Remembering Sister Rita O’Leary
Sister Rita O’Leary, IHM, died peacefully at Camilla Hall in Immaculata, Pa., on Feb. 25. She was 85 years old.
Formerly known as Sister Rita Regina, she was born on Aug. 31, 1935.
Ruth and Aaron: Nearer Perfection
Amidst all the death Americans had to endure this winter, the passing of baseball great Henry “Hank” Aaron seemed to garner but a mere footnote in the back of the book. Hardly fitting for arguably the best ball player to ever play. “Hold on,” you say, “what about Babe Ruth?” Not close, since numbers rarely lie. Aaron played 21 seasons and belted 755 homeruns – which was 41 more than Ruth – amassed nearly 1,500 extra base hits and knocked in 2,297 teammates over his career, played mostly for the Milwaukee and then expansion Atlanta Braves.
This humble Mobile, Alabama, native grew up in the Depression Era and Jim Crow segregated South, when African Americans were wise not to seek the bright lights of fame. Young Hank used to toss balls up on their sharecropper shanty and run to the other side to make a diving catch. He was an extraordinary athlete in high school and began his career in the Negro Leagues before ascending to professional baseball in his early 20s.
Two Crusade to District Wrestling Titles
Eric Howe of Lancaster Catholic and Riley Robell of Bishop McDevitt earned individual District 3 titles in this year’s Class 2A wrestling tournament on Feb. 21 at Central Dauphin East High School. The two Crusaders topped the podium in the 120-pound and heavyweight brackets, respectively.
Church Welcomes 54 Men and Women Preparing to Receive Sacraments of Initiation at Easter
The first Sunday of Lent marks a unique period in the spiritual lives of catechumens – men and women who will receive the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil. Annually on this day, the Church celebrates the Rite of Election, the solemn occasion on which those seeking to join the Catholic Church conclude their time as catechumens and begin their final period of intense spiritual preparation for Baptism, Holy Communion and Confirmation.
Service Project at St. Margaret Mary School Uplifts Health Care Workers
To honor healthcare workers on “Celebrating Your Community” day as part of Catholic Schools Week, students at St. Margaret Mary School in Harrisburg assembled 200 snack bags for employees at Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill.
The service project was in response to a request from the hospital’s Vice President of Mission Integration, Sister Mary Joseph Albright, SCC. She reached out to St. Margaret Mary School to ask students to help boost the workers’ morale.
NASA Rover Carries St. Joseph School in York on Mars Expedition
St. Joseph School in York has successfully landed on Mars.
NASA’s rover, Perseverance, descended on the red planet on Feb. 18, bearing three microchips etched with more than 10 million names, including that of the PreK-6 parochial school in east York.
The venture was part of NASA’s “Send Your Name to Mars” campaign, which invited people from around the world to add their names to travel aboard the rover. The 10,932,295 submitted names were etched by an electron beam onto three fingernail-sized silicon chips and placed onto a plate mounted on the rover.
USCCB Chairmen Say Equality Act Would Discriminate against People of Faith and Threaten Unborn Life
Five committee chairmen of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) wrote a letter to members of Congress opposing the recent reintroduction of the Equality Act (H.R. 5), which is scheduled to be voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives this week. The bishops warned of the threats posed by the proposed legislation to both people of faith and of no faith, with respect to mandates impacting charities and their beneficiaries in need, health care and other conscience rights, taxpayer funding of abortion, freedom of speech, women’s sports and sex-specific facilities, and more.
The Equality Act, the USCCB warns, would uphold transgender ideology by requiring “girls and women to compete against boys and men for limited opportunities in sports, and to share locker rooms and shower spaces with biological males who identify as women.”
Do We Want to Get Back to Normal, or Does Lent Call Us to Something to Deeper, Bishop Asks on Ash Wednesday
“Do we need Lent this year?”
That’s the question Bishop Ronald Gainer posed as he celebrated noon Mass on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, at St. Patrick Cathedral in Harrisburg.
“It may well be that you and I are less eager this year for Ash Wednesday and to begin the season of Lent than we have been in past years. After all, it seems like we’ve been living Lent for 11 months now,” he said in his homily.
Trinity High School Announces Verbal Acceptance of Jordan Hill as Head Football Coach
Trinity High School in Camp Hill announced on Thursday, Feb. 18 that Jordan Hill has verbally accepted the position of Head Football Coach for the Trinity Shamrocks.
Hill is a 2009 graduate from Steelton-Highspire High School, where he was a member of their 2007 and 2008 PIAA Championship teams. He went on to play defensive tackle at Penn State University. As a senior at Penn State, Hill was selected as first team All-Big Ten (2012).
Inaugural Class Receives Certification as Spiritual Directors in Diocese
Nine men and women who completed the Diocese’s formation program for spiritual directors are now certified to serve in the ministry of guiding Catholics in their spirituality. Bishop Ronald Gainer…
