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The Catholic Herald: Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Madison

January 13, 2005 Edition   •   Volume 135, No. 1   •   Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

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The Catholic Herald is the official newspaper of the Diocese of Madison. Its purpose is to inform and educate people of the Diocese through communications that proclaim Gospel values, report the news, and comment on issues as they pertain to the mission of the Catholic Church, which is to bring all in Jesus Christ to the Father.
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Breaking News ...

Fr. Timothy F. Gericke dies

-- Posted: 1/18/2005

photo of Fr. Timothy F. Gericke
Fr. Timothy F. Gericke

JANESVILLE -- Fr. Timothy F. Gericke, 65, chaplain at St. Elizabeth Home in Janesville, died on Sunday, Jan. 16.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. John the Baptist Parish, Jefferson at 12 noon on Friday, Jan. 21, with Msgr. Paul J. Swain, vicar general, as main celebrant, and Fr. Eric Nielsen, Bloomington, as homilist. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until the Mass at the church. Burial will be in the parish cemetery.

Father Gericke was born on June 27, 1939 in Gary, Ind., to Frederick and Marie Riedelback Gericke. He attended elementary school at St. John the Baptist School, Jefferson, and St. Joseph School, Fort Atkinson. He attended public high school in Fort Atkinson and Queen of the Apostles Seminary, Madison, for high school and college studies.

He studied philosophy and theology at St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 1965 at St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison, by Bishop William P. O'Connor.

He served as associate pastor at St. John the Baptist Parish, Princeton; St. Charles Borromeo, Cassville; St. John the Baptist, Waunakee; St. Jerome, Columbus; St. Joseph, Dodgeville; Holy Rosary, Darlington; St. Mary, Platteville; and St. Luke, Plain, with St. Patrick, Loreto.

He served as pastor at St. Joseph Parish, Avoca, with St. Malachy, Clyde; St. Patrick, Hollandale, with Immaculate Conception, Blanchardville, and St. Michael, Yellowstone; St. Joseph, Markesan, with St. Mary, Kingston; and St. Thomas, Montfort, with St. John Nepomucene, Castle Rock.

Fr. Gericke was also chaplain of Knights of Columbus Council 7489, Hollandale.


Prayer for Vocations

We pray, Lord,
that you continue to bless
and enrich your Church
with the gift of vocations.
We pray that many may
welcome your call
and, with generous and
faithful response,
continuously bring joy
to the Church.
Amen.


Only in the print edition ...
News & Features:

Aid agencies:
Report record giving levels

National Vocation Awareness Week: Supplement

Columns:

• Question Corner
by Fr. John Dietzen --
The recommended posture:
For receiving Holy Communion

• The Pope Speaks
by Pope John Paul II --
Holy season: The great mystery
of Christ's birth

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Tsunami relief: Diocese contributes to efforts

MADISON -- Parishes and individuals in the Diocese of Madison have been contributing to the tsunami relief efforts in south Asia and Bishop Robert C. Morlino requested that all parishes take up a special collection to support the outreach of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which already has a presence in the countries affected by the tsunami disaster.

"We've gotten a lot of calls," said J. Mark Brinkmoeller, director of the Diocese of Madison's Office for Justice and Peace. "Many parishes have been calling to ask, 'What can we do?' Before they were asked, parishes were responding."

For example, collections have already been taken up at St. Raphael Cathedral and Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Madison and Christ the King Parish in McFarland, he said.

Moved by loss

John Newman, a member of St. Raphael Cathedral in Madison and a postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it's important that the Catholic community and the nation make it clear that the people in the United States are concerned.

"When I heard of the full extent of the tsunami, I was deeply moved by the scope of the disaster and number of persons who lost their lives," said Newman.

Having friends from Sri Lanka and India, he knows people who have lost relatives in the disaster as well.

"Sri Lanka is a small nation, but their people are very caring for each other," he said. "Families are very tight-knit and strong."

Newman said he felt compelled to do something to help.

"I was in such shock at the loss of life that I felt it demanded an unprecedented response from myself as a Catholic, as a friend of Sri Lankans, as an American, and as a human," he said. "I believe that these events appeal to a deeply humane, basic connection that all people have with each other - the need to give of ourselves to help others when they so desperately need us."   Full story ...


Suggestions for vocations awareness:
'Cast Your Nets into the Deep'

Jesus encouraged his Apostles to cast out into the deep, in spite of the fact that their long hours of fishing seemed fruitless. Obedient to the Master, they cast their nets once more. As they abandoned human reason, it was rewarded in such a multitude of fish that the nets nearly broke.

Jesus implores us in the same way to cast for vocations to priesthood and religious life. The Lord commanded us to pray for vocations (Mt 9:37 and Luke 10:2) and therefore it cannot fail because He wants to grant it.

Here are some suggestions for promoting vocations awareness:

1. Holy Hours for Vocations - Begin Eucharistic Exposition for Vocations in your parish. Prayer before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is particularly fruitful for vocations. A parish rosary for vocation intentions is also very fruitful.

2. Encourage Prayer for One's Own Vocation - Encourage and lead young people to pray to the Lord for discernment in their vocation. Is the Lord calling me to priesthood, religious life, married life, or the single life?

3. Mass Intentions for Vocations - Offer Mass on a regular basis for the intention of increased vocations to priesthood and religious life.   Full story ...


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