|
 |
|
|
News Briefs:
Resurrection Cemetery main entrance
to be closed
MADISON -- Resurrection Cemetery was notified by the Department of Public Works, City Engineering Division, City of Madison, that Regent St. between Franklin Ave. and Highland Ave. will be reconstructed.
The proposed design includes new stone base, asphalt pavement, curb and gutter, and sidewalk construction/replacement as necessary on the north side of the street. Sanitary and storm sewer systems are also proposed to be installed/replaced.
A start schedule of July 30 is anticipated. The project could last eight to 10 weeks. During the road work the Regent St. entrance to Resurrection Cemetery will be closed. All funeral processions and visitors to the cemetery will have to use the entrance on Franklin Ave. near the corner of Hillcrest Dr.
Cemetery officials thank, in advance, all visitors to the cemetery for their patience and understanding.
Raffle tickets
still available for Packers box seat tickets
MADISON -- Raffle tickets are still available for a chance to win six luxury 40-yard line box seat tickets to an upcoming Packers game being raffled off by the Knights of Divine Mercy to raise money for the Diocesan Family Picnic and other projects.
The drawing will be held during the picnic at the Bishop O'Connor Center on July 29. Tickets are $25 each, or five for $100.
To purchase tickets, contact Jack Dillon at 608-846-9390 or 608-334-0657.
Tribunal presentation
at Brodhead parish
BRODHEAD -- On Monday, July 23, Jay Conzemius, J.C.L., director of the Tribunal for the Diocese of Madison, will discuss the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding annulment issues and will provide specific information about the annulment process in the diocese. This presentation will be held at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Brodhead beginning at 7 p.m.
There will be an opportunity for discussion and interaction, as well as the opportunity for group questions. After the presentation, Conzemius will make himself available on a one-to-one basis to address personal situations.
For more information, contact the Tribunal at 608-821-3060 or e-mail tribunal@straphael.org
Theology on Taps scheduled in Beloit
and Madison
BELOIT -- A four-week speaker series designed to address the needs and concerns of young adults in their 20s & 30s. Beginning on July 19, sessions for Theology On Tap to be held at 7 p.m. at La Casa Grande, 618 Fourth St., Beloit:
• July 19: "Dogmas and Dilemmas: Making Sense of Our Faith," Fr. Gary Krahenbuhl, pastor of Our Lady of Assumption Parish, Beloit
• July 26: "Relics or Relatives? Saints Past and Saints Present," Dr. Ellen Joyce, assistant professor of Medieval History, Beloit College
• August 2: "Staying On Path During Transition," Dr. Kathleen Wiskus, associate dean of formation, University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary
• August 9: "Sinners, Saints and You: Why We All Need the Scriptures in Our Lives," Fr. Randy Timmerman, pastor of St. John Vianney, Janesville
For more information, call the Office of Faith Formation, Our Lady of the Assumption, 608-362-1231 or visit www.olaparish.com
MADISON -- Thursday, July 26: "God in the Rearview Mirror: Truth, Natural Law, and God's Call" with Msgr. Jim Bartylla, director of the Diocesan Office of Vocations. Essen Haus, Madison.
New Clarion Center inpatient facility opens
BARABOO -- St. Clare Hospital's new Clarion Center 10-bed inpatient facility, relocated from second to third floor, will open Thursday, July 19.
Under the medical direction of Dr. T. Rex Flygt, Internal Medicine, and psychiatrist Dr. Patricia McCafferty, the Clarion Center offers older adults over the age of 55 treatment for depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems on both an inpatient and day treatment basis. The program's multidisciplinary approach enhances self-esteem and dignity by emphasizing abilities and promoting independence. Group and individual programs are provided daily in an atmosphere of compassion.
The caregivers include a psychiatrist, nurses, social workers, and activity therapists. Additionally the services of other medical providers such as physical and occupational therapists are also available.
"Yes, we have a new home," said Cori Marsh, Clarion Center director, "but we have preserved the same excellent staff, treatment program, and philosophy for which we have been well known for 10 years."
