Daughters of Charity Health Centers (DCHC) will offer free dental services for Give Kids A Smile Day, on Feb. 2 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at its Carrollton health center, 3201 South Carrollton Ave., New Orleans. Services for children, ages 2 to 17, include free dental screenings, fluoride treatments and more. The event also will include face painting, balloon art, story time, an appearance by Zippy the Zebra and various giveaways. Participants are asked to register by Jan. 30 by calling 483-8370.

God is a father who never ignores his children when they call to him in times of suffering, loneliness and despair, Pope Francis said. Although at times it seems that “so many of our prayers seem to have no result,” Christians are called by Christ to “insist and not give up,” the pope said Jan. 9 during his weekly general audience. “Prayer, prayer always changes reality, let us not forget that: It either changes things or changes our hearts, but it always changes,” he said. Arriving at the Paul VI audience hall, the pope greeted thousands of cheerful pilgrims, shaking hands, embracing children and even taking a sip of mate tea offered to him by a pilgrim.

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Jason and Elise Angelette, codirectors of the Faith and Marriage Apostolate of the Willwoods Community, had just been given the sobering diagnosis by their obstetrician: Ten weeks pregnant with twins, Elise was in the process of miscarriage. For weeks, the Angelettes had excitedly told their eldest child, then 5-year-old Bella, that she and her sister Sophia were going to be “big sisters” once again. “She knew what it meant to be a big sister,” Jason Angelette told the Gulf Coast Faith Formation Conference in Kenner last week, adding that Bella’s excitement grew day by day as she told her friends.

The Vietnamese Community of the Archdiocese of New Orleans is celebrating TET/Lunar New Year festivals for the 2019 “Year of the Pig.” Activities are planned at three Vietnamese Catholic churches in the archdiocese, including exotic food; exciting games; bands playing jazz, country and modern music; live evening shows highlighting famous Vietnamese singers; modern and traditional dance performances and more. Parking and admission are free.

Incarnate Word Sister Imelda Moriarty, who served as principal of St. Catherine of Siena School for 29 years, died Dec. 29, 2018, at The Village at Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. She was 93 and had served for 76 years in religious life. When Sister Imelda boarded the plane for San Antonio at the end of WWII, she knew she might not see her mother and her six siblings in County Kerry, Ireland, again. 

WWII historian and author Ron Drez Sr. – who will lead the Clarion Herald’s visit to the beaches of Normandy during a June 11-23 pilgrimage that will also include the shrines of France – explains why the Nazi war machine never suspected an Allied invasion in Normandy, how subterfuge by double agents foiled the Germans from making proper preparations and how the Normandy invasion differs from every other major campaign in military history. Videos

St. Katharine Drexel 11th grader Brooke Dapremont explains why she came to March for life

Queridos hermanos: con la fiesta del Bautismo de Jesús en el Jordán, dábamos fin a las fiestas de Navidad; pero todavía no se han terminado los “signos de Jesús”, o epifanías, que significa “manifestación”, a través de las cuales Jesús, el Hijo de Dios y de María, nacido en Belén, se manifiesta a aquellos extraños personajes “venidos de Oriente”, anunciando a “todo el mundo” que Dios se ha hecho presente en nuestra Historia. 

When a work colleague mentioned to David Dawson Jr. about a 90-day, men’s spiritual exercise program called Exodus 90, the sales pitch he heard had the immediate appeal of a hermit wearing sackcloth and ashes, dining every night on cardboard, medium rare, and cutting the cords powering his TV, smart phone, computer and social media. “I basically told him I would pray about it and blame it on God when he told me no – because I was already working my tail off for God,” said Dawson, director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the father of seven children, the oldest of whom is 10.

With each start of the semester, it seems that I get some variation prior to the start of classes on the question of whether, in a literature class, we’ll actually need all of the books listed in the bookstore. It’s a question that raises much anger because it’s an answer that seems pretty straightforward. In a literature course, we read texts.  In my syllabus, I’ve had to begin including a clause: “This is a reading-intensive course. Students are expected to read ‘X’ number of pages per class period.” 

