Sacred Heart of Jesus Sister Emily Iyelumi (lead photo) reads from the Book of Malachi at the Feb. 9 World Day for Consecrated Life Mass at Mount Carmel Academy.

As a campus minister and theology teacher since 2008 at Holy Cross High School – and having served for a few years as an assistant football coach – Adrian Jackson has a keen insight into what makes teenage boys tick.

When Marianite Sister Marjorie Hebert became president and CEO of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans six years ago, Archbishop Gregory Aymond asked her to ensure that one of the agency’s primary missions would be to serve the archdiocese’s 121 parishes and missions.

In his book “Outliers: The Story of Success,” author Malcolm Gladwell offers intriguing explanations for why some people are more successful than others. Gladwell looks for general rules of success: Is it nature or nurture? Is it innate talent, genius, favorable opportunities or hard work that makes it possible for some to become more successful than others?

Separate groups of volunteers – from Entergy, below, and from the Archdiocese of New Orleans, above – loaded boxes of food for the needy recently.

BATON ROUGE, La. (CNS) – In a show of openness, transparency and a hope for healing, Bishop Michael   Duca of Baton Rouge released Jan. 31 the names of all priests, a former bishop of the diocese, and one former seminarian “against whom there are credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors and/or vulnerable adults in the Diocese of Baton Rouge.”

If every Catholic understood the Mass as well as Dr. Scott Hahn, the liturgy might no longer feel, to some, like an obligation but like an invitation to share Jesus and his love for all.

“… This is not a childhood story. This is the story of God. This is the story of how we’ve come to know God in his written word,” Father James Wehner, rector-president of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, said Jan. 29 at the onset of a 100-hour, outdoor Bible-reading on the seminary’s front lawn. 

Archbishop Gregory Aymond didn’t have to reach to catch the attention of the hundreds of students who gathered in St. Catherine of Siena Church in Metairie Feb. 1 for the annual Catholic Schools Week Mass.

Carmelite Father Eduardo Scarel, a Catholic priest and atmospheric scientist, will speak on “Environmental Justice as Seen through the Lens of Laudato Si,” Feb. 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Notre Dame Seminary’s Schulte Auditorium, 2901 South Carrollton Ave.

Sacred Heart Brother Martin Hernandez tried his best in 1969 to stop his fellow Brothers from naming their new high school on Elysian Fields Avenue after him, but they did it anyway because he was so beloved. On Jan. 22 in honor of the school’s 50th anniversary, a new bronze statue of Brother Martin, crafted by sculptor Kim Bernadas, was dedicated by the school and blessed by Father Kyle Dave, ’89.

The image of Jesus’ Sacred Heart – which burns with the fire of God’s love even while wrapped in a crown of thorns – is a fitting symbol for what drives the educational mission of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, said Archbishop Gregory Aymond, delivering the homily at the Jan. 24 Mass celebrating two milestones: the 150th anniversary of the Sacred Heart Brothers’ arrival in New Orleans and the 50th anniversary of the opening of Brother Martin High School. “The image of the heart of Jesus summarizes the personal love that our God has for us, a love that we cannot fully grasp with our human condition,” said Archbishop Aymond, speaking also as a member of the 1967 graduating class of Cor Jesu, which consolidated with the Sacred Heart Brothers’ first New Orleans school – St. Aloysius – to form Brother Martin High School in 1969.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The two Supreme Court cases that legalized abortion virtually on demand in the United States were based on “deception,” said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas. “The late Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, lied about being gang-raped,” said Archbishop Naumann, new chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. “After her pro-life conversion, Norma acknowledged that she was deceived by her attorneys about the reality of abortion. For the last 20 years of her life, Norma McCorvey labored tirelessly to overturn Roe v. Wade.”

