“Our Schools, Our Future” – a monthly, 30-minute television show hosted by Catholic schools superintendent Dr. Jan Lancaster on WLAE-TV –  is the newest component of a strategy to raise awareness of the significant impact of Catholic education.

The strategic plan for Catholic schools now underway by educators from The Catholic University of America is entering its final phases and is on schedule for completion by June, Dr. John Convey, the study’s coordinator, said.

I recently read an article on church shopping in the online magazine Relevant and how it is an important process as young adults leave the churches where they grew up and begin to think about attending Mass on their own.

Archbishop Gregory Aymond is in Rome for an ad limina visit with Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican officials. In a telephone interview with the Clarion Herald, he summarized his activities on Wednesday, Jan. 25, which included meetings with the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and the Congregation for Clergy and a vespers service with the pope Wednesday night.

In what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind partnership in the country, the National Tribal Development Association (NTDA) and Holy Cross School have established a permanent endowment fund that will provide scholarships to students of Native American descent.

Although it’s been artistically reinterpreted hundreds of times since Hurricane Katrina, the fleur-de-lis hanging above the stage of this year’s Catholic Schools Week Art/Music Festival at Lakeside is a true original.

Larry Bourgeois Jr. likes to share an anecdote about Msgr. Dennis “Pete” Bergeron, St. Joan of Arc’s late pastor, that perfectly sums up the spirit at his parish’s 50-year-old elementary school. Whenever anyone, even a stranger, would knock on the rectory door looking for help, Bourgeois said Father Pete would invite the person inside to eat with him.

An experiment conducted by the Louisiana Attorney General’s office revealed how easy it is for cyber-predators to infiltrate a young person’s world. In the experiment, a fictitious profile of a teen was concocted and sent out as a Facebook friend request to 100 people ages 13 to 16.

Sprawling across two 6-foot-long tables placed end to end, the Nativity display that greeted visitors to St. Clement of Rome School this past Christmas would have been impressive if only for its size.

Our Lady of Lourdes School’s year-long theme – “Don’t Let the Chain of Love End With You” – has a special layer of meaning to the school’s fifth graders. The “Green Team,” an after-school club open to fifth graders only and currently boasting about 30 members, has the young people actively involved in a three-pronged effort to remove items from the waste stream – and earn real cash at the same time for some very noble causes.In the first project – an AT&T endeavor called “Cell Phones for Soldiers” – the Green Team is asking OLL faculty and students to turn in their old cell phones for recycling.

January 24, 2012 (Discussions on women religious, new evangelization, laity, Henriette Delille and possible John Paul II exhibit in New Orleans) Archbishop Gregory Aymond is in Rome for an ad limina visit with Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican officials.

It just doesn’t seem fair. The Giants, a team the Saints routed 49-24 in late November at the Superdome, is prepping for a return to the Super Bowl. I scratch my head as I pore over the stats from that game.

On the Web: loyno.edu/nursing Loyola University New Orleans has become the first university in Louisiana to offer a “bachelor of science in nursing to doctorate of nursing practice” degree. The approval of the degree was made unanimously by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing in December.

As we prepare to celebrate Catholic Schools Week with an array of activities culminating in our sharing of the Eucharist, I look back on my time in Catholic education in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and realize what a blessing that education has been to my life.

La Semana de las Escuelas Católicas se celebrará a finales del mes. ¿Nos podría dar una actualización sobre el plan estratégico para las escuelas Católicas que ya está en marcha? Deliberadamente he mantenido mi distancia de las deliberaciones del plan estratégico porque creo que es importante que los comentarios de las sesiones de los escuchas, provengan de diversos grupos.

Deadline: Submissions due Thursday (10 days before each issue) calendar@clarionherald.org (504) unless noted Jan. 28-Feb. 5 PARISHES MARY QUEEN OF PEACE, Women’s Spirituality Group, “Putting on the Heart of Christ,” 10-week program Jan. 26-April 26.

Divisions among Christians, including on moral issues, weaken their credibility and their ability to respond to the spiritual yearning of many men and women today, Pope Benedict XVI said. While “there is more that unites us than divides us” on the basic tenets of faith – belief in Christ, the son of God and savior of humanity – “divisions remain and regard many practical and ethical questions, giving rise to confusion and mistrust, weakening our ability to transmit the saving word of Christ,” Pope Benedict said Jan. 18 at his weekly audience.

Why do we sing the responsorial psalm each week? Following the first reading, there is a moment of silence to reflect on the Word of God that was just proclaimed. After reflecting on the Scripture message, all are invited to respond by singing a response taken from the Book of Psalms.

Xavier University’s Anthony Simmons is the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week in men’s basketball for the second consecutive time. Simmons, a 6-foot-8 junior forward from Rochester, N.Y., averaged 13.3 points, 11 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots and shot 57.7 percent from the floor to help the Gold Rush win two of three conference games.

Based on games played among local Catholic schools. Teams must play a minimum of four games vs. local Catholic schools. BOYS – 1. St. Augustine, 4-0; 2. Brother Martin, 3-2, and Jesuit, 3-2; 4. Shaw, 3-3; 5.