Visitors to the Las Vegas area
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Moapa River Indian Reservation: Moapa Band of Paiute Indians occupy 71,000 acres north of Las Vegas. Nevada State Museum and Historical Society: Depicts 10,000 years of regional history. 702-486-5205 Las Vegas Museum of Natural History: Highlights regional natural history, wildlife and art. 702-384-3466 Zoological-Botanical Park: 4-acre zoo featuring many desert plant and animals. 702-648-5995 |
Review Journal, Opinion Page, August 26,
2001. WHERE I STAND Column. FAITH IS GIFT FROM GOD by Bishop Joseph A. Pepe, Diocese of Las Vegas Some years ago on a Sunday afternoon, I was in the parish offices when I received a call from a nearby hospital requesting that I come to baptize and confirm a newborn infant near death. After administering the sacraments to this little baby, I went in to see the parents. I was quite apprehensive and I understood the pain and sense of confusion that the parents were experiencing at this time. However, when the mother, who was not a Catholic, spoke, she said, "I believe that my little Mary was born so that she could receive the sacraments of baptism and confirmation and so enter into heaven as a full Christian." I was quite startled by her affirmation of faith. Eventually, this young woman entered into the Catholic Church and was given the gift of two healthy children. On that day and moment the mother said those words concerning her daughter, I was given a deep insight that faith makes us understand the incomprehensible. Faith is always a gift given to us to gain understanding in our life, to gain encouragement for the many challenges that we meet on our life journey and goal toward God. Finally, faith offers us, through understanding, an understanding of the hope for eternal life promised by the Lord, Jesus. One of the most exciting things that I have experienced as I begin my role as Bishop and Shepherd of the Catholic Church of Southern Nevada is the depth of faith that I see in the people here, particularly in the Catholic communities. They show a depth of understanding that gives vitality and meaning to their daily life. Both in their worship and in their outreach ministries, these Catholic people show that faith is something vibrant, something that can be put into action and something that can change the community and the world around them. Several parishes that I have visited so far have obviously different attitudes and different experiences of life as a community and as individuals. However, they are centered in their belief and trust in God, their belief in the power of the Lord Jesus in their celebration at Mass to bring about a sense of forgiveness of sin and an experience of new freedom in the Holy Spirit of Christ. If I am fearful of the challenges that a growing Church demands of a bishop at this time and place in Nevada, I certainly feel through my own faith and the faith of the people in the various parishes of the Diocese of Las Vegas a strong sense of support, encouragement and prayer which will sustain us during these early years of the new millennium. This past weekend I visited with a group of youth and young adults from a number of parishes in the Diocese of Las Vegas. What came through, as young as they were, was the depth of faith which gave them the opportunity to leave and risk their own comfortable surroundings and friends to enter into sharing, dialogue and growth with a greater group of young people. Their faith was evident in their warmth, their deep desire to learn and their willingness to take on the challenge of leadership for the future of the Church in Southern Nevada. Faith then is a powerful gift given by God to us to understand the mystery of our life, to comprehend our world and to change the world and bring the light and hope of the living gospel, which is Jesus Christ, to the world. |
Catholic
U.S. Colleges & Universities
- Assumption
College
- Ave Maria College
- Christendom College
- The College of St. Thomas More
- Franciscan University of Steubenville
- Magdalen College
- Our Lady of Corpus Christi
- Thomas Aquinas College
- Thomas More College of Liberal
Arts
This beautiful, decorative cloth is offered and handmade by the volunteers, as a fundraiser for our Center Our Lady of the Broom is an unusual image and each towel comes complete, with the legend associated with Our Mother, Lady of the Broom, and the history of this particular statue, dear to our Spiritual Director and to our prayer group. It is now housed in the cloister at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph of The Discalced Carmelite Sisters. To order, e-mail: MICenter or call (702) 985-3144. Delightful gift for any occasion. A reminder to us that Our dear Blessed Mother, too, fulfilled her duties with love and care for her family. She is our Mother of Charity; she is our model, "par excellence". Thank you.
Photo Credit: Scott Robertson
View of Lower Boulder Dam, Nevada
(Click here to view picture without text)