A candidate forum will be held on Thursday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. in the Jefferson Public Library meeting room.
Year: 2008
Harvesting the concerns of Catholic farmers
Our diocesan Rural Life Office serves to support communities of all sizes as consumers of a constant, safe and affordable food supply, with focused emphasis in supporting the farmers and rural communities who plant, grow, and harvest the crops that feed us.
The Rural Life Office works to connect our rural parish communities to the greater diocesan Church as well as inform non-rural parish communities of the many challenges and justice issues facing those who labor to provide “our daily bread.” The success and vitality of all our communities must be measured along-side the health and sustainability of our local farmers and rural families, rural parishes, and farming communities.
We are all missionaries
World Mission Sunday, which will celebrate its 82nd anniversary in 2008, affords the entire Church a focused opportunity to reflect on those who have not heard the Gospel — and to respond to Christ’s call to be missionary.
On that day, all parishes in every diocese of the world celebrate together our common vocation to preach and proclaim Christ throughout the world.
Recognizing each person as God’s gift
People with mental, physical, or cognitive disabilities face challenges from the everyday tasks of dressing and transportation to the larger challenges of interacting in a world that is not always welcoming.
During Respect Life Month, it is particularly important to remember that each person is a gift from God, in whatever guise. It is also important to recognize that each of us is differently-abled and this infinite variety is a gift too.
Charitable gifting opportunities for 2008
As we creep into the end of another year, it prompts us to consider our charitable gifting opportunities in respect to our year-end tax planning. There are many ways in which you can structure a gift to provide benefit to you personally while supporting the causes that mean the most to you. Congress has recently made it more attractive for IRA owners over 70 to do just that.
On October 3, 2008, as part of the economic recovery plan, the House joined with the Senate to approve the much awaited IRA charitable rollover plan. This allows IRA owners to make a direct gift to their parish, parish school, diocese, or other qualified diocesan institution through their required minimum distribution from an IRA. This also applies to legally binding pledges you may have made to the Church.
Msgr. Raymond Klaas, long-time vicar general, dies
MADISON — Msgr. Raymond E. Klaas, 82, long-time vicar general of the Diocese of Madison and rector of St. Raphael Cathedral in Madison for 25 years, died on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
Kmiec’s claims about Obama not supported by his record
To the editor:
This is a response to the letter by Bill Checovich that appeared in the October 2, 2008 issue of the Catholic Herald, in which he urges consideration of a strategic change in the fight against abortion. He refers to Douglas Kmiec as his authority, who in turn believes that the sanctity of life and social justice are best served by an Obama presidency.
It will take courage to reverse abortion, like it did for slavery
To the editor:
I strongly believe our society will be judged on how it has respected life or failed to do so over the last 35 years. Dating back to Roe vs. Wade over 35 million innocent children have been killed in our country. I want to make it very clear that I love and respect my country. I wonder and pray how we will be judged as a country and as individuals when we meet our heavenly Father.
‘Respecting Life’ should include lives lost in wars
To the editor:
Nowhere in the “Respect Life” issue of September 25 did I find any mention of the thousands of innocent lives that have been, and will still be, lost in the ongoing wars taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan. Don’t these lives deserve prayerful recognition as well?
Understanding men and abortion
Hearing that there was a wise man who knew everything, the story is told of one who was younger and wanted to prove it. Taking the smallest from a flock in a nearby tree, he approached and said, “Tell me old man, I have a bird in my hands, is it alive or is it dead?”
The wise one looked and thought, “If I say it is alive, he will close his hands and crush the life out of it. If I say it is dead, he will open his hands and let it fly in my face.” He looked once more at the young man before him and answered his question with the words, “It is in your hands.” Life or death was in his hands.