News - December 2017 RSS Feed

…sainted side of Santa Father Gary Copping, pastor of St. Joseph Church and Shrine on the West Bank, had a fun teaching moment with wide-eyed Zachary Clinton Dec. 3 when he dressed as St. Nicholas to pose for Christmas pictures with children and adult parishioners.

The later it gets in an NFL season, the more the cliches fly. “It is the most important game, this week.” “This is just week (fill in the blank).” But, none of that applies on Christmas Eve at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

A large swath of high school basketball coaches want their game to return to a traditional, common playoff format that reunites so-called select and non-select teams. What the proposal scheduled to be on the LHSAA’s January 2018 business meeting agenda is saying – in the words of a song from the “ Little Abner” Broadway play offered by the Dogpatch wives – is “Put ’em back the way they wuz.” But now that it takes a two-thirds vote of LHSAA principals to turn any proposal into law, there’s a better chance of seeing Republican and Democrat lawmakers holding hands and singing “Kumbaya” on the White House lawn than a majority of principals voting the will of their basketball coaches.

Photos by Frank J. Methe, Clarion Herald Merry Christmas from our students! The Council of Catholic School Cooperative Clubs sponsors the annual Keep Christ in Christmas poster, essay and poetry contest.

From Nov. 21-26,  I competed for the National All American Miss Teen title in Anaheim, California. This pageant is open to girls ages 4-18 and has five different age divisions along with multiple side competitions such as an actress competition, a runway model competition, a talent competition and more.

By Christine Bordelon, Clarion Herald A hug. A hot meal. A place to chill. A sincere, “How are you?” These simple gestures are the crux of the Families Inviting Seminarians Home or F.I.S.H. program whereby families adopt seminarians studying at St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, outside Covington.

By Christine Bordelon, Clarion Herald A collection of two Fontanini figurines that Christ the King Church’s former pastor, Father Jose Ladra, began in Cuba in 1958 before he fled to the United States during the Cuban Revolution, has grown into a nativity scene of the town of Bethlehem that encompasses an 18-by-18-foot space inside the Gretna church’s cry room.

By Claire Worchel Pope John Paul II High As the Thanksgiving season has melded into Advent and Christmas, I have so much to be thankful for at Pope John Paul II High. After family and health, of course, I’d like to encourage all students to include being thankful for their education, and all that comes with it.

Miriam lives in Pittsburgh with her parents. She was born last Dec. 30, five days after Christmas, our first granddaughter, someone I called then a 7-pound, 9-ounce package of Love Potion No. 9. In the last 11 1/2 months, Miriam has expanded that love package, and she will be in New Orleans this week to celebrate her first Christmas and her first birthday.

Former WWL-TV news director, editorialist and assistant general manager  Phil Johnson, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 80, was an icon among New Orleans television journalists. When the Jesuits who owned WWL said they wanted the station to “stand” for something, Johnson began writing brief daily editorials in 1962 to close out the news report each day.

Just like a plant needs sun and nourishment to survive, every Christian needs the light of Sunday and the sustenance of the Eucharist to truly live, Pope Francis said. “How can we carry out the Gospel without drawing the energy needed to do it, one Sunday after another, from the limitless source of the Eucharist?” he said Dec. 13 during his weekly general audience.

25 de diciembre de 2017 ¡Una muy bendecida Navidad para ti! En la tranquilidad de la noche, una virgen dio a luz a un bebé, en un establo, porque no podían encontrar ningún lugar en la posada. Su esposo, José, estaba allí.

December 25, 2017 A very blessed Christmas to you! In the quiet of the night, a virgin gave birth to a baby, in a stable, because they could find no place in the inn. Her husband, Joseph, was there. No fanfare, a dirty stable.

By Peter Finney Jr., Clarion Herald When St. Francis of Assisi Parish in uptown New Orleans approached its 125th anniversary in 2015, the anniversary committee naturally planned several events and liturgies to mark the achievement during its yearlong celebration.

Deadline: Submissions due Thursday (10 days before each issue) calendar@clarionherald.org (504) area code unless noted Dec. 27-Feb. 17 EVENTS ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA , healing Mass, Dec. 27, 7 p.m. followed by healing service, eucharistic exposition and benediction.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has announced schedules of Masses at business district churches for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL: Dec. 24, Christmas Vigil Mass at 5 p.m., preceded by carols at 4:30 p.m.

By BETH DONZE Kids’ Clarion Although the Feast of All Saints is the traditional day on which Catholic schoolchildren garb themselves in saintly attire, the season of Advent is another appropriate time to do this.

By Mary T. Carty , Contributing writer Clarion Herald In vintage romantic movies, there is often the final image of the groom carrying the bride over the threshold into their new home to live “happily ever after,” and the audience never gets a chance to see what their life will be like on a normal day after they move in together.

By Mary T. Carty , Contributing writer Clarion Herald Couples create their marriage by the choices they make on a daily, minute-to-minute basis about thousands of situations that occur while building a life together.

St. Mary’s Dominican High recently celebrated a Multicultural Festival, presented by the school’s Multicultural Club. Dresses from several countries were modeled by members including, from left: Jane Bickerton, Caroline Bickerton, Catherine Bickerton, Alondra Gomez-Santos, Caroline Alleman, Olivia Cheung, Victoria Cheung, Alexa Gonzalez, Bakhit Cuccia, Saheba Cuccia and Chloe Chin.