St Thomas More Society

Lawyer's Prayer Give me the grace, Good Lord, to set the world at naught; to set my mind fast upon thee and not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths; to be content to be solitary; not to long for worldly company but utterly to cast off the world and rid my mind of the business thereof. --St. Thomas More What do you call 20 attorneys who keep silent for an entire weekend? Nice try, but "a good start" and "bliss" don't count. This isn't a lawyer joke.

Dwight Smith considers housing the homeless his mission in life. So when the local building industry offered to donate time and materials to renovate Isaiah House, the Catholic Worker-sponsored shelter he directs in Santa Ana, Smith jumped at the chance. Ten months later, however, the volunteer contractors -- hit hard by a mortgage meltdown and industry lull that have left many unemployed -- had to abandon the job.

On Jan. 27, the St. Thomas More Society, made up of Orange County Catholic judges and attorneys, is holding a half-day seminar on "A Lawyer's Professional Responsibility: The Lawyer of the Millennium's Perspective." The conference in Santa Ana will focus on the teachings of Thomas More, an attorney and top aide to King Henry VIII. More was beheaded for his faith when he failed to give up his allegiance to the pope. The Law Society of Great Britain voted him "Lawyer of the Millennium."

"Lest We Forget" will be the theme of the Holocaust Memorial this week at Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach. Special prayers will be said to remember those lost in the Holocaust. The evening will also include an Eternal Light presentation. The Harbor Christian Church, which has shared its facilities with Temple Isaiah for 25 years, will place a gift of an ever-burning lamp over the Holy Ark.

Gerald F. Kicanas, bishop of the Diocese of Tucson, was in the Middle East attending a Catholic conference on peace when he learned while watching CNN that a gunman had opened fire on a crowd back home. He was stunned, he said ? and then he thought he heard the name "John Roll. " "I thought I had misheard," Kicanas said in an interview. He hadn't; Roll, Arizona's chief federal judge, a devout Catholic and a close friend, was among the dead. "I just broke down," Kicanas said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Court of Appeal Justice Carol A. Corrigan, a moderate Republican, to the California Supreme Court on Friday in a move that is likely to shift the conservative-leaning court toward the center. Corrigan, 57, a former prosecutor and a judge for 18 years, will fill the vacancy created by last summer's departure of Justice Janice Rogers Brown, the court's only African American and one of its most conservative members.

So, you're going off to college--your bags are packed with extra long twin sheets for those odd-sized dorm beds and you're wearing the same sweatshirt with the giant school logo that you've been wearing since you got your acceptance letter. But what has become of your soccer ball and baseball glove? Have you left them in your bedroom as shrines to your high school glory years? Or, have you tucked them under your arm along with a bag of high hopes?