You have probably noticed that at some football games or at a sporting event there may be a person holding up a banner with the message “John 3:16”. It is usually quite noticeable when the field goal is being placed through the uprights and the cameras are showing the fans in the background. Whether or not you agree with the zealousness of the fan, the sign is actually intended as a message of faith and hope. It refers to the words in the third chapter and 16th verse of the gospel of St.

Congratulations to the Juneau Community Foundation which announced this past week that it has met its goal for the Glory Hole Donation Match challenge, in fact, in advance of its deadline. Over $10,000 was collected and a matching gift will be given by the Juneau Community Foundation to the Glory Hole. This is good news as many will be seeking a warm meal and a place to stay during the upcoming challenges of winter.

Soon after arriving in Juneau I was given an orientation to all the work of Catholic Community Service (CCS). In fact, after over two years, I am still amazed at many aspects of this agency throughout Southeast Alaska. I am not alone, many people are amazed when they learn that all the Care-A-Van vehicles traveling through Juneau are part of Catholic Community Service’s Southeast Senior Services Division. The number of CCS programs that exist here in Juneau and throughout Southeast Alaska are extensive.

It was a typically wet, rainy night on Sept. 11, 1886, when Sr. Mary Zenon, Sr. Mary Bonsecours and Sr. Mary Victor, disembarked from the side-wheeler Ancon at the steamship dock in Juneau after a voyage of 900 miles from Victoria, British Columbia. Standing there in the rain to meet the Sisters of St. Ann were Fr. John Altoff, who had arrived in the newly established mining settlement just a year before, and two of his parishioners, Marion Murphy and her brother Augustus. That first night the sisters slept on the floor of the Catholic church.