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Fr. Charles Joseph McCabe, who served throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile, died Sept. 19 in Birmingham at the age of 74.

The other day I was speaking with an elementary school classmate. We were speaking about our Catholic grade school days. Except for the spelling bee when he missed the first word of the bee and had to make the “long walk” back to his desk, having misspelled the first word of the bee, our memories were mostly good memories.

The numbers are in and they indicate enrollment at Catholic schools throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile remains strong.

This summer I had the great privilege of spending June and July studying Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico, which is a nice city 90 minutes south of Mexico City. 

The Knights of Columbus Council at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Prattville supported the national Silver Rose pilgrimage by hosting a prayer service, Rosary and Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, promoting a renewed call to a culture of life locally and nationally. 

Have you ever driven up to the drive-thru window only to find out that the person in front of you paid for your order? What a fun surprise! Did you pay it forward and pay for the person behind you? 

I am writing this column on the feast day of St. John Chrysostom (September 13).  He is often referred to as the “Golden Tongue” because of his beautiful preaching and writing.  Today the Church offers us a reading from one of his homilies.  

In recent years, the number of young people with gender dysphoria, or extreme discomfort in one’s biological sex, has skyrocketed in the US and Western Europe. 

It’s a rare occasion when the word “unprecedented” can be used for a Church whose history extends over two millennia. Yet something unprecedented happened in the Polish village of Markowa on Sept. 10, when an entire family, including their unborn child, was beatified. It seems not quite right to refer to the new blesseds by the traditional formula, “Blessed Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and Companions,” the “companions” in question being the Ulmas’ six living children and their unborn child. Let’s instead think about the Blessed Ulma Family and what they might mean for us. 

50 Years Ago Elected officers of the Foley-Elberta Council No. 2736 Knight of Columbus were: Robert Huffman, grand knight; Arthur Weeks, deputy grand knight; Charles Raussher, chancellor; Harold Schneider, treasurer; John Weiss, financial secretary; Joe Yankovitz, advocate; Andy Baros, warden; Clarence Eslava, inside guard and Elliot Weeks, outside guard.

FAIRHOPE - St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama, is thrilled to announce that it has received gifts from anonymous donors that will enable the school to complete the construction of the football/soccer stadium.

MOBILE — The Archdiocese of Mobile's annual Red Mass for members of the legal profession will be at 12:10 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

Last month, during the final week before seminary classes resumed, I had the blessing of joining our Mobile seminarians for their annual summer retreat. It was a time of prayer, talks and fraternity.

Olivia Stewart and Thomas Snyder firmly believe that Our Lady of Fatima is the perfect matchmaker. 

On early July, Vladimir Putin toured an Orthodox church in St. Petersburg, piously crossed himself, and lit a candle. Hours before, Russian missiles had attacked the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, demolishing the roof of the historic Orthodox Transfiguration cathedral, setting the building afire and melting some of its gold icons. The dwindling numbers of imbeciles who regard Putin as the savior of Christian civilization might ponder that juxtaposition of events.   

If we read the Bible, and I certainly hope that we do, we may notice that Jesus spent a great deal of time in prayer.  We see this especially when He is approaching great suffering and when He is getting ready to make a major decision and announce it (for example when He chooses His Apostles).

On Sept. 8 of each year, the Catholic Church celebrates the birth of the Holy Virgin Mary, mother of our Redeemer.  ES: El 8 de septiembre de cada año, la Iglesia Católica celebra el nacimiento de la Santa Virgen María, madre de nuestro redentor. La natividad de Maria es uno de los tres nacimientos presentes en el calendario litúrgico de la iglesia.

AUBURN — St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Auburn will host The International Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles from Sept. 12-17. All are invited. This traveling display was designed by Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first millennial to be beatified who had a profound love of the Holy Eucharist and passion for technology and research. 

50 Years Ago Fr. John J. McCarthy, S.J., returned to St. Joseph Parish, Mobile. “The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima” elected the following officers: Mrs. Margaret Sands, chairman; Mrs. Mildred Lott, co-chairman; Miss Margaret Bobe, secretary-treasurer; and Fr. Richard M. Myhalyk, S.S.E., spiritual director.

Congratulations to Archdiocese of Mobile seminarian Edward Charnock and St. Dominic Catholic School/McGill-Toolen Catholic High School alumna Janie Dunwell as they took important steps on their vocations journeys.