For more information on Clarion Center services, call Marsh at 608-356-1809.
|
Nominate someone
for "Profiles
from the pew"
To nominate someone to be featured in "Profiles from the pew," download a nomination form
 (PDF file, 269 KB).
"Profiles from the pew" runs in the Catholic Herald print edition
NOTE: The nomination form is a Portable Document Format file (PDF), which can be viewed using the freely available Adobe® Reader® software. Many computers already have this software and will automatically open the document when you click the nomination form link, above.
Adobe Reader is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
|
|
|
Bless this church:
To make it part
of the mission of Christ
By Kat Wagner
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF
(See also front-page photo.)
MADISON -- The first dinner held in the new parish hall at St. Maria Goretti Parish, held two weeks after the building was completed, was a prime illustration of the reason it was built in the first place.
It wasn't a self-congratulating dinner or a party for the parishioners, but rather a dinner to thank all of the people who had worked on the building.
"Hospitality in a parish is an incredibly important aspect," said Msgr. Michael L. Burke, pastor at St. Maria Goretti Parish. "We try to be very welcoming, especially at our liturgies," he said. "The people here encourage themselves to take care of each other."
That hospitality was one of the main reasons for the seven-year, two-phase, $12 million project at St. Maria Goretti that added a parish gathering space, parish hall and offices, additional parking, and school classrooms, a parish recreation center, and school and religious education offices onto their existing church and school.
The new buildings will accommodate the sizable growth the parish has seen in the past decade and help to welcome in all of those who will join in the coming years.
Growing needs
St. Maria Goretti Parish was formed in 1959 as a response to the southwestward expansion of the City of Madison. This growth was already filling the pews of nearby Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish.
There were 200 families in the parish at that time, and Fr. Wilfred J. Schuster was its first pastor. A school was added in 1964, staffed by the Oblates to the Blessed Trinity.
For most of Father Schuster's 37-year tenure as pastor of the parish, Mass was offered in what had been built as the gymnasium for the school. Finally, in 1993, a separate church building was constructed.
But growth of the parish continued.
In 1997 St. Maria Goretti Parish numbered about 1,000 families, and the size of the church seemed sufficient to accommodate the community and the school.
In the decade that followed, though, the parish nearly doubled, and with that growth the needs of the parish have changed. The old church was simply that - a church. There was little space outside the chapel area to gather, no offices for staff (the staff worked in the basement of the rectory, Monsignor Burke said), and a definite lack of parking for the crowds that came to Mass on Sundays.
In order to house the necessary staff to handle the larger budget of the church, to foster the ministries that enrich a large parish, and to ease the traffic issues that arise as a parish grows, it was determined that a new plan was needed.
Building community
The "Building Our Faith Community" project was formed from strategic and long-range plans that assessed the projected growth of the parish, the needs of the parish, and the amount that could be fundraised to cover the costs.
"I think that the parish has grown very wisely in its needs and its financial being," said Helen Bakke, a charter member of the parish and one of the honorary chairs. "They were always very conscious of being able to finance whatever they do."
Throughout the planning, said Pete Szotkowski, chair of the project committee, the focus of the project remained on the way these buildings were going to be used as well as making the new buildings fuse easily with the old.
"We wanted to get a certain feel of familiarity in the building, especially with the church and the gathering space and the church hall," said Szotkowski. It will help people feel very comfortable with the space, he added.
"All the spaces we created were done deliberately with what was going to be done in those spaces in mind," he said.
That deliberation can be seen in the way the kitchen opens its door and windows into the parish hall, to maintain a focus on serving people. It can be seen in the new school entrance, which helps to ensure the security of the children in the building by restricting access through the main office.
It can be seen in the fireplace in the parish hall, the warm colors of the wood, the soft tones of the walls and floors, which add a sense of familiarity and comfort to the building.
It's home, said Monsignor Burke.
"I can see them give tours to their family and friends," he said. "They're very proud of it. They have a personal stake in this."
Mission of church
"From my point of view, I think it's wonderful to see all this alive," said Bakke, who said the parish over the years has become very young and vibrant. "I feel confident that this parish will be a strong community."
