Summer deadline: 10 days before each issue. (We’re biweekly.) calendar@clarionherald.org (504) area code unless noted July 7-20 PARISHES ST. CHRISTOPHER, Bereavement and Support Group Ministry will have its annual Memorial Mass, July 11, 6 p.m., St. Christopher Church, 3924 Derbigny St., Metairie.

As adults, we find ourselves faced with a myriad of duties each day, week, month or year. Teaching isn’t usually the highest of our priorities. When we think of teaching, we think of professionals, those teaching our children formally within the context of education.

Everyone knows that watching or reading the news can be depressing. We hear stories of violence, prejudice and murder seemingly all the time. We can now add politics to this list. As many people across the nation cheered the Supreme Court’s ruling that a key component of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional and supported Texas Senator Wendy Davis as she filibustered an anti-abortion bill, I, along with fellow Catholics, felt disheartened and sickened.

In order to provide pastoral care for the people of God in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Archbishop Aymond has made the following appointment: ADMINISTRATOR Reverend David Theroux, S.S.E. , Administrator, St. Peter Claver Parish, New Orleans, effective immediately.

God spoke, and they listened. And two men who came together last weekend through their inductions into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame have prospered from his words. The journeys through life for Milton Retif of New Orleans and Earvin Johnson of Jonesville are as diverse as the communities that molded their formative years.

We’ve heard the company line. In April, when a 27-win season ended, Pelicans executive vice president Mickey Loomis said he was “absolutely sure” general manager Dell Demps and head coach Monty Williams were the right men for the job.

Listener-supported Catholic Community Radio (690 AM) will hold its inaugural radio-thon July 9-11. On July 10 from 7 to 8 a.m., Clarion Herald editor Peter Finney Jr. and his father, Peter Finney Sr., longtime sports columnist of The Times-Picayune, will talk about sports, family and faith.

The stability of the church requires that it be built on Jesus, but its beauty and strength also rely on the contributions of each and every Christian, Pope Francis said. “If someone tells you, ‘Go home, you’re not needed,’ that’s not true,” the pope told an estimated 50,000 people at his weekly general audience June 26.

There is no such thing as an individual award. That truth manifested itself last week at the annual Catholic Media Conference in Denver when I received the St. Francis de Sales Award from the Catholic Press Association for “outstanding contributions to Catholic journalism.” The award was a blessing and a mystery, mainly because I am a recovering sportswriter.

What are your thoughts on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision June 26 to nullify a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)? I don’t think the fact that DOMA was struck down was a surprise because if you live in the real world, you try to read the signs of the times.

Mary Queen of Peace celebrated its 25th anniversary as a parish in the Archdiocese of New Orleans with a special Mass on June 23. The parish, on West Causeway Approach in Mandeville, was founded on June 18, 1988, by Archbishop Philip Hannan.

DENVER – The Clarion Herald took home several major awards at the 2013 Catholic Media Conference hosted June 19-21 by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada. Clarion Herald executive editor Peter Finney Jr. won the association’s highest individual honor for 2013 – the St. Francis de Sales Award.