By Beth Donze, Kids’ Clarion Editor “I can see the moon!” “The sun is a smiley face!” “It looks like a banana!” These were just a few of the observations offered by moonstruck St. Dominic students as they gathered in their school yard Aug. 21 to watch a rare astronomical dance play out: a solar eclipse.

Pope Paul VI taught that if we want peace, we should work for justice. But what is really meant by justice? When we talk about Catholic social teaching, we tend to emphasize the life and dignity of every human person, the rights of workers and the dignity of their work, and placing the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

The Cabrini High School Science Squad, a complimentary science outreach program sponsored by the Cabrini High School Science Department, sparks student interest and curiosity in a variety of science topics.

By Beth Donze, Kids’ Clarion Editor On Sept. 12, the Joe and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation awarded service-learning grants totaling $270,000 to 62 area schools, among them 14 Catholic elementary and nine Catholic high schools.

Another St. Edward student draws national praise for penmanship By Beth Donze, Kids’ Clarion Editor Far from becoming a lost art, penmanship is alive and well at St. Edward the Confessor School in Metairie.

By Ron Brocato Though players come and go, the cream of the volleyball crop continues to perpetuate winning programs year after year. And the best teams in  the field of the Sept. 16-17 Catholic League Volleyball Tournament did just that.

By Ron Brocato Photo | COURTESY ARCHBISHOP HANNAN HIGH SCHOOL Dominican Father Charles Latour, principal of Archbishop Hannan High School, enjoys the spoils of victory in the form of a wheelbarrow ride provided by St. Luke the Evangelist pastor and Pope John Paul II High School president Father Patrick Wattigny following the Hannan Hawks’ 28-3 victory over their northshore rival Jaguars on Sept. 15.

The message from members of the Louisiana High School Basketball Coaches Association is loud and clear. Its coaches want their principals, who are from Louisiana High School Athletic Association schools, to abandon their state championship tournament format of hosting separate playoffs for public and non-public schools and to compete in a unified playoff format.

By Beth Donze, Kids’ Clarion Editor Something as simple as the manner in which the gifts are brought up at Mass can be a powerful means of evangelization. Helping school Masses to be as awe-inspiring as they are meant to be is one of the main missions of St. Mary Magdalen School’s Liturgical Club of 20 fourth through seventh graders.

By Peter Finney Jr. It has been 200 years since the Vincentian Fathers – the Congregation of the Mission – came to the United States from Italy to establish a seminary in the Louisiana Territory at Perryville, Missouri, the first institution of higher learning west of the Mississippi River.

Deadline: Submissions due Thursday (10 days before each issue) calendar@clarionherald.org (504) area code unless noted Sept. 23-Oct. 22 PARISHES SAN LORENZO RUIZ FEAST DAY , 30th anniversary celebration of the first Filipino canonized saint, Sept. 23, 5:30 p.m. Main 6 p.m. Mass celebrant: Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

Will it get better, anytime soon? Maybe. But, for Saints fans, some black-and-gold reality set in last Sunday at the Superdome. Against the Super Bowl champion Patriots, the Saints were non-competitive.

Colombia’s long and arduous path toward reconciliation and a lasting peace after nearly half a century of war is a sign of hope for all Christians, Pope Francis said. Speaking to pilgrims Sept. 13 at his weekly general audience, the pope said the motto of his visit Sept. 6-10 – “Demos el primer paso” (“Let’s take the first step”) – referred to the process of reconciliation that, while difficult, is “underway with the help of God.” “With my visit, I wanted to bless the efforts of that people, confirm them in faith and hope and receive their witness, which is a wealth for my ministry and for the whole church,” the pope said.

La controvertida línea de preguntas de la senadora de California, Dianne Feinstein a un candidato a la judicatura federal – quien es natural de Metairie – ha creado una tormenta de fuego a cerca de la libertad del estado religioso en este país.

She was a Southern lady who embodied grace and good manners, seedbeds of any meticulously tilled life of tranquility and delight. Laura Deavers probably endured more than her share of tempest and tumult as editor of The Catholic Commentator in the Diocese of Baton Rouge for 30 years – ask any editor of a Catholic newspaper, and he or she will tell you typos normally occur on page 1 in 72-point type and always under the bishop’s smiling face – but the miracle of her life was how she tamed the chaos, the letters to the editor scribbled in crayon, with an all-powerful, conspiratorial smile and an inherent, very Catholic understanding of the human condition.

By Peter Finney Jr. NEW ORLEANS – New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan suggested to more than 400 priests of the state of Louisiana that humbly and openly sharing the “wounds” and shortcomings of the church might bring those who are alienated back to the practice of the faith.

The controversial line of questioning by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein to a candidate for the federal judiciary – who happens to be a native of Metairie – has created a fire storm about the state of religious freedom in this country.

By Beth Donze Holy relics linked to St. Padre Pio, the 20th-century Italian priest who bore the stigmata – wounds corresponding to those endured by Christ during his crucifixion –are coming to St. Rita Church in New Orleans on Oct. 4.

By John Smestad Jr., Pastoral Planning and Ministries In May, I detailed the resources and initiatives that the offices and agencies of the Archdiocese of New Orleans have offered to help all parishes and institutions achieve the five priorities and 21 goals of the archdiocese’s 9th General Synod.

Isabella SUMMERSGILL GUEST COLUMN In 1999, to my parents’ surprise, I was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. While they did not know what this meant, they tried to prepare themselves for what that would entail.