COLORADO SPRINGS. On Aug. 27, the Feast of St. Monica, the annual diocesan Mass of Praying Prodigals Home was celebrated by Bishop James Golka at St. Mary’s Cathedral, followed by a program in the parish center led by Connie Pratt.

SEDALIA.  It’s been 17 years since Jesuit Father Joe Laramie lived in Colorado, but in some ways it seems like he never left.

When life begins to fall apart, people often begin looking for God. Illness, injury, and the proximity of death tend to strip away our illusions of control. For many who are hospitalized — especially those facing the end of life — the heart opens in ways it may not have in decades. This vulnerability becomes holy ground, a final opportunity for grace to break through.
 

My favorite of this celestial company was St. Dympha . . . I found a frame for [her holy card] . . . and for many decades, it sat on my desk in Whitehall, to the amusement or consternation of my colleagues. I had the private enjoyment of knowing, alone among all who labour within the Foreign Office, that St. Dympha is the patroness of those afflicted with nervous disorders. In my profession I will accept all available assistance (Excerpted from “Enter the Lion: A Posthumous Memoir of Mycroft Holmes,” Hawthorn Books, 1979).

COLORADO SPRINGS. “The Gift,” a six week series beginning May 8, 6:30-8 p.m., will be held at Holy Apostles in Wicker Hall.