LOCAL NEWS

Their school uniforms might be the same, but underneath is a person God gifted with a unique set of abilities and challenges to overcome.

The relics of saint whose intercession has been linked to thousands of documented miracles will be on display in Phoenix Jan. 15-17 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the saint's beatification.

Fr. Tom "Tot" O'Dea spent 45 years serving Catholics in the dioceses of Tucson and Phoenix.

Local Catholic high school fixture, Sr. Nancy Perlick, RSM, known for her quiet competence on and off the field, died Dec. 11. She was 71.

Attendance at a ceremonial groundbreaking was proof positive Catholics outgrew their worship space. Nearly 400 showed up just outside the current church that only seats 300.

Carolee O’Meara knows what it’s like to be poor. She also knows how it feels to receive mercy. “I’ve always had a heart for the poor,” O’Meara said as she deftly stashed cans of vegetables in food boxes at Paz de Cristo in Mesa. “Being raised in a home where there was poverty and where God was just there all the time leading me, even without the parental guidance, God was just always merciful to keep me close to Him.”

Students at Christ the King School in Mesa just returned from Christmas break, but are already leaving the classroom again.

Five parishes throughout the Diocese of Phoenix’s metro area are hosting “Faustina: Messenger of Divine Mercy” Jan. 5-10.

Drawing on lessons from the angels, the little town of Bethlehem, Caesar Augustus, shepherds and the Magi, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, highlighted true peace and the key to finding it in his Christmas message during Midnight Mass at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral.

If any St. Gregory second-graders are getting a pet for Christmas, they are more most likely ready for the responsibility.