In fulfillment of a promise made by the Ursuline Sisters to honor Mary annually for her intercession in the unlikely American victory against the British in the Battle of New Orleans, Archbishop Gregory Aymond presided over the 204th Mass marking the Solemnity of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Jan. 8. During the Mass, celebrated in the Ursuline Sisters’ national shrine, Archbishop Aymond noted that we still need Our Lady of Prompt Succor’s intercession in “the battles of today,” which include polarized discourse and growing national intolerance, a divided church, in which some are quick to judge others’ spirituality, and discord within families. “It’s easier to see the differences among us more than our likenesses,” the archbishop said. “Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us, that we may become the united family that your Son calls us to be.”

 A series of controversial proposals that will appear on the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s 52-page agenda for the Jan. 23-25 annual convention hit the fan on Monday. Authored by Teurlings Catholic’s crusading principal Michael Boyer, Select schools would determine their playoff formats in the sports of football, basketball and baseball separate and apart from the common playoff system that governs non-select schools. Passage of this proposal is contingent upon principals from Select (non-public schools) approving the proposals. 

Ursuline students with an interest in architecture and engineering now have opportunities for hands-on experiences in and out of the classroom through the school’s alliance with the national ACE (Architecture, Construction, Engineering) Mentor Program of America. This year, Ursuline Academy juniors and seniors joined the more than 9,000 students nationwide from 1,000 high schools that participate annually in ACE. Ursuline is one of only two all-girls’ teams to work one-on-one with local volunteers and tour professional firms in each field.

Seminarian Ajani Gibson told the travelers on a 24-hour bus ride to the March for Lufe that they were going on a pilgrimage. “We are going to DC for a purpose - to defend life; to give a voice to the voiceless.” This year’s theme is “Why Believe?” The patron saint of the trip to be used as example is St. Paul, originally a nonbeliever and persecutor of Christian, but became one of the greatest disciples known to man, Ajani said. St. Paul is the perfect model for the March for Life theme, “Why Believe?” He asked that same question before he became a Christian, and became among those who were persecuted. A movie, “Paul, the Apostle of Christ” was shown on his adult life. Ajani also  handed out prayer cards on the bus so pilgrims could pray for unborn babies and one another.

Join Christine Bordelon on a 24 hour bus ride to Washington D.C. for the March for Life rally, the world's largest pro-life event!  Click the map below for the itinerary , then follow along on Facebook and here on our website.

John Smestad with the Archdiocese of New Orleans tells the history of the annual March for Life pilgrimage from New Orleans. It was launched in 2006 and now attracts 500 Pilgrims on 10 charter buses.

High school senior Meghan Farnsworth had a faith conversion back to the Catholic Church after her first trip to the March for Life with the Academy of the Sacred Heart. It was the invitation of her campus minister that changed her life. One person can make a difference in the lives of others.

Declining enrollment, state test scores and lack of financial viability were deciding factors in the Office of Catholic Schools (OCS) Archdiocese of New Orleans’ decision to close St. Peter Claver Catholic School after this academic year. The closure of the elementary school, founded by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1921 in Treme, was announced to parents Jan. 10 by St. Peter Claver pastor, Father John Asare-Dankwah, at an evening meeting on campus. In attendance were Dr. RaeNell Houston, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and associate school superintendent Ingrid Fields. (Associate superintendent Michael Buras had spoken to teachers earlier in the day and will work closely with them to find new positions for next school year.)

CHURCH IS MEANINGFUL EVENT: “Church is Pointless: What’s in It for Me?” Dr. Scott Hahn,  founder and president of St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a writer and teacher at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, discusses how Mass is not boring and pointless but impactful and meaningful. WHEN: Jan. 25, at 7 p.m. WHERE: Tulane University Dixon Hall. Presented by Tulane Catholic Center.   COST: free for students, and $5 for the public. Register at stpaulcenter.org/ Tulane or call 866-0984.