News - December 2020 RSS Feed

Epiphany comes from the Greek word “epiphania,” or “manifestation.” The feast of Epiphany, also known as “three kings day,” is traditionally celebrated the 12th day after Christmas, Jan. 6. In the dioceses of the United States this feast has been moved to the Sunday between Jan. 2 and Jan. 8. This year’s solemnity will be celebrated Jan. 3.

And so it ends. A year that brought unprecedented death, despair and destruction finally gasped its last breath only (depending on when you reading this) hours ago.

Today, more than ever, we need inspiring stories about women and men, young and old, who have lived out heroic virtue. Without such ideals to emulate, we too quickly identify moral virtue with human grace and deprive ourselves of higher spiritual ideals.

If resolutions were wishes, resolution number one for nearly everyone would probably be, “May I never see another year like 2020.” 

Sophia Solomon, Senior Nursing Director at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, was the third person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine shot on Dec. 16. “I felt blessed to be a part of it,” she said. Photo provided by Grace Weber | Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center

Even though the sickly pall of COVID-19 and social unrest threatened to seal many dreams in a coffin in 2020, stories of  courage, inspiration, celebrations, dialogue, ordinations and forward-looking changes give glimpses of new dreams and hope for the future.

Father Matthew Graham, pastor at Immaculate Conception Church in Denham Springs, recommended setting aside a place in one’s home to keep focused on prayer or having a corner of a room with a crucifix or the image of a saint. Photo by Richard Meek | The Catholic Commentator

Pediatrician Dr. George J. Schwartzenburg teams up with families in their common goal of keeping children healthy and happy. Seeing God at work is the reward of Schwartzenburg’s profession.

Our God is a God that invites us to wait in joyful hope, who performs miracles and calls us to expect much. There are seasons within the liturgical year that invite us into waiting and expectation - not to torture us or disappoint us, but because, time and time again, God desires to surpass all of our expectations.

In his latest video, Fr. Josh Johnson discusses how the holy priesthood can respond to a deeper crisis in learning how to "pray and pray well."

Our Lady of Mercy Church in Baton Rouge distributed hot meals and food boxes to the needy.

Bishop Duca reflects with the Diocesan community in his annual Christmas message.

When enough people say, “enough is enough,” and “we the people” work to change policies and procedures that exclude and hurt, then change will happen.

We have full reason to believe that even through wars, storms, accidents, pandemics and the certainty of death by old age, God wants us to be with him and his son, Jesus, bound to them and each other in their eternal spirit of love.  

Ascension Catholic Diocesan Region School in Donaldsonville recently celebrated its homecoming.

Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Baton Rouge fifth-grader Drew Mascari, left, and eighth-grader Macy Davis have been selected Students of the Year for 2020-2021.

The student council of St. Jean Vianney School in Baton Rouge held a food drive before the Thanksgiving holiday.

On a crisp, starry December night, people embarked on a locomotive ride from St. Isidore Church in Baker to the North Pole with lightening quick dips, careens, as well as a break-slamming, screeching halt for a large herd of caribous on the tracks. 

Deciding what Christmas Mass to attend can be one of the more difficult decisions facing families during the holiday season.

Being adopted can be a “mystery of the past” for adoptees who may ask, “What would my life have looked like?” “What are the circumstances behind my adoption?” and “What is my birth family like – do I have siblings and do I look/act just like them?”