NEWS BRIEFS
Sept. 17, 2009 | The Catholic Sun
Mobile ultrasound unit ready to roll
Of the seven ultrasound mobile units in the country, one of them has made its way to Valley streets and is here to stay.
The public can tour the new HOPE Ultrasound Mobile Unit Sept. 26 during its open house. The mobile unit is part of the outreach 1st Way of Maricopa County extends to women in crisis pregnancies.
The mobile ultrasound unit will be stationed near abortion clinics and at churches, teen agencies and other pregnancy centers across the Valley and provide pregnant women with a free look at the growth and development of their unborn baby.
Kay Allen, executive director of 1st Way, is excited to finally get the mobile ultrasound unit up and running. She said a similar outreach in the Manhattan area sees seven to nine women per day and all of them choose life for their babies.
Join the kickoff for the HOPE Ultrasound Mobile Unit 4-7 p.m. Sept. 26 at Bethany Bible Church, 6060 N. 7th Ave. Event includes music, food and family fun. For more information, call 1st Way at (602) 261-7522.
Knights of Peter Claver celebrate 100 years
The Knights of Peter Claver Council is an organization founded as a means of fellowship for black Catholic men.
It’s branched out in the last 100 years to include more than 700 chapters throughout the United States, called units, and focuses on social justice, civic improvements and scholarships.
Court No. 369, the local unit, celebrated the organization’s centennial Sept. 12 at Corpus Christi Parish. The event featured dinner and dancing and doubled as a fundraiser for the Clara Hamilton Scholarship Fund.
The local court has awarded an average of three need-based scholarships to area elementary, high school and college students each year since the group formed in 2002.
For more information about the local unit or scholarships, call (602) 237-9570.
— Sylvia L. White
Jesuit priest to detail border efforts
Catholics interested in the Church’s work with immigrants don’t have to go to the border to learn more — they can go to St. Paul Parish Sept. 20.
That’s where Jesuit Father Pete Neely will discuss the vital work of the Kino Border Initiative, a collaborative effort serving the physical and spiritual needs of the recently deported.
The Kino Border Initiative is a joint effort among Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, the California Province of the Society of Jesus, the Mexico Province of the Society of Jesus, the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist, the Archdiocese of Hermosillo and the Diocese of Tucson. The goal is to address the reality of undocumented migration, apprehension, detention and deportation through direct service and education.
The two-hour information session begins at 2 p.m. in the parish’s O’Carroll Hall and is sponsored by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Relief Services.
St. Paul is located at 330 W. Coral Gables Dr. For more information, call (602) 942-3355 or e-mail kejorg@cox.net.
Catholic publisher invites teens to share their prayers
One Catholic teenager is compiling a prayer book for teens and wants youth across the country to help write it.
Liz Halfmann, a Missouri teenager involved with Life Teen, is working with Liguori Publications to compile “Ups and Downs: Prayers By & 4 Teens.”
Teenagers ages 14 to 18 can submit their original prayers, poems, lyrics, artwork and narratives for consideration in the prayer book. The goal is to have each state represented and Halfmann has been working with youth ministers, high schools and campus ministers across the country to ensure that happens.
The book will include prayers about searching for answers or questioning the faith and prayers written by teens who are unhappy with life or their faith.
It will also feature prayers about hanging on to priorities in the midst of life’s chaos and prayers by teens who have found happiness in life and are living at peace with God.
To submit an original prayer — poem, lyrics, artwork, narrative, statement or question — e-mail prayers_by&4teens@liguori.org. Deadline is Sept. 30. For more information and sample prayers, search for the prayer book on Facebook.
— Ambria Hammel
Bourgade students draw award for drawing blood
Arizona teenagers remain the largest donor group when it comes to blood donations and students at Bourgade Catholic High School are top collectors, so to speak.
The school placed first in its division for organizing blood drives through United Blood Services. Bourgade was among more than 100 high schools honored Sept. 16 at Chase Field during the annual High School Challenge Awards Luncheon sponsored by United Blood Services.
High school blood drives provided nearly 22,900 lifesaving transfusions during the 2008-2009 school year. A Barry Goldwater High School student was among one of those recipients. She told the students that one out of every 10 blood transfusions was provided by a donor at a high school blood drive.
For more information about the program, visit www.UnitedBloodServicesAZHS.org.
Adoration, reparation and spiritual motherhood for priests
PRESCOTT — A new program celebrating the Year of the Priests has begun at Sacred Heart Parish by the Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Society of Sacred Heart. The women of the parish are choosing priests or seminarians from the Diocese of Phoenix as their adopted sons and will be praying throughout the year for their intentions, their holiness of life, and for men of the diocese to hear and respond to the call to the priesthood. The society recommends that this prayer time be spent before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in the Precious Blood Adoration Chapel.
As spiritual mothers, the women may also choose to write to their adopted sons, to send care packages, to remember them at Christmas time, on birthdays, and to continue their motherly concerns for a lifetime.
For more information, call the parish at (928) 445-3141.
