HUNTERSVILLE — St. Mark Parish’s Life Teen High School Ministry arranged a Candlelight Rosary and Procession for Life Jan. 29 in lieu of its annual trip to Washington, D.C., for the National March for Life.
Father Alfonso Gámez, parochial vicar, guided the evening prayer with a special Sorrowful Mystery reflection written specifically to reflect the love and dignity of human life and the tragedy of abortion.
Each decade was then led by different teens from Life Teen.
More than 150 people came out on the cold night to pray for the conversion of leaders and individuals who partake in the culture of abortion and pray that peace would come to our nation.
After the rosary, teens led a candlelight procession around the church property and along Stumptown Road.
The evening ended with Father Gámez telling participants, “We encourage you to continue to fast, to pray, to do almsgiving, to worship our Lord and allow your love to bear witness to the dignity of the human person at all stages of life.
We particularly ask you to defend and pray for the silent unborn and to pray for the mothers who are in such a situation.“
— Amy Burger
ROME — Diocese of Charlotte seminarians Christian Goduti and Matthew Harrison II were among 32 men at the Pontifical North American College receiving the ministry of lector during a Jan. 17 Mass celebrated by Cardinal George Pell, prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy.
In his homily, Cardinal Pell exhorted the men to study the Scriptures. “Every lector, especially those destined to be priests, must know the Scriptures,” he said.
In a special way, the New Testament carries “the words and deeds of God Himself, of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Gospels.”
He reminded them that each of us “stands under the Word of God.”
“None of us is master of the Word of God,” he said, noting that “some scriptural teachings are controversial,” but “we need to tackle these problems from within the living Tradition of the whole Church, recognizing the comprehensive unity of the Scriptures.”
— Photo provided by the Pontifical North American College