The Office of Youth Ministry made a change in the High School Youth Spectacular format this year. The Youth Spectacular was a weekend retreat instead of a one-day event. From 1983 until 2016, the Youth Spectaculars have been held as a one-day event with games, speakers, fellowship, Mass and prayers at different venues. The Youth Office was challenged to see how to have youth experience a “deeper encounter” with Christ at the Youth Spectaculars. One way this might be able to happen is to offer a weekend retreat format so there is time for youth to process their experience and the talks that are given. 

Students at Bishop Garriga Middle Preparatory School held their 5th annual cancer walk on Oct. 12 to raise funds to donate to the American Cancer Association. The 1K walk around the campus was not only to raise funds but to raise awareness. This year’s theme was “Punch Out Cancer!" 

On a mild Saturday evening in September, at the South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, some eight couples (one celebrating an anniversary) gathered for a light dinner and the opportunity to explore their marriages more deeply through the unique lens of the Schoenstatt Marriage Camino.

KLUX 89.5HD recently hired a new on-air morning personality Jesse De Leon who feels right at home behind the microphone. The Harlingen native and University of Texas graduate first got on the air in 1989 at KRIX-FM and KRGE-FM in McAllen before making the move to Corpus Christi where he was on the air at KMXR-FM from 1992 until 2011.

Abigail Alaniz says she has learned more about her own children, Zuri and Izel, by going through the Parents As Teachers (PAT) program offered by Catholic Charities Family Outreach. Alaniz joined several other parents and children to learn skills while playing at the PAT Group Connector on Aug. 22.

Sister Rosa Maria Ortiz, Sister of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament of Corpus Christi, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her religious profession this year.

Bishop Michael Mulvey celebrated Mass on Oct. 3 at the Corpus Christ Cathedral in honor of human dignity, especially for those most vulnerable, and to kick-off Respect Life month. Following Mass, the faithful in attendance took part in adoration and prayed the Holy Rosary for the sanctity of all human life.

Bishop Michael Mulvey presents a check to six diocesan priests from Kerala, India on Oct. 3. The check will be given to archdioceses in Kerala where recent monsoons were reported to have caused hundreds of deaths and over a billion dollars in property damage.

Melissa Ohden survived the unthinkable. Her mother underwent a saline-infusion abortion that was supposed to end Ohden’s life. The abortion failed and Ohden was born in 1977, weighing just 2 pounds, 14 ounces. Doctors would later learn Ohden’s mother was actually seven months along in her pregnancy, not the five estimated previously. Although she was given little chance to survive, today Ohden is a world-renowned speaker, author and pro-life activist.

If there’s one thing Deacon Rogelio Rosenbaum wants people to know about the Prison Ministry, it’s that everyone has made bad decisions in their lifetime.

This year has seen milestones of three significant events in the pro-life cause. 2018 is the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and locally, the 40th anniversary of the opening of Birthright of Corpus Christi. 

Delma Trejo believes the children of today will become leaders of the future. It’s her love and compassion for children displaced from their homes that have fueled Trejo’s dedication to the Ark Assessment Center & Emergency Shelter for Youth since 1999.

Fifty-eight years after the introduction of the birth control pill, society is still reeling from its effects, including divorce, infidelity, and the general breakdown of the family. These problems were dramatically prophesied by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical letter, “Humanae Vitae” (Latin: Of Human Life), published in 1968.

Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, Archbishop of New York and Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, issued a statement today for Respect Life Month. New resources have been developed around the theme “Every Life: Cherished, Chose, Sent” and are available at www.usccb.org/respectlife. Respect Life Sunday is Oct. 7.

Bishop Michael Mulvey celebrated Mass at the 17th Annual Blue Mass for all local law enforcement, firefighters and first responders as well as their families. Mass was held at Sacred Heart Church in Mathis on Sept. 29, the feast of the Archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, Archbishop of San Antonio and chairman of the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement today following the close of the V National Encuentro that took place Sept. 20-23 in Grapevine, Texas.

For Esmerelda Hernandez, a parent whose child attends St. Joseph School in Alice, back to school season is a busy time of year. Sometimes the checklist of things to do can be daunting. What she and other parents in Catholic schools don’t have to worry about is getting their children’s eyes checked. Thanks to the schools and Alice Pediatric Clinic those tests are done at the beginning of every school year.

The Congregation of the Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (SABS) was officially founded on Dec. 8, 1908, by Bishop Thomas Kurialacherry in Kerala, India.

Supporters gasped and smiled as they unveiled the “Sea of Hope” mural on Aug. 18 at The Ark Assessment Center and Emergency Shelter for Youth. The 76-foot-wide, 14-foot-high painting, revealed underwater sea life, including various plant life, corals, snails, crabs, octopuses, and a colorful array of fish right out of Walt Disney’s “Finding Nemo.” The mural includes a blowfish, starfish, a whale, dolphins, a turtle, sea horses, stingrays and a shrimp waving to the viewer on top of a yellow submarine. 

Kristofer and Mara Morgan, parishioners of St. Theresa Church in Corpus Christi, were teenagers when they married in 2011. The couple, secure in their love for each other, and devout in their faith, always knew they wanted to have children and were guided by a family member to consider a natural, spiritually-led, method for planning their future family.