It was a day of pure joy on Jan. 8 as the community of Nuestra Señora del Pilar Catholic Parish came together in a spirit of gratitude for a special thanksgiving Mass celebrating 25 years of the parish’s history.
Diocese of Dallas
At 8 years old, Maddie Muller received earthshattering news in the form of a cancer diagnosis. It was ovarian dysgerminoma cancer, her pediatrician said, and it would require four rounds of chemotherapy — treatments that would leave the young girl nauseous, dazed, and exhausted. Even as her body weakened under the toll of that treatment, Maddie found that she could still capture something all children need — the joy of play — any time she sat atop her HoverflyKart, a hoverboard with go-kart attachments, and zipped down the street with the neighborhood kids.
St. Luke gives us the angel Gabriel’s annunciation greeting to Mary as “Chaire, kecharitōmenē” (Lk 1:28). There are thrilling grammatical and theological mysteries packed into these two Greek words.
In this article, I would like us to reflect more intentionally on how our baptismal promises are meant to be lived in a very practical way within the parish community.
Janell Miank credits her mother for her passion for photography.
As the first communicants of St. Joseph Catholic Church traverse the aisles of the sanctuary to receive the Blessed Sacrament for the first time, their faces often glow with the joy of the sacramental moment. Christie McGee, who as the Richardson parish’s director of children and family ministry has witnessed this heartening scene many times, said that the faces of the communicant’s parents also radiate jubilance in that moment — but all too often, the parents remain a step removed from the sacrament itself.
While crowding against the railings of St. Peter’s Square during a Dec. 31 blessing of the Vatican’s Nativity scene, students of Mary Immaculate Catholic School began to take up the tune of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” As they raised the hymn, the students were greatly surprised to discover the addition of a new voice: that of Pope Leo XIV, who had paused in his rounds to join in the festive song.
In a jubilant celebration of the gift of life, hundreds of north Texans are expected to gather in Dallas Jan. 17 for the Catholic Pro-Life Community’s annual North Texas Youth Rally and Bilingual Pro-Life Mass.
With prayer, worship, and fellowship, thousands of college-aged Catholics gathered in north Texas to start the new year with a call to deepen their faith and seek a personal encounter with Christ.
Over the years, St. Mark Catholic School’s annual Christmas pageant has become a cherished tradition for its community, celebrating the birth of Christ through music, performance, and faith.