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News Briefs:
Diocesan Women's Retreat
MADISON -- A Diocesan Women's Retreat, sponsored by the Diocese of Madison's Office of Religious Education, will be held Friday, Aug. 19, through Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center.
The retreat master is Bishop Robert C. Morlino. In light of the late Pope John Paul II's proclamation that 2005 is the Year of the Eucharist, Catholic women of all ages are invited to gather with Bishop Morlino to pray and reflect on what it means to not only receive the Eucharist, but to live out the grace of Eucharist in their daily lives.
Talk I and Reconciliation begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, following a 6 p.m. dinner for early arrivals. Saturday begins with 8:30 a.m. breakfast, followed by 9:30 a.m. morning prayer and Talk II at 10 a.m. Mass is held at 11:30 a.m., followed by 12:30 p.m. lunch and Talk III at 1:45 p.m. The day ends at 2:45 p.m.
Cost is $80 for overnight with Friday dinner and Saturday meals, $65 for overnight with Saturday meals, or $40 for commuters with Saturday lunch.
Copies of the retreat brochure may be downloaded at www.madisondiocese.org Scroll down the list on the left and click on Religious Education. Then click on "What's New" or "Forms" and scroll down to "Diocesan Women's Retreat."
Registration deadline is Aug. 12. For more information, call Jack McBride at 608-821-3161 or e-mail mcbride@straphael.org
St. Clare Hospice House
open house
BARABOO -- A dedication and grand opening of the St. Clare Hospice House in Baraboo will take place this Friday, July 22, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Donors to the project are invited to this event.
A community open house of the St. Clare Hospice House will be held on Saturday, July 23, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The new facility is located behind St. Clare Meadows Care Center at 915 - 12th St. in Baraboo. Hospice Committee members will be available throughout the day to answer questions and give tours.
For more information about the St. Clare Hospice House or the open house event, call the St. Clare Health Care Foundation at 608-356-1449.
Walk for Life to be held Aug. 20
MADISON -- The Walk for Life is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20, at Vilas Park in Madison. This second annual event is a fundraiser for the Elizabeth House maternity home in Madison.
It begins with registration at 9 a.m., followed by the Walk for Life at 10 a.m.
Last year's inaugural event attracted nearly 150 participants and helped raise more than $19,000 needed to fund the daily operations of this maternity home. Walkers raising $150 or more in pledges earn a commemorative T-shirt, "The Next Generation is in Our Hands."
The Walk for Life is a two-mile stroll around beautiful Vilas Park. Proceeds support Care Net's Elizabeth House for crisis pregnancies.
The Elizabeth House provides a safe, loving, and supportive Christian home for pregnant women and new mothers ages 18 to 30 who would otherwise be homeless or struggling without badly needed resources and support.
Its program and caring staff foster spiritual growth and restore hope and direction in women's lives as they prepare for motherhood and eventual independent living.
For information on the walk, or to help form a team, call 608-258-9473.
Pilgrimage to Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
MADISON -- The Queen of the Americas Guild and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse are sponsoring a pilgrimage to the shrine and a conference Aug. 5-7.
Participants will learn more about the miracle of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the shrine in La Crosse.
The special event includes Mass and dinner with Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of the Archdiocese of St. Louis (formerly bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse), and founder of the shrine.
Other speakers include Fr. Richard Hogan, priest of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul, who will talk about the legacy of Pope John Paul II; other Marian authorities; and representatives of the Queen of the Americas Guild.
The event also includes Holy Hour and Benediction, group rosary prayer, Reconciliation, and time for personal reflection.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Queen of the Americas Guild, founded by Bishop Jerome Hastrich, who was named auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Madison in 1963 and served as bishop of the Diocese of Gallup from 1969 to 1990. He died in 1995.
Space is limited for the pilgrimage and conference at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse. Cost is $60 per person, which includes meals but not transportation costs or hotel
accommodations.
For more information or to make reservations, contact Sr. Christa Marie, executive director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, at 608-788-8601 or smchrista@shrineofourlady.com, or the Queen of the Americas Guild at 630-584-1822.
