events and the versatility of sprinter-hurdler Morgan Cormier, host Brother Martin outpointed a competitive field of 14 schools to win the Crusader Relays at Tad Gormley Stadium on March 30.

As a small group of baseball fans yielded the Kirsch-Rooney Stadium stands to a much larger group of adults and teenagers following Ben Franklin’s 1-0 victory over Warren Easton, one of my favorite basketball coaches, Neal McKendall, was about to enter his car as I was exiting mine.

Loyola University New Orleans will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its chartering as a university with special events, lectures and concerts that will run from April 2012 through May 2013. The Centennial Lecture Series will begin April 10 at 7 p.m. in Nunemaker Auditorium with “Leading the Way: Loyola and the Desegregation of New Orleans,” with presentations by former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu, Xavier University of Louisiana president Dr. Norman Francis, Edgar “Dooky” Chase III and Jesuit Father R. Bentley Anderson.

Father James Wehner, who will assume his new role as rector-president of Notre Dame Seminary on July 1, flew to New Orleans March 29 to meet with Archbishop Gregory Aymond, faculty members and seminarians.

I extend Easter greetings to all those in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Please know that you, your loved ones and your special intentions will be remembered in my liturgical celebrations at St. Louis Cathedral at the Easter vigil and on Easter Sunday.