"It was a great place before," said Jeff Haen, who with his wife Sue were general chairs on the project. Both had been with the parish for many years, baptized and married there, and even attended the school. "But it didn't have everything the kids needed.
"The greatest benefit to the parish is we now have a facility that, in my opinion, is second to none," he said. "We have the total package now."
But even as these buildings are completed, the building process doesn't end here. The strategic plan for the parish, Szotkowski said, goes beyond to look at the ministries getting underway in the parish that he said will be enhanced by the facilities.
During his homily at the Mass before the procession around the new campus to bless the new buildings, Bishop Robert C. Morlino talked about the mission of the church and the parish as disciples of Jesus Christ.
"We renew ourselves today as we celebrate the accomplishment of buildings and facilities . . . in the mission toward which these facilities and buildings are oriented which you are so committed to already," he said.
"These buildings and facilities which we bless and dedicate today are signs of your desire to go for the heroic, to go for excellence, never to be satisfied for mediocrity - that's what they mean," the bishop said. "And those buildings over the years will get older, as all of us do, and they will show the signs of age, as all of us do, even though we hate to admit it.
"But if our determination to do the mission of Jesus grows deeper, those buildings will always look more beautiful to us, even as they age," he said. "Just as you and I when we really chase after holiness, even as we grow older . . . we still look more beautiful to him at the deepest level of our soul."
Belmont parish: Celebrates 50th anniversary
By Kat Wagner
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF
(See also front-page sidebar: History.)
BELMONT -- The town of Belmont is one of the oldest in the state, and in fact was its first capitol. But its Catholic church is, compared with some of the other parishes in the diocese celebrating their 100th and even 150th anniversaries, relatively new.
That youth did not prevent the parish from celebrating its 50-year milestone with plenty of enthusiasm, though. The small church was filled to overflowing for the Mass, celebrated by Bishop William H. Bullock. And for the reception afterward, the line extended all the way up the stairs and back into the church lobby, filling the space with the chatter of friends.
St. Philomena Parish, established in 1957, has more than doubled its size since its inception to nearly 400 parishioners in 164 families, according to 2005 statistics. This growth mirrors the expansion of the town itself, which estimates show has grown in population by four percent in the past seven years.
"Belmont has always stuck together - it's a great community," remarked Marjorie Rehmstedt, one of the parish's charter members.
"I think it's the people," she said.
More than a dozen of the charter members were present for the celebration, and there was evidence that many others who attended were of long standing. The servers were adults who, when youths, served at Mass.
"One of the wonderful elements of our parish, that was present from our founding days with Monsignor Stack, to all those who worked on today's celebration, is the sense of volunteerism and the willingness to help," Fr. Monte Robinson, pastor of the parish and of St. Michael, Calamine, and Immaculate Conception, Truman, said in a statement. "May God continue always to bless us with this same spirit."
During his homily, after which he lead a round of "Happy Anniversary" to the parish, Bishop Bullock reflected on the Gospel, in which Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."
"And as a farmer I'll add: 'If you don't keep your hand on the plow you're going to have a crooked furrow,'" Bishop Bullock said.
"In the 50 years you've had to come to grips with all sorts of things," he said. But one of the things to remember is God will not abandon us, but will be present in our need.
"On every anniversary, we not only look back - we look ahead," he said.
Great joy:
Training to propose 'God's Plan' to engaged couples
By Emily Seyfert
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF
MADISON -- "This presentation is the most thorough and sensitive explanation of the Church's teachings on sexual morality. Because of Pope John Paul's vision of marriage as presented in this presentation, I have great hope for my marriage, for all those who have been hurt (in) sexual relationships, and for our culture that is obsessed about degrading God's amazing plan of marriage," remarked Brad Stuczynski, of St. Joseph Parish, Baraboo.
He and over 20 other individuals and married couples came together at the Bishop O'Connor Center during a recent weekend to hear that presentation, "God's Plan for a Joy Filled Marriage," with the goal of presenting it in turn to engaged couples during diocesan marriage preparation days.
