The Dominican Debs earned national ranking at the National Dance Team Championship, held in Orlando. Theycompeted in the small varsity jazz division with 88 teams, small varsity hip hop division with 40 teams, and large game day division with 22 teams.

Cabrini High School recently inducted 36 students into the National Honor Society (NHS). Membership is by invitation only. National Honor Society is the nation’s premier organization established to recognize outstanding high school students.

Academy of the Sacred Heart senior Elizabeth Coman was named first alternate for the state of Louisiana in the United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP). Sponsored by the United States Senate and funded by the Hearst Foundations, USSYP is a national initiative that provides a yearly opportunity for outstanding high school students with demonstrated leadership abilities to deepen their understanding of America’s political processes.

Jack Piwko, an honors’ junior at Archbishop Rummel High School, has been selected to attend the three-week Franklin & Marshall College Prep Immersion Program in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, this summer.  It is open to rising high-school seniors and offers the college experience of being  taught by F&M professors, living in the dorm and eating in the dining halls.

At the recent Rummel Day activities on the Archbishop Rummel High School campus, 1971 alumnus John “Jay” Lauricella, posthumously received the school’s “Alumnus of the Year” award.  Accepting the award for Lauricella was his sister, Sandy Lauricella Anzelmo (third from left).  Others present were Sean Francioni, Archbishop Rummel advancement director (left); Tommy Anzelmo, her husband; Tommy Anzelmo Jr., their son; and Marvin Gresse, alumni association president.

Paul Distler, a social studies teacher at Cabrini High School, was named the Holocaust Educator of the Year by the Holocaust Memorial Committee of the New Orleans Jewish Community Center on March 29.

The Louisiana Knights of Columbus awarded its Catholic School’s Lottery Program to Christian Riviere, a parishioner at Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Parish in LaPLace.

Holy Week is here, which is always described as the summit of the church’s liturgical season. Can you share some thoughts on Holy Week? One of the joys of Holy Week for me is the opportunity to welcome hundreds of people into the Catholic Church. This year we have nearly 350 people who will enter the church at the Easter Vigil.

Loyola University New Orleans is launching a non-degree Women’s Leadership Academy this month and is seeking participants for its inaugural cohort.

This Lenten season has been very fruitful for me. One of the opportunities I have taken advantage of is Matthew Kelly’s “Best Lent Ever” video series.

To help members better afford Catholic elementary and high school tuition for their children, the Louisiana State Council of the Knights of Columbus has started a “Catholic School Supplemental Tuition Lottery Program.”

Queridos hermanos: los primeros cristianos celebraban la Pascua anual, máxima solemnidad del año, en una sola festividad. Todo se concentraba en ese día radiante y jubiloso, intensamente esperado y anticipado a lo largo de cada domingo del ciclo litúrgico.

DAY OF PRAYER, April 25, directed by Matt Rousso and Msgr. Doug Doussan on Pope Francis’ universal call to holiness as proclaimed in his apostolic exhortation “Gaudete et Exsultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad”). Salt and Light film on the “Francis Impact” will be shown June 11. Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat House, 5500 St. Mary St., Metairie.

Por Arzobispo Gregory M. Aymond La Semana Santa está aquí, que siempre se describe como, la cumbre del tiempo litúrgico de la Iglesia. ¿Podría compartir algunas reflexiones sobre la Semana Santa? Una de las alegrías de la Semana Santa para mí, es la oportunidad de dar la bienvenida a cientos de personas a la Iglesia Católica.

Holy Week, the summit of the Christian liturgical year, begins with Palm Sunday, marking Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem amidst palm-waving crowds. On Holy Thursday, Jesus gives an example to his apostles about what they must do by washing their feet. On Good Friday, Jesus is condemned to death and carries his cross through the streets of Jerusalem to Calvary.

As foreign ministers of the 29 member nations of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), gathered in Washington, D.C. on April 3-4 to commemorate the 70thanniversary of the founding of this largest military alliance in the world, nonviolent peace activists across the U.S. and from around the world also gathered in Washington to proclaim: “No to NATO – Yes to Peace.”

If only his running backs could sidestep defenders like the LSU football coach did with reporters on the final question of his post-Spring Game press conference.

My husband has always been pro-life, but he’s never been extremely comfortable talking about it. That is, not until the reality of our pregnancy hit him.

As the high time of Mardi Gras season approached, I found myself wondering about Lent. What should I do? What should I not do? Feeling a pull to massive withdrawal and purging probably due to the sensory overload that is Thanksgiving + Christmas + Mardi Gras, I decided to go to adoration to pray about what God wanted from me this Lent.

Jesuit Father Walter Ciszek survived nearly 20 years in Soviet prisons and Siberian labor camps. After his capture by the Russian army during World War II, he endured many false accusations, sham trials and agonizing interrogations, along with harsh starvation while working in the Siberian salt mines.