Together Encountering Christ
MADISON -- Together Encountering Christ (TEC) will mark its 20th anniversary in the Diocese of Madison with a special gathering beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, at St. Joseph Parish in Dodgeville.
Leadership and VIRTUS training, a viewing of the TEC history, Mass, dinner, recognition of the 2005 Spirit of TEC recipient, games, and prizes will be a part of the celebration. The theme is "Past, Present, and Future in Jesus."
Those interested in attending may call Beth Skala at 608-929-7425 or Judy Fillback at 608-623-2186 by July 28. Cost is $20 per person.
At the national level, TEC marked its 40th anniversary with a celebration July 8 to 10 at Our Lady of the Snows Shrine in Belleville, Ill.
The next TEC retreat will be held July 29 to 31 at St. Henry Parish, Watertown. Those interested in attending may contact the Office of Religious Education at 608-821-3160.
JustFaith workshop in Mequon
MEQUON -- JustFaith is offering an introductory workshop here Saturday, July 23, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Lumen Christi Catholic Church.
JustFaith is a program that seeks to integrate personal spirituality and social ministry, while aiming to empower participants to develop a passion and thirst for justice and to express this passion in concrete acts of parish social ministry.
Jack Jezreel, creator and director of JustFaith, will give an overview of the program and will cover the theological tradition of Catholic Social Justice teaching, stories of the impact of JustFaith, and instructions on how parishes can implement the program.
Registration and cost of the workshop is $15. Car pools are being formed and those interested may contact Trudi Jenny, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Madison, at trudijenny@yahoo.com
Blessed Sacrament Parish honors St. Dominic
MADISON -- In honor of the feast of St. Dominic, Fr. Donald Goergen, an internationally known Dominican scholar, will present: "St. Dominic: Who He Was and Why He Is Still Important Today" at Blessed Sacrament Church in Madison on Aug. 8.
The evening will begin with evening prayer at 7 p.m. followed by Father Goergen's presentation. A reception will follow.
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Vigil for life:
Offering prayers for unborn, prayers for healing
By Julianne Nornberg
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF
(See also front-page photo.)
MADISON -- Putting their faith into action is what people of the Diocese of Madison and beyond did July 14-15 when they joined seminarians who led a 24-hour pro-life vigil and Eucharistic Adoration for life.
Vigil participants recited the rosary and other prayers outside an abortion clinic off of Stoughton Rd. in Madison. At the same time, 24-hour Eucharistic Adoration was held at St. Peter Church in Madison. Mass began and ended the 24-hour period.
This is the second year the Office of Vocations has sponsored the vigil. Diocese of Madison seminarians and those discerning priesthood for the Diocese of Madison led prayers outside the abortion clinic and took turns adoring the Blessed Sacrament in the 24-hour Eucharistic Adoration.
Last year, participants prayed in rain that poured off and on throughout the day and night, while this year they were bathed in sunshine and humidity.
Fr. Tait Schroeder, pastor of St. Bridget Parish in Ridgeway and Immaculate Conception Parish in Barneveld, was one of the participants.
"We ask for a blessing of healing for all those involved with this place of evil," he prayed at the abortion clinic. "Bring them to a conversion of heart. Forgive their sins and drive away the evil one."
The vigil is important "because it gives a very public and external witness that we see abortion as evil," said Father Schroeder. "We pray for conversion and healing and we know our prayers are heard."
Not only do we pray for healing and an end to abortion, but we also pray for situations in society that welcome children and show forth God's gift and blessing of life, he said.
When asked what motivated him to participate in the vigil, Donald Schraufnagel, member of St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison, said, "My wife and I started Wisconsin Right to Life in Madison in 1971 and have never quit. I had high hopes this would have been settled before this, but we have to keep at it.
"I urge all to pray and fast also. That increases the fervor of your prayer. We still have a lot of work to do and I hope the average person does not get discouraged," said Schraufnagel.
Jane Renz of St. John the Baptist Parish in Jefferson lamented the existence of abortion.
