Monday, Jan. 30 is Reach for the Stars Day at St. Joseph’s. Students will dress as what they aspire to be when they grow up. A number of people in the community will visit classrooms and talk to students about their occupations and how important school is to achieve their dreams, according to Seidenberger. Students will get to post a star outside their classroom with their desired profession.

Holy Cross Catholic Academy will observe Catholic Schools Week by participating in activities that correspond with each of the three characteristics of Catholic education that form the national theme for this year’s observance – faith, academics and service.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Eucharist sustains those who are tired, worn out or lost in the world and transforms human sin and weakness into new life, Pope Benedict XVI said. Speaking at his weekly general audience Jan. 11, the pope focused on Jesus and the Last Supper, where he instituted the Eucharist, "the sacrament of his body and blood."

With 48 deacons, the Diocese of Amarillo has one of the highest deacon-per-capita ratios in the country. As I traveled across the plains of the Texas panhandle, visiting Catholic Extension-funded ministries, the incredible impact of the deacons was everywhere to be seen. These deacons are not working in cushy ministries. Rather, they are in the trenches.

Frank is not your typical Catholic. He is serving a life sentence at Clements Unit, a prison in Amarillo, Texas, where the average sentence is 65 years. Despite his separation from the rest of the world, Frank does not feel alone. He and approximately 1,500 inmates across seven prisons in the Diocese of Amarillo are ministered to by a team of five priests, eight deacons and 18 lay volunteers who devote their time to bringing the “outside” Church to the “inside.”

It was a program that began with no formal training, just a leap of faith and word of mouth. Eighteen months after it was organized, there’s a waiting list and a desire for more English as a Second Language classes (ESL) at Sts. Peter and Paul Church.

Bishop Patrick J. Zurek and parish leaders will break ground Sunday, Dec. 18 for the third church building to serve Immaculate Conception Church. The groundbreaking will follow the 9:30am Mass and will be followed by a parish dinner and a Christmas program.

One of three Silver Roses that have been making their way across North America since May 1 traveled through the Diocese of Amarillo earlier this month, making a stop at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The three Silver Roses have been making their way across North America, from Canada to the United States to Mexico, according to Chris Johnson,

Bishop Patrick J. Zurek blessed a new Mosaic Nov. 2 in the Garden of Resurrection section at Llano Cemetery East, following the annual All Souls Day Mass at the cemetery’s Mausoleum Chapel. The mosaic on the Resurrection Wall is the tomb of Christ after he rose from the dead, according to Llano Cemetery Executive Director Joe Alonzo.

Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, 70, to be the new nuncio to the United States. In his most recent position, the Italian archbishop had served for two years as secretary general of the commission governing Vatican City. He succeeds the late Archbishop Pietro Sambi in Washington. Minutes after his assignment was announced Oct. 19,

“The annual Polish Sausage Dinner for Sacred Heart Church of White Deer has been cancelled,” said Michelle Wilson, Parish Council President at Sacred Heart Church in an email to The West Texas Catholic. “We will miss you all this year and greatly appreciate your continued support over the last 72 years. Blessings to you all.”

After two-and-a half-months of getting acclimated to the Diocese of Amarillo, School Sister of Notre Dame Dolorette Farias is ready to begin her ministry. A native of Corpus Christi, Amarillo is the fourth diocese in Texas that Sister Dolorette has ministered in, after service in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Brownsville and El Paso. But she’s also ministered in other states.

It has come to the attention of the Amarillo Diocese that Father Dale Guidry, a former priest of the Amarillo Diocese now removed from ministry under the administration of Bishop John Yanta, was convicted in a criminal court in Texas and sentenced to a prison term. Dale Guidry has recently been transferred by the criminal justice system of Texas to the Dalhart prison unit where he remains incarcerated.

Ground was broken for the project on Oct. 25, 2009 and now 22½ months and $5.3 million later, the project to renovate St. Anthony of Padua Church and School is now complete. Bishop Patrick J. Zurek will dedicate the renovated church during a 5pm Mass Saturday, Sept. 10, followed by a dinner and dance in the Parish Life Center.

When he left his post with the diocese for the last time on Sept. 2, he left the job with another legacy of sorts: of being the man responsible, along with Bishop Matthiesen, for planting 800-plus trees on the Diocesan Pastoral Center and Bishop DeFalco Retreat Center campuses. Ramos was honored Aug. 30 during a Mass and luncheon at the Bishop DeFalco Retreat Center by Pastoral Center and Retreat Center employees.

This has been one of the greatest gifts to the Diocese of Amarillo. It’s a wonderful program. It’s a program of Christian Renewal. It’s a program that includes faith formation, helping individuals who participate to grow in their knowledge of their faith and to grow in their practice of that faith. We always talk about our children and how we need to get them educated in the Catholic Faith,

For the second year in a row, Immaculate Conception Church is the home parish of the Valedictorian of the graduating class of Perryton High School. In 2010, the top student was Daniel Bouchard, the son of Sheriff Terry and Margaret Bouchard, who is now attending SMU in Dallas, majoring in music. This year, the top student was Ramon Becerril.

