COLORADO SPRINGS. Members of two religious orders based in India have moved to Colorado Springs to work as nurses at Penrose Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center. Both orders were invited by Carmelite of Mary Immaculate Father Abraham Kannampalackal, who serves as a chaplain at Penrose Hospital.

During my life, the notion of “stewardship” has become very important for me. I am not talking about money. Stewardship is about spirituality and how to properly understand our relationship with God. I am talking about the basic and fundamental belief that everything is a gift of God.   

A lo largo de mi vida, la noción de “corresponsabilidad” (también llamada en español “administración” o “mayordomía”) se ha vuelto muy importante para mí.  No estoy hablando de dinero.  La corresponsabilidad tiene que ver con la espiritualidad y con cómo entender adecuadamente nuestra relación con Dios.    

NEW YORK. What do you get when you combine composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, playwright Arthur Laurents and choreographer Jerome Robbins, then throw director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner into the mix?

You get “West Side Story” (PG-13, 20th Century), the splendid second film version of the classic 1957 Broadway musical.

COLORADO SPRINGS.  Service isn’t something that happens only during the holiday seasons at St. Mary’s High School. But holiday service projects do hold a special place in the hearts of the community. This year students and advisers were thrilled to be able to give back in concrete ways after a year of restrictions due to the pandemic.

The Colorado blue spruce is not only our state tree but one of the most attractive evergreens found in our diocese. The blue spruce — along with the Fraser fir, balsam fir, white pine, scotch pine and white spruce — all make fine, fresh Christmas trees. Tis the season for trees and boughs and a bright star to help us find the way.

I recently had the opportunity to visit our 14 seminarians who are in formation for priesthood at the college seminary of St. Gregory the Great in Seward, Nebraska (my home state), and at the graduate (or “Theology”) seminary of Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Maryland.  

Our 15th seminarian is Matt Kane who is currently teaching at St. Paul’s Catholic School in Colorado Springs. Matt is preparing for his ordination to the diaconate this Dec. 22 at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

MONUMENT. Father Gregory Golyzniak will celebrate the Mass of the Holy Innocents at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 28 at St Peter Church in Monument.

One afternoon earlier this month, I received a call from an attorney I know. He explained that a woman had been sleeping in a covered area behind his downtown office for some time and he was looking for guidance on how to help her. He was not asking to get rid of her — he had been allowing her to sleep in that spot for months, occasionally allowing her to sleep in the building. Instead, he was expressing a genuine concern for the woman’s health and safety as the nights have started to get much colder.

Saludos, hermanos y hermanas en Cristo. Recientemente tuve la oportunidad de visitar a nuestros 14 seminaristas que están en formación para el sacerdocio en el seminario universitario de San Gregorio Magno en Seward, Nebraska (mi estado natal), y en el seminario de postgrado (o “Teología”) de Mount St. Mary en Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Nuestro 15º seminarista es Matt Kane, que actualmente enseña en la Escuela Católica de San Pablo en Colorado Springs. Matt se está preparando para su ordenación al diaconado este 22 de diciembre en la Catedral de Santa María.

There have been quite a few adaptations of Charles Dickens’ literary classic “A Christmas Carol,” but there is one crucial element found in the original novel that is always omitted from the various film and animated versions. The morning after his confrontation with his past, present, and future, the first place the newly-reformed Scrooge goes is to church. Christmas for Dickens is not simply celebrated with figgie pudding and stuffed goose; it is venerated lest it fall into simply a sentimental, toothless (and truthless) holiday.