COLORADO SPRINGS. The 2021 Diocese of Colorado Springs directory is now available. The directory features an updated listing of chancery offices and staff, diocesan ministries, parishes, other organizations, and more. To request a copy of the directory, call 719-866-6492 or send an email to editor@coloradocatholicherald.com. An electronic version is available at diocs.org. 

COLORADO SPRINGS. This year, Catholic Schools’ Week at Divine Redeemer looked very different. Popular activities such as the Eye Opener Breakfast, the National Geographic Geography Bee, and schoolwide Mass and adoration were canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

COLORADO SPRINGS. When the Klein family moved to the Colorado Springs area in 2011 from Indiana, they had only one year in the local Catholic education community before their oldest daughter, Lucy, entered St. Mary’s. They made some connections during that one year with their children attending St. Paul Cahtolic School, but their community was small and high school would be a new experience for the family.

COLORADO SPRINGS.  After years of attending Mass in classrooms and other temporary locations, Catholic college students in Colorado Springs now have a permanent place to worship. Bishop Michael Sheridan dedicated St. John Henry Newman Chapel on Feb. 20 — marking a major milestone for diocesan campus ministry.

Once upon a time, many people assumed that dogma, especially religious dogma, was the enemy of freedom and friendship. If only we relaxed and let each person live by his or her own truth, we could love each other and the world would be a paradise. John Lennon’s “Imagine” was the anthem of this belief.

Dr. Seuss’ fourth book was published in 1940 and met with critical acclaim. It features an elephant whose large ears and long trunk provided the ideal infrastructure for the artist’s distinct lumps and humps.

Today, the homely hero of “Horton Hatches The Egg” feels like a symbol of what we are sorely lacking in a culture that sets us up to be flighty and fickle. He reminds me of a Gospel principle I have found more challenging now that I’m a parent. 

He is something of an enigma, this man of Nazareth, Yusuf ben Yacob or Joseph, son of Jacob as we would call him. Or, simply, Saint Joseph, foster father of Jesus Christ. Descended from David the great king of Israel, this humble artisan was destined for even greater glory within God’s plan of salvation.

During “serious illness conversations,” some doctors will ply their patients with this question: “What is your minimally acceptable quality of life?”

Behind the question can be the implication that if patients are experiencing a low quality of life, their medical treatments can be discontinued because their life has become “no longer worth living.”

The best advice I have ever received about understanding Catholic teaching on modern times came from a friend who recommended reading encyclicals. Pope Benedict’s “Deus Caritas Est” was the first one I picked up, in a little red, paperback version. I read it in one sitting. That copy, with my underlines and exclamation points on dog eared pages, sits at my desk and I refer to it frequently. Since then, I have read several other encyclical letters by Leo XIII, Paul VI, St. John Paul II, Benedict and Francis. I would recommend every one of them. Their words continue to help form my thought and understanding about what it means to be Catholic and human.

NEW YORK. The fact-based film “The Mauritanian” (R, STX) doesn’t adhere to the conventions of a legal drama or a police procedural. Instead, it focuses on the moral implications of the struggle to free a falsely accused prisoner — with brilliant results.

NEW YORK. Set in the 1980s, “Minari” (PG-13, A24), a gentle mix of drama and comedy, explores the immigrant experience from a Korean American perspective.

A loosely autobiographical labor of love from writer-director Lee Isaac Chung, the film also charts the struggles and triumphs of family life.