Spring is in the air. The days may be getting longer, but time is short for the 2016-17 high school sports season in general, and for the final championship tournaments, in particular. The Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA “Fast Pitch 96” softball tournament is just two weeks away, and the City of Sulphur and Frasch Park’s eight softball fields are bracing for the onslaught of humanity that separate playoffs will bring, beginning April 27.

MEDJUGORJE, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNS) – While he said he had no authority or expertise to discuss the authenticity of the alleged apparitions of Mary at Medjugorje, Pope Francis’ envoy to the town said it was clear “there is a special spiritual climate here.” Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Warsaw-Praga, named by Pope Francis in February to study the pastoral situation in the small town and the needs of pilgrims, held a news conference April 5 after a week in Medjugorje.

Hope cannot remain hidden within but must break free to overcome vengeful, mafia-like mentalities with mercy and humility, Pope Francis said. Christians must give witness to hope through their lives as Jesus did and make room for him in their hearts to fight evil by doing good to others, even their enemies, the pope said at his weekly general audience April 5.

Father Peter Finney, administrator of St. Rita Church in New Orleans, blesses palms before parishioners enter the church on Palm Sunday, April 9. Father James Wehner, middle, pastor of St. Rita and rector of Notre Dame Seminary, looks on.

The New Orleans chapter of the Young Catholic Professionals (YCP) will host Dorinda Bordlee, an attorney and cofounder of Bioethics Defense Fund, a pro-life public interest legal and educational organization that works throughout the country and abroad, at its April 18 meeting at 7 p.m. at Notre Dame Seminary’s Schulte Auditorium, 2901 South Carrollton Ave., New Orleans.

For weeks the grocery shelves have been stocked with Easter candy and chocolate bunnies, but today is our day of celebration. The fasting is over and Lenten sacrifices can once again be indulged as we rejoice in the risen Christ.

“Si usted es un católico bautizado, entonces usted es un misionero,” son palabras dentro de los manuales del V Encuentro, una iniciativa de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos para evangelizar o “encontrar” a nuestros hermanos y hermanas católicos en la periferia de la Iglesia y hacer que se sientan bienvenidos.

¡Felices Pascuas! Les extiendo mis oraciones y las bendiciones del Cristo Resucitado. La Pascua, primero nos llama a ir a la tumba donde Jesús fue enterrado. Nosotros, como María Magdalena y la otra mujer, entramos en la tumba, y vemos que está vacía.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Despite recent and repeated terrorist attacks against Egypt’s minority Christian communities, Pope Francis will not cancel his visit to Egypt. “The pope’s trip to Egypt proceeds as scheduled,” Greg Burke, Vatican spokesman, told Catholic News Service April 10.

On April 7, students from The Good Shepherd School got a tiny sense of what it was like for Jesus to be paraded through Jerusalem by presenting the Living Stations of the Cross in New Orleans’ CBD. The journey began inside Immaculate Conception Church and paused in front of hotels, banks, Lafayette Square and One Shell Square before the reenactment of the crucifixion on the steps of Gallier Hall.

Bishop Paul Tighe, a son of Ireland, is a lover of language, culture and self-deprecating humor, and on Dec. 12, 2012, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the then-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications accomplished something no Vaticanista ever thought possible.

Happy Easter! I extend to you my prayers and the blessings of the Risen Christ. Easter first calls us to go to the tomb where Jesus was buried. We, like Mary Magdalene and the other woman, walk into the tomb, and we see that it is empty.

An interfaith and multi-cultural celebration of children worldwide was held April 4 on the front lawn of Archbishop Gregory Aymond’s home on South Carrollton at Walmsley avenues in New Orleans. “We come together today to give praise to God and to ask God to bless the young people here, the young people they represent throughout this metropolitan area and the children of the world,” Archbishop Aymond said.

Fifteen members of the Marianites of Holy Cross who serve in Louisiana will celebrate their anniversaries of profession this month. One celebration was held April 1 in Opelousas at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Nursing Facility.

The Masses and liturgies of Holy Week from St. Louis Cathedral will be broadcast live by WLAE-TV in partnership with the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The Holy Week broadcast schedule is as follows: ➤ Sunday, April 9, Palm Sunday Mass, 11 a.m.; ➤ Tuesday, April 11, Chrism Mass, 10 a.m.; ➤ Thursday, April 13, Mass of the Lord’s Last Supper, 7 p.m.; ➤ Friday, April 14, Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion and Veneration of the Cross, 3 p.m.; ➤ Sunday, April 16, Easter Sunday Mass, 11 a.m.

Deadline: Submissions due Thursday (10 days before each issue) calendar@clarionherald.org (504) area code unless noted April 9-29 EVENTS ST. MARY MAGDALEN, KC Ladies Auxiliary and parish CYO host Easter bunny pictures and Easter Egg Hunt, April 9, pictures (one 5-by-7 for $5 or three for $12 from 8:30-11:30 a.m., with free egg hunt after 9:30 a.m. Mass in the lodge in the back field (follow the paw prints).

Hope is not built on people’s predictions, assurances or line of reasoning, Pope Francis said. Real Christian hope “is not based on our word, but on God’s Word” and promises of salvation and eternal life, the pope said during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square March 29.

In the Jubilee Year of 2000, at the canonization of St. Faustina, Pope John Paul II declared the Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday. Special graces of mercy for the forgiveness of sin and remittance of the temporal punishment for sin are available on this day.

Well, it was long overdue. The 1970 Tulane football team, a team that made Green Wave football relevant again, was finally chosen for induction into the university’s athletics hall of fame. Tulane University had been through some dark football times, but all of that changed in 1966 when head coach Jim Pittman arrived.

Turn on the lights! The party’s starting! When the 2017 prep football season kicks off, Tad Gormley Stadium will have lain a new artificial turf, its complement of eight light towers will be fully illuminated, and best of all … there will be no rental fee increase.