All-American

On July 10 United Soccer Coaches announced that Grace Bindbeutel of St. Dominic High School in O’Fallon was named to the association’s High School Boys and Girls All-America Teams for the 2018-19 school year. Sixty-five players, four of them from Missouri, received All-America recognition with 45 female student-athletes and 20 male student-athletes awarded the honor. Bindbeutel, a forward, was a freshman this past season. The only other St. Louisan on the team is Anna Walsh, a senior last season at Rockwood Summit High School. The coaches’ all-central region team also included Nerinx Hall’s Emma Christanell, Incarnate Word Academy’s Olivia Laytob, Visitation Academy’s Jamie Tottleben, CBC’s Nolan DeWeese and Nathan Temm, St. John Vianney’s Brenden Dolan, De Smet Jesuit’s Joshua Lindell and Chaminade’s Scott Ross.

Corrections reform

Gov. Mike Parson, backed by bipartisan groups of legislators and activists, signed a series of corrections bills July 9 that will reform the criminal justice system in Missouri. The Missouri Catholic Conference supported many of the provisions in the bills. The bills are: HB 192, which does away with “show-cause” hearings, in which defendants must explain to a judge why they shouldn’t be jailed for not paying costs from previous stay in jail and which contains language that could free hundreds of prisoners who are currently serving mandatory sentences; HB 547, which allows judicial circuits to create drug treatment courts and prosecutors to create diversion programs. It would also increase the amount of restitution paid by the state to exonerated Missourians from $50 a day to $100; and SB 1, which would allow those who commit crimes of property damage, theft or credit/debit card fraud to seek expungement of their record.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Missionary disciples

Parish Missionary Disciples, a 10-session evangelization training starting Aug. 10, is now open to individuals from all parishes. Participants will learn how to pray more effectively and teach others to pray; share the Gospel with others; share personal testimony; and accompany others on their Catholic discipleship journey. For a full list of dates, and further information contact Deacon Brian Selsor of the Office of Evangelization and Discipleship at [email protected].

Resiliency: Bouncing Forward

The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Ill., is presenting its 13th annual “When Mental Illness Hits Home Conference” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, with a theme of “Resiliency: Bouncing Forward” focusing on recovery following trauma. The event is designed to help anyone journeying with people with mental illness such as families, friends and professionals. The keynote speaker will be Gary Behrman, assistant adjunct professor at Saint Louis University‘s Schools of Social Work, Allied Health and Medicine who specializes in treating anxiety disorders and depression. Cost is $40, which includes lunch. Register at www.bit.ly/2LjGmiM. For more information, call (618) 394-6281 or email [email protected]

Intact families

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of St. Louis will host a talk by W. Bradford Wilcox on “Poverty, Family Structure & The Way Forward … The Road to Economic Opportunity” from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Busch Student Center on the Saint Louis University campus, 20 N. Grand Blvd. Wilcox will address the importance of intact families. Following his talk, Wilcox will join a panel discussion on encouraging the intact family. He is director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies. The event is co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Louis and Saint Louis University. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is an international Catholic lay organization dedicated to providing person-to-person service to all in need. Seating for the free event is limited. Register at www.svdpstlouis.org/register.

‘Songs of Hope’

Arts & Faith St. Louis is presenting a free concert at the Sheldon Concert Hall to build a harmonious St. Louis. “Songs of Hope,” the ninth annual interreligious concert, will be performed at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, at the Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd. in St. Louis. Tickets are available for pickup starting an hour before the event. This year’s concert will feature both adult and young singers and musicians from six religious communities, including Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist vocal ensembles from across the metropolitan area. Also featured will be soprano Christine Brewer, performing new music by composer and clarinetist Stephanie Berg that was recently premiered at Powell Symphony Hall, and an interreligious youth chorus led by Maria Ellis. New this year will be a storyteller chosen in collaboration with the MU Extension Division Storytelling Festival. Arts & Faith St. Louis began in 2011 on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. For more information, contact Barbara Murray at [email protected] or (314) 553-9900.

A celebration of marriage

The annual Silver and Golden Jubilee Mass for couples celebrating 25, 50, or more than 50 years of marriage in 2019 will be celebrated at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, 4431 Lindell Blvd. Archbishop Robert J. Carlson is the celebrant. Couples registered by Aug. 24 will receive a certificate of congratulations, and their names and wedding date will be printed in the Mass program. To register, visit www.archstl.org/jubilee or call (314) 792-7170.