News - July 2016 RSS Feed

Mike Piazza, the newest inductee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, has given a shout-out to Pope Benedict XVI and his mother Veronica.“She gave me the gift of my Catholic faith, which has had a profound impact on my career and has given me patience, compassion and hope,” Piazza said in his induction speech Sunday. “Pope Benedict XVI said, ‘One who has hope, lives differently.’ Mom, you raised five boys, and you were always there for me.”

Fifteen principals of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Corpus Christi held their first monthly meeting for the upcoming school year on Wednesday, July 27, at the Education Service Center. The principals, who represented 15 of the 18 schools in the diocese, discussed topics ranging from "new beginnings with new discoveries" to "each day a beginning for excellence."

The Texas Catholic Conference has named Michael Barba as its associate director of public policy. Barba will assist Executive Director Jennifer Carr Allmon in serving as a representative of the Roman Catholic bishops of Texas before lawmakers.

On July 8-9, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity held their first ever conference, Love and Mercy, for the whole family. SOLT speakers from all over the country traveled to Our Lady of Corpus Christi Campus to share the good news about God’s love and mercy for everyone.

As thousands of youth gather in Krakow this week for World Youth Day with Pope Francis, hundreds of undocumented immigrants in Texas who could not make it got a special message from the pontiff. “Dear youth of the diocese of Brownsville…I want to be close to you. I want to tell you to always look forward, always look to the horizon. Don’t let life put walls in front of you, always look to the horizon,” the Pope said in a July 26 video message to the Texan youth.

This liturgical year we are presented with Luke’s gospel. He begins his "good news" with a short prologue addressing Theophilus whose name means “friend of God.” This mystery man could have been Luke’s patron or even the “man in the pew” of Luke’s church audience. Whoever he was, he can help enrich a modern day person in the pew.

The Diocese of Corpus Christi took delivery of a 35-passenger bus on Wednesday, July 27. The bus will pick up students from Alice and Robstown attending St. John Paul II High School, beginning this school year, which starts on Aug. 8.

For the past year, Diocese of Corpus Christi seminarian James Hernandez has been working with Catholic Relief Service (CRS) while attending Assumption Seminary and Oblate School of Theology. CRS is the official overseas relief and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Our Lady of Guadalupe in Alice held a Vacation Bible School on July 18-22 with the theme "Cave Quest following Jesus, the light of the world." The school concluded with a Mass attended by all the participants and celebrated by Father Julian Cabrera and Father Joseph Varghese.

As thousands of youth are setting foot in Krakow for World Youth Day, many voiced their excitement not only to meet peers who share the same faith, but above all to see Pope Francis in person. For Ernest, a young pilgrim traveling from Zimbabwe, “that feeling is going to be out of this world. It’s going to be out of this world.”

Pope Francis has decried the “absurd violence” which has left an elderly priest dead after his church in northern France was taken hostage during Mass. In a statement released Tuesday by the Vatican, the Pope, having been informed of the situation, “participates in the pain and horror of this absurd violence,” while radically condemning “every form of hatred.”

It is a major miracle about which you have probably never heard. On Sunday, Oct. 3, 1847, more than 2,000 people in Ocotlán, Mexico saw a perfect image of Jesus Christ crucified that appeared in the sky for more than 30 minutes.

It has been said that St. Thomas Aquinas taught that God sought in the Eucharist, “not the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into Jesus’ body and blood, but the transformation of ourselves into Jesus’ presence.”

Father Paul Hu, SOLT passed away on Saturday, July 16 of heart complications. He was a priest of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.

Faithful to the wish of Pope Francis, a new decree has bumped the liturgical celebration honoring St. Mary Magdalene from a memorial to a feast, putting her on par with the apostles. The reason, according to Archbishop Arthur Roche, is that she “has the honor to be the first witness of the Lord’s resurrection.”

Thirty-seven people attended a training session at St. John of the Cross in Orange Grove on Saturday, July 16. Jaime Reyna, director of the office of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Corpus Christi conducted the training, entitled “Discern God’s Call to Lead & Catechize.”

When I was in elementary school my maternal grandmother died. We lived in a small town in North Texas and my family was one of the pillars of the community. I believe one image I somehow remember from the first Thanksgiving meal after her death has given me a slightly different approach to helping the poor during the Thanksgiving-Christmas season. The image is a plate of fried quail; a delicacy to be sure.

Durante la primera semana de junio se llevo a cabo en la parroquia de St. Thomas the Apostle en Robstown una reunión de trabajo y planeación del ministerio hispano, de la diócesis de Corpus Christi. El padre Julián Cabrera, director del mismo y párroco de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Alice, presidió sobre la junta.

Bishop Michael Mulvey and Duval County Judge Ricardo Carrillo met today, July 15, to discuss the county's proposal for a family detention center in San Diego. The bishop said the meeting was one of "mutual respect and understanding," but expressed his continued opposition to the center.