The God's Plan program will exclusively form the content for an additional day of marriage preparation, proposing to engaged couples a new way of viewing marital love and giving them a basic understanding of the whys behind the Church's teachings on sexuality.
The program was developed by the Theology of the Body Institute and was based on founder Christopher West's book The Good News about Sex and Marriage and his study of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body.
"I think this may be the most important pastoral program instituted in our diocese in 20 plus years," remarked Msgr. Jim Bartylla, director of vocations for the Diocese of Madison.
"It has the potential to impact all of our Catholic faithful in a profound way in the intimacy of their daily lives, and has the ability to transform the cultural landscape through holier, happier marriages that lead to families that see the beauty of purity, chastity, sacrifice for others, and vocations to priesthood and religious life," he continued.
The God's Plan materials begin by rooting sexuality and marriage in the very image of God's Trinitarian love and the creation, fall, and redemption of mankind. They continue by unpacking the richness of the wedding vows and the vows' implications on sexual honesty before and within marriage.
An explanation of the Church's teaching on contraception and of Natural Family Planning concludes the program. Thus, the God's Plan materials succinctly, convincingly, and sensitively include in one day the entirety of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body.
The training was organized by Andy Galvin, coordinator of marriage preparation for the Diocese of Madison, and led by Tom McCabe. McCabe is an adjunct professor at the St. John Vianney Theological Institute and the Archdiocese of Denver Catechetical School and director of young adult programming for the Mission Network based out of Atlanta, Ga. He was on the team that first developed the God's Plan program.
"We feel very blessed to have been able to join together with others to immerse ourselves in a weekend filled with the beautiful teachings of Pope John Paul II," stated Nick and Kay Ringelstetter of St. Aloysius Parish, Sauk City.
"It has changed our hearts. We are now even more in love with each other and with the Catholic Church. Although we wish we would have better known God's plan for our marriage 32 years ago, we are excited about this new opportunity to help engaged couples embrace His plan for their marriage," said the Ringelstetters.
Lisa Gross, of St. Mary Help of Christians Parish, Sullivan, shared that excitement. "In reflecting on the (training) I am filled with a great joy and excitement! . . . In helping to build solid marriages we help to build solid families and then begin to have a positive effect on society at large," she said.
Anyone interested in joining the "God's Plan for a Joy Filled Marriage" marriage prep team should contact Andy Galvin at agalvin@straphael.org or 608-821-4517. Additional training sessions will be held in late fall.
New coordinator: Brings fresh voice to NFP
By Kat Wagner
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF
MADISON -- Just in time for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's (USCCB) Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, July 22 to 28, the Diocese of Madison's Office of Evangelization and Catechesis has hired a new full-time coordinator for Natural Family Planning (NFP).
Jessica Smith, formerly the director of stewardship and development at St. John the Baptist Parish, Waunakee, started as the Family Planning coordinator on July 2, which she said felt significant as the Feast of the Visitation on the church's pre-Vatican II calendar.
|
Related article:
|
|
Smith fills a long-vacant position that will focus on bringing about a greater awareness of NFP, which she calls "super natural planning" because of its inherent naturalness. NFP relies on abstinence and an understanding of fertility to avoid or assist in conception.
The job's four main tasks involve working with Andy Galvin, the diocesan coordinator of Marriage Preparation, to encourage the connection between marriage and NFP; to locate and coordinate existing NFP instructors in the diocese; to continue the process to apply for USCCB endorsement of the diocese's NFP program; and to evangelize and catechize through NFP.
Smith said she comes into the job with "all sorts of ideas" (and she continues to jot new ones down in a large black notebook she carries with her), including a young adult task force and priest group and, sometime in the future, a chastity group.
"I would love to foster the energy and enthusiasm of young adults for NFP," she said. "Really foster it and encourage people to witness to the love for the church and her teachings."
She and her husband, John, are members of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Madison.
People interested in sharing positive experiences with NFP are encouraged to contact Smith at 608-231-3134 or e-mail: jsmith2@straphael.org
|
