CHARLOTTE — MiraVia will host its 26th annual fundraising banquet online this year, due to restrictions on large in-person gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online event is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 29.
The “Path to Life” banquet will feature keynote speaker Melissa Ohden, survivor of a failed saline infusion abortion in 1977. Ohden is the founder and director of The Abortion Survivors Network and is a master’s level prepared social worker. She is the author of “You Carried Me: A Daughter’s Memoir.”
The online event will also feature a virtual tour of the college-based residential facility located at Belmont Abbey College and testimonials from former and current MiraVia moms.
Online registration is free. Details are on page 6. Go to www.mira-via.org for more information and to register. Questions? Contact Megan Whiteside at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 704-525-4673, ext. 13.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter. MiraVia contributed.
The Fathers of Mercy will preach three back-to-back missions in November at parishes in Huntersville, Kernersville and Arden, as part of the Diocese of Charlotte’s Year of St. Joseph commemorations, and each of the three four-night missions will be streamed live online to allow more people from across the diocese to participate despite pandemic restrictions.
The first Year of St. Joseph Mission, led by Mercy Father Joseph Aytona, will be held Monday, Nov. 2, through Thursday, Nov. 5, at St. Mark Church in Huntersville. The second mission, led by Mercy Father Ricardo Pineda, will be held Monday, Nov. 9, through Thursday, Nov. 12, at Holy Cross Church in Kernersville. The third mission, led by Father Pineda, will be held Monday, Nov. 16, through Thursday, Nov. 19, at St. Barnabas Church in Arden.
Missions will begin each evening at 6 p.m. with Eucharistic Adoration and confessions until 7 p.m. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed each evening at approximately 6:45 p.m. The missions will be held in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament from 7 to 8 p.m. and end with Benediction.
Go to https://yearofstjoseph.org/mission/ for more information about each evening’s topic and to find links to each parish website to view the Year of St. Joseph Mission livestreams.
— Catholic News Herald