Deacon James Ambs, who was in the first Permanent Diaconate class for the Diocese of Amarillo, passed away Aug. 5. He was 79. Mass was celebrated Aug. 9 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Bishop Patrick J. Zurek, presiding, with Monsignor Joseph Tash, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church and Father John Dalton, concelebrating. Entombment was in Memory Gardens Mausoleum.?James Ambs was born March 18, 1932 in Anderson, Ind., the son of Everett and Helen Ambs. He attended Middleton High School in Indiana.?

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the apostolic nuncio to the United States since early 2006, "enjoyed the highest respect and deepest affection" of the U.S. bishops and the nation's Catholics, said New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archbishop Sambi, 73, died July 27 at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore apparently from complications of lung surgery performed approximately three weeks earlier.

The centennial of the first Mass celebrated in Collingsworth County was noted July 10 during a Mass celebrated by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek at Our Mother of Mercy Church. The Mass also included the confirmation of five young adults. The first Mass celebrated in Collingsworth County took place in June 1911, with Father George J. Reid presiding in the home of C.B. Boverie.

Deacon Haider Quintero was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek May 13 during an evening Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The newly-ordained Father Quintero celebrated his first Masses May 15 at St. Ann’s Church, Stinnett and St. John the Evangelist Church, Borger. Joining Father Quintero at his ordination and for his first Masses were his parents, Trinidad Quintero and Graciela Claro, his sister Nancy Quintero

Deacon Haider Quintero will be ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Amarillo by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek during a Friday, May 13 Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1200 South Washington. The Mass is scheduled to begin at 6:30pm. Coverage of the Mass will begin at 6:15 on St. Valentine Radio, 1360AM, KDJW and on the diocesan website, www.amarillodiocese.org/live.

Victoria Bohac Zurek, the mother of Bishop Patrick J. Zurek, passed away April 23 in Sealy. She was 96 years old. Mass was celebrated April 27, Guardian Angel Church, with Bishop Zurek presiding, assisted by Father Thui Quang Nguyen, pastor, Guardian Angel Church. Burial was in Guardian Angels Cemetery.

When a stranger stops at Randy Friemel’s Hereford studio home, it doesn’t take too long upon first glance to see who is his favorite subject. His name: Jesus Christ, also known as the Savior, King, Redeemer and Son of God, among other titles. “I’ve been drawing all my life and have been an avid student of Scripture for 12 years,

For most college students, Spring Break means a break from classes, a time to party, a time to go to warmer climates for fun. Spring Break at the Catholic Student Center at West Texas A&M University means something completely different: a mission trip to help those in need. Twenty-six students, along with Father Daniel Dreher, chaplain/executive director and Betty Aragon,

In 2004, during a meeting with Monsignor Harold Waldow, pastor of St. Mary’s Church, the possibility of getting the students at St. Mary’s School involved with adoration was discussed. One of those at the meeting was Josette Cramer. By the time the meeting ended, she found herself placed in charge of Adoration for the students at St. Mary’s School.

If you missed the Dedication of St. Mary's to Cathedral on Friday, March 25, 2011, you can watch the recording on our website. This day will remain a very special Solemnity for the Diocese of Amarillo. This recording has been made available by the Diocese for everyone to remember this extraordinary day of history for our Diocese. Please remember to share this link with your friends and family.

March 17, 1903 ground was broken for the first Catholic Church in the city of Amarillo: Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The plain white frame wood church was located on North Polk Street between the Rock Island Railroad Depot and St. Anthony’s Sanatorium-Hospital. In the spring of 1916 ground was broken for a new church to be built on two lots of land at 9th and Taylor in downtown Amarillo.

Incorporating the past with the new and finally to put to rest the soul of Sacred Heart Cathedral within its’ daughter church: St. Mary’s Church. The Sacred Heart of Jesus window in the internal wall of the bell tower flanked by the circular windows of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary hang as they did in the old cathedral church: behind the main altar.

A Charismatic group have been gathering on Thursday nights at 7:00 at St. Laurence Cathedral to take the Word of God to those in need. The group is Grupo de Oracion el Sembrador (To Plant the Seed of God in English) and its meetings are usually attended by 20 to 25 people, according to Rosalia Hernandez, one of the coordinators of the group. “Our mission is to

Teresa Schrock challenged herself to pursue a Master’s Degree in Communications. That challenge led her to the Sudanese Community at St. Joseph’s Church in Amarillo and to a dissertation that is letting others know about that community. Schrock, the sister of seminarian David Schrock, presented the paper Refugees Building Community Despite Hurdles March 4-5 at the Sooner Conference in Norman at the University of Oklahoma.

Preparations are underway for the elevation of St. Mary’s Church to Cathedral status, according to Monsignor Harold Waldow, pastor at St. Mary’s and Vicar of Clergy for the Diocese of Amarillo. Activities are scheduled to begin Thursday, March 24 at 7pm at St. Laurence Cathedral, where Vespers will be presided by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Sillier of San Antonio.