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MOBILE, Ala. — The Archdiocese of Mobile was informed that Heart of Mary Catholic School in downtown Mobile will close in May and will not reopen for the 2022-23 school year.

Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi installed 17 Archdiocese of Mobile permanent diaconate candidates in the Ministry of Acolyte on Jan. 8 during Mass at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. The Ministry of Acolyte is the final ministry received prior to ordination as a deacon.

Notice three men dressed as the Magi roaming throughout Montgomery?  That was just Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School President Justin Castanza, Holy Spirit Parish Parochial Vicar Fr. Patrick Gilbreath and St. Bede the Venerable Parish Parochial Vicar Fr. Connor Plessala following the star to find the baby Jesus.

A new year is a great time to evaluate how we are doing as good Christian stewards. Many people make New Year’s Resolutions. Most New Year’s resolutions include diet, exercise, budgeting or reduced screen time because we see each of these as ways to better ourselves. While each of these things are good, there is no better way to better ourselves than to devote the time, talent and treasures our God so generously gave us to love and worship Him to accomplish His will in our lives. 

I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season and that you are refreshed and renewed as we enter 2022.

Anne Baggett compiles information for Looking Back from past issues of this newspaper. Anne is a member of St. Mary Parish in Mobile.

We are about to begin a new year. For many people a new year brings a sense of hope. There can be a feeling that this new year will be better than the last. There’s a clean slate before us. People make resolutions ranging from dieting and exercise to praying and personal change all aimed at making 2022 better than 2021.

Sister Lucille Marie (Lucille Evelyn) Beauchamp, D.C., died Dec. 14, 2021 at Seton Residence in Evansville, Ind., at the age of 99.

As we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.” — Titus 2:13

This paper comes out on New Year’s Eve.  I don’t know when you will see it, but please allow me to wish you a grace-filled year in 2022.  But let’s be clear about God’s blessings.

Anne Baggett compiles information for Looking Back from past issues of this newspaper. Anne is a member of St. Mary Parish in Mobile.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, I recently read on social media a statement by an unbeliever who wrote: “How can Christians believe that God was a little baby who dirtied his diapers and had to be helplessly fed by one of His creatures? Their God is a weak and puny God.”

St. Michael Parish School in Auburn may have small beginnings, said parish pastor Msgr. Michael Farmer, but there’s certainly big excitement.

MOBILE — Catholic clinical psychologist Dr. Ray Guarendi has a message for parents who’ve had adult children leave the faith. Stop beating yourself up over it.

NEW HAVEN, Conn.  — The Knights of Columbus made its latest documentary, "St. Joseph: Our Spiritual Father," available to view for free at kofc.org beginning Dec. 8 to coincide with the end of the "Year of St. Joseph."

Bishop Toolen Catholic High School graduate Master Gunnery Sgt. Cynthia House was honored last month as the first Mobile Bay Area Veteran of the Year selected by the South Alabama Veterans Council.

WASHINGTON — The year is ending pretty much the same way it started, with the United States wondering whether it will experience a surge in COVID-19 cases when the calendar changes numbers.

At the first Christmas, three Wise Men traveled across hundreds of miles of desert to Bethlehem just to see the Infant Jesus (Matthew 2.1-12).  How much easier is it for us to go to Mass to receive Jesus’s actual Body and Blood, the Eucharist? The Wise Men saw Jesus just once. We can receive him every day.  

MAYFIELD, Ky. (CNS) — Mourning, prayer and a resolve to rebuild shattered lives, homes and businesses in Mayfield followed one of the most powerful twisters in U.S. history that leveled the city of 10,000 in western Kentucky overnight Dec. 10.

In 1531 a "Lady from Heaven" appeared to Saint Juan Diego, a poor Indian from Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City. She identified herself as the Mother of the True God and instructed him to have the bishop build a church on the site. As a sign for the bishop, she left an image of herself imprinted miraculously on his tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth. The tilma shows no sign of decay.