For the second straight year, you have designated this weekend, the First Sunday of Lent, as “Safe Haven Sunday,” designating a time to raise awareness of the scourge of pornography in our community. What’s the purpose of this initiative?

In 1729, when Jonathan Swift wrote “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country,” the confounded reaction to his political and socioeconomic satire suggested he had mined a hidden truth permeating the natural law: the inherent value and dignity of every human being.

James “J.T.” Hannan has been named the director of advancement for the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Office of Catholic Schools, a new position created in partnership with the Catholic Community Foundation that will focus on making Catholic schools more accessible to families who want a Catholic education for their children.

The annual Southern Regional Conference of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal will be held March 29-31 at the Copeland Tower Suites and Conference Center in Metairie. The conference theme is “The Spirit of Truth: Signs, Wonders, Miracles.”

Ever feel like your world is falling apart? You’ve had the worst day at work, you pick up your child at school and realize he has a school project due in two days that you completely forgot about. On top of that, it’s cold, raining, windy and your umbrella broke in half. 

The 2018 CSAL Girls’ Flag Football Championship, beset by numerous rain cancellations since November, was finally decided Feb. 9 after a single-division tournament played at St. Mary Magdalen. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton beat St. Philip Neri to claim the crown. (Photo courtesy of the CSAL)

The 2019 CSAL Boys’ Volleyball Tournament played out Feb. 9 at St. Christopher’s gym. In the end of the single-division competition, St. Philip Neri prevailed over runner-up St. Angela Merici. (Photo courtesy of the CSAL)

Today’s readings begin and end talking about how we talk. A Jewish sage, Sirach, makes the observation that “when a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks” (Sir 27:4). Jesus – the Jewish sage par excellence – likewise takes a person’s speech as an indicator of where they’re at: “From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Lk 6:45).

Lent reminds us to slow down, to take a breath, to reconsider the lives that we’re leading. Often, it’s just what we need in the midst of a packed schedule.

When speaking to God as a father, Christians experience a love that goes beyond human love and affection, which can be unpredictable and mired by selfishness, Pope Francis said.

The 2019 Clarion Herald’s Elite Girls’ Basketball team includes two coaches of the year whose will to win overcame difficult times and a group of athletes who performed to their highest  levels of capability.