Summer is usually a lot of fun in our homes. The elderly enjoy getting outdoors for picnics, gardening and community outings, especially when they include a stop for ice cream. Not so this year! As summer wears on with no end to the pandemic in sight, the mandated social isolation is beginning to take a serious toll on our elderly Residents.

The Ark Assessment Center and Emergency Shelter for Youth is grateful for the public's support the last five months, but it has been a difficult period for them. "Surviving is still tough," said Delma Trejo, Executive Director and Administrator of The Ark.

Teachers from St. Pius X Catholic School meet parents at a drive-thru stationed on the school’s basketball court Aug. 3. Taking measures to ensure the safety of all students and staff from the spread of COVID-19, teachers handed out text books and supplies for the first three weeks of virtual learning. 

CHRISTUS Spohn Health System is celebrating 115 years of answering the call to care for our community. Through pandemics and disease, CHRISTUS Spohn remains a pillar of strength in the fight to protect and heal the people of South Texas.

Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement on the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

Today, July 30th the World Day Against Trafficking of Persons is being observed in the United States and throughout the world.

The United Nations designated July 30 as the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons in 2013 to raise awareness of the devastating impact human trafficking has on women, men, and children and to promote survivors’ rights and human dignity. The international day is observed annually in the United States and throughout the world. There are nearly 25 million individuals trapped in modern-day slavery, according to the International Labor Organization.

Catholic Charities Mother Teresa Shelter, in coordination with the Diocese of Corpus Christi, became a day and night shelter, receiving 27 area homeless people who sought refuge from the storm caused by Hurricane Hanna throughout the weekend of July 24-27. 

Sister Victoria Pastrano, MCDP, went peacefully home to God on July 10, 2020, in San Antonio, TX at the age of 89 years.  

In the midst of our other burdens, we will also experience the effects of Tropical Storm Hanna this weekend.

Tropical Depression #8 has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Hanna. Tropical Storm Hanna continues to move W-NW at nine mph over the Central Gulf. Locally heavy rain with dangerous flooding is the greatest threat with this system as it makes landfall somewhere over the Lower to Middle Texas Coast on Saturday. Tropical storm warnings are in effect from the mouth of the Rio Grande to San Luis Pass. 

Tuesday, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), celebrated its 34th birthday, and it has received a big present from generous benefactors: more than $48,000 in donations for the Young Adult Ministry program.

Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Religious Liberty, and Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, issued the following statement in response to reports of increasing incidents of church vandalism and fires.

On Saturday, July 25, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, in collaboration with other offices at the USCCB and joined by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFYCM), will convene a yearlong intercultural process with young adults and ministry leaders.

Bishop Michael Mulvey ordained Deacon David Thomas Brokke, SOLT to the sacred order of the priesthood at Corpus Christi Cathedral on July 18.  The ceremony included relatives, friends, fellow seminarians, formators, sisters and priests. 

The Catholic Church supports the methods of Natural Family Planning (NFP) because they respect God's design for married love. In fact, NFP represents the only authentic approach to family planning available to husbands and wives because these methods can be used to both attempt or avoid pregnancy. When learning about NFP, it is important to know that:

St. Paul the Apostle Parish broke ground on its new 4000 square foot religious education building site on July 16. Vicar General Father James Stembler led a small group in prayer for the occasion. 

Hundreds of faithful Catholics filled Broadway, Lipan and other nearby streets on July 17, 1940 waiting for the doors to open at their new Cathedral. It was a clear day with a few clouds in the sky. Minutes before 10 a.m. the bells in the two towers that shot up 97 and 125 feet into the sky began ringing and a large procession of priests led by Bishop Mariano S. Garriga, co-adjutor of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, began to make their way into the newly completed sanctuary.

I’m frustrated. I’m also full of opinions about how everything’s been handled. What’s more, I can show you the experts who share my opinions.  If you disagree with me — as many people do — you’re probably just as passionate, and you probably have experts just as big, if not bigger.

The Gulding family live out their Catholic faith every day. Steven and Kathryn Gulding are the parents of eight children, with the eldest being 19 and the youngest three. “When we were engaged, we never put a number on how many kids we wanted,” Kathryn said.