COLORADO SPRINGS. Exciting pro-life things are happening in our diocese — none of them related to the Supreme Court of the United States.

On June 4, the Catholics 4 Life Network team supported long-time partners and friends from Life Network at Memorial Park and around the diocese in the annual Walk for Life. As a team, Catholics 4 Life Network raised over $90,000 for Life Network. That made us the top fundraising team — an accolade we have earned for more than a few years.

COLORADO SPRINGS. At St. Mary’s High School, summer means STEM Camp and a chance for area students to try out STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities both on campus and around the local community. This year’s camp was the seventh one hosted by St. Mary’s and continues to be popular with Colorado Springs students.

Vines can be charming and add vertical interest to the landscape. They are considered to be under-used and tend to be over looked at our local nurseries. Silver lace vine is a great choice for gardeners in our diocese who are interested in a fast-growing, easy going and undemanding vine. Silver lace vine (Polygonum aubertii) is a vigorous, deciduous vine that can grow up to 12 feet in one year. This drought-tolerant vine twists its way around arbors, fences, and porch columns. Beautiful, white flowers embellish this low maintenance plant in the summer and fall.

Truly, we are creatures of habit. Used to standing for the Gospel Acclamation’s alleluias immediately following the Epistle, congregations at Mass are usually caught by surprise when the Sequence appears instead. Often left without instruction by the lector or cantor, worshippers stand, hesitate, then self-consciously resume their seats.