Daisies are such cheerful flowers. They exude summertime, warm weather, sunshine and friendships. There are so many different varieties, colors, shapes and sizes to choose from. Let’s explore daisies that are proven winners and grow well in our diocese:

COLORADO SPRINGS. After an extraordinary year of learning to educate during a global pandemic, Catholic schools in the Diocese of Colorado Springs are excited to welcome their students back to campus in person for the 2021-2022 school year. School administrators have worked with health guidance experts to develop a plan for the year that addresses the students’ mental, emotional and physical health.

23-year-old woman named Keira Bell recently brought a pivotal lawsuit against the National Health Services Gender Identity Development Clinic in London, better known as the Tavistock Clinic. Keira experienced significant personal harm from puberty blockers, testosterone and an operation to remove her breasts. She claims the medical staff at the clinic failed to challenge her seriously about her decision as a teenager to transition to a male. In a landmark ruling delivered in December 2020, a British court upheld her claim that she’d been rushed through gender reassignment without proper safeguards.

The history of Indian residential schools was largely unknown to me before June when the news of 215 unmarked graves at a school formally run by the Catholic Church surfaced out of Kamloops, British Columbia.  I have followed the story since then as new discoveries have increased the count of these graves in Canada to 1,300. The deceased were some of the 150,000 indigenous children who were removed from their homes, sometimes forcefully, by the Canadian government from the late 1800s through much of the 20th century.  

COLORADO SPRINGS. Divine Redeemer School is one of the schools in our diocese that has joined the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education’s network of Classic Catholic Liberal Arts Schools for the 2021-22 school year. This month, Divine Redeemer will begin to integrate some of the premise of the classical approach to education into our curriculum and our culture, beginning with the content of curriculum based in history and paired with a study of Latin.

(Editor’s note: Following is the next installment of the Herald’s monthly series profiling a priest or deacon serving in the Diocese of Colorado Springs. This month we feature Deacon Robert Seydel, who currently serves at St. Mark Parish in Highlands Ranch.)

COLORADO SPRINGS. Longtime Colorado Springs resident Steve Handen, who founded the Marian House soup kitchen, died July 12 at age 81. Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated July 23 at Sacred Heart Church in Colorado Springs.

I submitted two articles tonight, and moments after I hit send, I was struck by the parallel.

Sure, they both involved retired Catholics. But in my focus on the specifics of their work — the intricate toothpick sculptures of a Minnesota grandpa, the winsome travel guide written by a New Mexico single – I’d nearly missed how their paths mirrored each other.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. Holy Cross Father LeRoy “Clem” Clementich, 97, died at Holy Cross House in Notre Dame, Indiana, on July 16 after a short illness. Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated July 23 at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Notre Dame.

As a Salesian Cooperator, I am committed to living the Gospel message in the spirit of St. John Bosco who dedicated himself to the welfare of young people. I was privileged recently to live my mission through action with Catholic Charities Diocese of Laredo in Texas (CCDOL) at the La Frontera migrant shelter, supporting families crossing the southern border in search of a better life. 

COLORADO SPRINGS. Those who have known Bishop Emeritus Michael Sheridan for decades all say the same thing – that he is a model of stability and faithfulness.

“What you see today is the way he was then,” said Msgr. Joe Simon, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and a fellow member of Kenrick Seminary’s Class of 1971.

ST. LOUIS, Mo.  Jesuit Father Joseph Damhorst, died July 18 at age 84. Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Aug. 4 at Jesuit Hall in St. Louis.