By Marie Widmann

VICTORVILLE—What would it look like for a Papal Encyclical to literally come to life? Since May thousands of Catholics in parishes from Adelanto to Phelan, Barstow to Victorville, Hesperia and Apple Valley have participated in just such an exercise, as they embraced Blessed John Paul II’s “Evangelium Vitae,” working tirelessly to answer the call for every person to advance a Culture of Life. 

 A window of opportunity for young undocumented immigrants to achieve temporary legal residency officially opened on August 15 when the federal government revealed the application process for “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.”

 At certain times in the history of the Church, popes have called upon the faithful to dedicate themselves to deepening their understanding of a particular aspect of the faith. In 1967, Pope Paul VI announced a Year of Faith commemorating the 19th centenary of the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Despite the loss of her mother and brother to violence, Sr. Terry Maher stands against the death penalty.

 You couldn’t have blamed Sister Terry Maher for trying to write the letter.

 Her brother, a police officer and a supporter of the death penalty, had been shot and killed in the line of duty. She knew he would have wanted her to write it. On top of that, he was the second member of Sr. Terry’s immediate family who had died at another’s hand. Her mother had been killed by a drunk driver 30 years earlier.

GRAND TERRACE—It wasn’t too long ago that Father Javier Gonzales-Cabrera and Father Jorge Garcia were discerning their vocation and then taking their first steps toward the priesthood in seminary life.

 The two young priests, ordained together in 2008, are embarking on new ministries that will take them back to their formative years, only this time as mentors.

By Andres Rivera
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO—Sister Mary Chilee Okoko, D.M.M.M., says she feels that her entire life has prepared her for a new role. She joins Joyce Drake and Jose Luis Elias in entering new leadership positions in the diocese’s Ministry of Life, Dignity and Justice; Ministry of Educational Services and Ministry Formation Institute, respectively.