How can you directly help make Catholic schools more affordable to a family that desires to provide that for their children? The Archdiocese of New Orleans will take up a special collection at all weekend Masses (Jan. 26-27) to provide tuition assistance to as many families as possible. Please be generous. Out of town this weekend and not at your parish church? Visit http://nolacatholic.org/donate to make a gift.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Jan. 17, the eve of the March for Life, pilgrims from the Archdiocese of New Orleans began the day in praise to God in Mass at their hotel, and ended it in benediction at the 10th annual “Life is Very Good” evening of prayer and rally at EagleBank Arena at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. “Tonight was one of those times when you hear God,” seminarian Ajani Gibson told the pilgrims after having experienced the powerful and spirit-filled rally and then being quiet and still in benediction. “We find out how God speaks to us in those moments of silence.” Sponsored by the Diocese of Arlington, the evening featured speakers Chris Stefanick, ministry leader and performer Steve Angrisano and the Christian band “I Am They.” “Be open and allow God to come into our heart,” Angrisano told 8,000 young people from across the United States who came from as far away as North Dakota. He mentioned how the event has grown from its inception 10 years earlier with only 350 people.

St. Augustine Church, 1210 Gov. Nicholls St., New Orleans, will offer a Memorial Mass and celebration of life Jan. 26 for Divine Word Father Jerome LeDoux, the longtime St. Augustine pastor, who died Jan. 7. The Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m., followed by a celebration of life from noon to 4 p.m. Father LeDoux served as pastor of St. Augustine in New Orleans from 1990-2006. In his retirement, he lived at St. Augustine Seminary and then at Holy Ghost Church in Opelousas from 2016 until his death.

BILOXI, Miss. (CNS) – Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, the founding bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi and the first black bishop in the 20th century to head a U.S. diocese, died Jan. 9. He was 95. A funeral Mass was celebrated Jan. 16 at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral in Biloxi, with burial following in the new Bishops' Prayer Garden behind the cathedral. “While we are saddened by the death of Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, we rejoice in his life,” said Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III of Biloxi. “His was a life well lived in faithful service to almighty God and to the people of Mississippi, both as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson and later as first bishop of Biloxi from 1977 to 2001.”

This week we join the nation in celebrating Catholic Schools Week, a celebration of our schools, our students, our educators, our parents and all who make up our Catholic school community. In reflecting on the National Catholic Educational Association’s Catholic Schools Week theme – “Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.” – I began to think of all the ways our schools follow through with this theme on a daily basis. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – They came in 10 busloads from the Archdiocese of New Orleans, praying the rosary, lifting up the sanctity of life and letting the world know that their young voices must be heard. More than 500 students from high schools in the archdiocese traveled to the nation’s capitol Jan. 15-20 to lend their voices to the 46th Annual March for Life, a rallying cry that is being promoted in stronger ways than ever by young people often stereotyped as self-absorbed and disengaged. “There’s no doubt, that if you talk to the majority of our young people today, they are pro-life,” Archbishop Gregory Aymond said before leading the archdiocesan contingent on the march along the National Mall. “It is my generation that was pro-choice. It’s my generation when Roe vs. Wade took place. “That was very dominant for a long time, but attitudes (toward unborn life) have changed, and I think that’s in large part due to the young church, the young adult church. They don’t just speak about pro-life. We have 500 people here who are willing to go to Washington and march and say they are pro-life.”

In collaboration with Second Harvest Food Bank, the archdiocesan Office of Evangelization will host a “Mercy Morning of Reflection” Jan. 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the food bank, 700 Edwards Ave., Harahan. The free morning will consist of prayer, a service project in the Second Harvest warehouse, a reflection on the Catholic Church’s social teaching principles and the corporal work of mercy from Matthew 25, “When I was hungry you gave me some food,” and the service project. The reflection period will close with a light lunch. The morning is limited to the first 25 participants. Registration is necessary at https://shfbgnoa.volunteerhub.com/lp/archdiocesenola/. “The idea comes from the Year of Mercy,” said Dominican Father David Caron, vicar of evangelization for the archdiocese who was commissioned as a “Missionary of Mercy” by Pope Francis in 2015. “When I went back to Rome (in 2018) with the other missionaries of mercy, the Holy Father extended the invitation to keep teaching and preaching about mercy, especially through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and the sacrament of reconciliation. Mercy is endless. We are trying to connect people to mercy service opportunities.”