St. Scholastica Academy senior Allison Ducote recently earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Open only to girls in high school, the Girl Scout Gold Award challenges girls to change the world, while being eligible for college scholarships.

Blessed Pope John Paul II explained the basis of Catholic Teaching concerning the death penalty: [Punishment] ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society.

El día de las madres fue el domingo. ¿Qué recuerda usted acerca de su madre Yvonne? Mi madre era una gran mujer de fe. Fue obvio para mí, que ella reflejó la fe radical de su amada madre. Soy afortunado de poder decir  que mi madre y mi abuela fueron mujeres que admiré, no sólo por su fe, sino también, por la manera en que vivieron sus vidas, personas tan amables y generosas y la forma en que pusieron a su familia primero.

Deadline: Submissions due Thursday (10 days before each issue) calendar@clarionherald.org (504) area code unless noted May 18-26 SCHOOLS ST. RITA, Home and School of St. Rita, Harahan, will co-host with St. Christopher School in Metairie City Park Night in New Orleans, May 23 from 7 to 10 p.m. COMING… LATIN MASS, May 26, 12:30 p.m., St. Stephen Church (Good Shepherd Parish), 1025 Napoleon Ave., New Orleans.

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated May 26 at 3 p.m. at St. Hubert Church in Garyville for Sister of the Holy Faith Geraldine Moran, who died April 10 in Dublin after having served as director of religious education in four parishes of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living (TFL) has been working to fulfill its mission of a 100 percent tobacco-free Louisiana by sponsoring community advocacy grants, including research on the tobacco industry, fighting for worker’s health rights and assisting Louisiana colleges and universities in their push for tobacco-free campuses.

I recently had the privilege of serving on the ministry team for a confirmation retreat for teens at my church parish. During a reflection, I asked the teens whether they thought they had the power to change the world.

She survived the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina and  the Murphy Oil Spill in 2005. Though it took her years longer than her St. Bernard counterparts who joined the Catholic parish in Mandeville, a statue of the Blessed Virgin finally found a new home at Mary Queen of Peace in 2013.

Listen to the Holy Spirit because he is giving people the good news that God loves them and can renew, purify and transform their lives, Pope Francis said. The Holy Spirit is the living water that “quenches the thirst in our lives because he tells us that we are loved by God as his children, that we can love God as his children and with his grace we can live as children of God, like Jesus,” the pope said May 8 at his weekly audience.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana has 22 AmeriCorps VISTA positions and several volunteer shifts that it is trying to fill for the summer in its Community Kitchen. May 20 is the deadline to apply for the AmeriCorps jobs.

I have conducted many television interviews with high school athletes after state playoff games. There is no in between. There is pure joy over victory or anguish in defeat. Eventually, the anguish subsides as players and coaches remember more good than bad.

For her tireless efforts working against the death penalty and ministering to death row inmates and victims’ families, Sister of St. Joseph Helen Prejean received the 2013 Robert M. Holstein “Faith That Does Justice” award May 7 from the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN).

The Sidewalk Counseling and Prayer  Ministry of the Archdiocese of New Orleans held its 15th annual Mother’s Day Rosary Crusade for Life on May 11. Inclement weather moved the event inside St. Louis King of France Church in Metairie.

It was another banner sports year for Catholic schools from the Archdiocese of New Orleans as 10 accounted for 16 state championships in 10 sports. While Jesuit led the way with team championships in swimming, soccer and tennis, Rummel, St. Paul’s, Pope John Paul II and the Academy of the Sacred Heart each captured state titles in two sports.

When a No. 1 seed with a 33-3 record loses a game to a team it beat by 4-0 and 3-0 scores earlier in the season, and a No. 21 seed shocks the elite teams in Class 5A to win a state championship, it lends credence to the adage that has stood the test of time: There is no such thing as an upset in baseball.

In order to provide pastoral care for the people of God in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Archbishop Aymond has made the following appointments: PASTOR

In April, The Wall Street Journal featured an article written by Stacy Meichtry and Alessandra Galloni entitled “Fifteen Days in Rome: How The Pope Was Picked.” Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio arrived in Rome on Feb. 27, after a 13-hour flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

On Wednesday, a group of Catholic school administrators, parents and students went to the State Capitol in Baton Rouge to impress upon legislators the importance of the State Scholarship for Excellence program, which provides money for students to attend private and parochial schools.

The story by student Stewart Sinclair in the April 19 issue of the Loyola Maroon, the campus newspaper of Loyola University New Orleans, contained every imaginable element of sadness. Sinclair’s unnamed girlfriend became pregnant.

At first glance, it would seem there are distinct differences in providing a Catholic ministry to individuals whose marriages ended either in divorce or through the death of a spouse. In the case of divorce, there may be anger at the former spouse for his or her actions.