"There are other options for people," she said. She participated in the vigil with two of her sons, Tom of St. Joseph Parish in Waterloo, and Tim, a new seminarian for the Diocese of Madison.
The prayer vigil is about "putting faith into action," said Mitch Knutson, Diocese of Madison seminarian who coordinated the event.
He noted that praying outside the abortion clinic can be intimidating, but we're here proclaiming the truth with love. Being a part of this, you look beyond yourself and lift your prayers to the Father, who will do what he will in his own time, he said.
Nazareth House:
Explores future options
STOUGHTON -- The following statement was recently issued by the Nazareth House, a nursing home operated by the Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth, located at 814 Jackson St. in Stoughton:
"At Nazareth House, we take pride in providing high quality, compassionate care to our residents. As we look forward, we sadly realize that we will not have an appropriate number of Sisters available to assist us in this mission," said Sr. Philomena Murphy, CEO. "Thus, we are exploring options that will allow Nazareth House to continue to operate at the exemplary level we demand, and that our residents expect and deserve.
"To this end, after much thought and deliberation, we are considering the possibility of a change in ownership. Because things are only preliminary at this point, and nothing is certain, we have very little specific information to offer right now.
"As we plan for the future, our main objective is to make certain that residents continue to enjoy the same outstanding care and loving atmosphere they are accustomed to here at Nazareth House. Any decisions with respect to the ownership and operation of Nazareth House will be carefully made with that as our primary goal."
The Congregation of the Sisters of Nazareth began in 1850 as a group of dedicated French and English women who noticed the plight of the elderly people living in poverty on the streets on London. Their goal was to provide a home with food, clothing, shelter, and loving care for the elderly poor.
These homes began to spread beyond the London area to Scotland, Wales, Ireland, South Africa, and Australia in the 1800s. The founding group noticed the plight of poor, often homeless, children and so began to provide homes for them as well. Education soon became an
integral component of children's homes.
Around 1920 the Sisters of Nazareth opened a home and school for children in San Diego, Calif., and another home for children north of Los Angles. Several years later the Sisters opened a home for the elderly in Los Angles, Fresno, San Francisco, San Diego, Calif., and
Stoughton, Wis.
The Nazareth House in Stoughton is a 99-bed nursing home that is one of numerous schools, child care centers, and nursing homes operated by the Sisters of Nazareth throughout the world.
Summer outing: Apostolate to Handicapped
WISCONSIN DELLS -- The 38th annual trip to the Wisconsin Dells sponsored by the Apostolate to the Handicapped will be held on Friday, Aug. 26.
This summer outing will be at the Tommy Bartlett Water Show on Lake Delton. Tom Diehl, owner and chief executive officer of the water show has invited the apostolate to be his guests.
All are invited
This is a high point of the year's activities of the Apostolate to the Handicapped. All handicapped and elderly persons are invited. It will begin with an 11 a.m. outdoor Mass at the show site. Lunch and the world famous Tommy Bartlett Water Show will complete the day.
To make a reservation, write to Msgr. Thomas Campion at Box 443, Monroe, WI 53556. If you need a ride, let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you. The day will take place rain or shine.
There is no charge for the day. All expenses are paid for by the Tommy Bartlett Water Show staff and friends of the Apostolate to the Handicapped.
The usual staff of the Apostolate to the Handicapped will assure the comfort of guests. There will be hundreds of volunteers, drivers, nurses, lunch providers, helpers, benefactors, the Wisconsin Dells EMS, and, of course, the great people of the Tommy Bartlett Water Show - "the kids in the orange shirts."
Goodness of people
"This most significant day vividly shows what the Apostolate to the Handicapped is all about," said Monsignor Campion. "The joy and beauty of people is present to the highest degree in the magnificent day in the Wisconsin Dells.
"It is the joy and beauty of the handicapped people, inside and out, as well as the joy and beauty of the people who care that makes it a perfect day. It is a picture of the true goodness of people, of nature, and of life.
"I only hope that it is the biggest and best day ever!" Monsignor Campion said.
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