The 40 Days for Life vigil kicked off with a meeting September 27 and talk by a local pro-lifer who was instrumental in the eventual defeat of the abortion plans at the Madison Surgery Center.
Day: October 6, 2011
New St. Vincent de Paul Store opens in Verona
VERONA — The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is grateful for the warm welcome the society’s new Verona store has received from the community since opening its doors at 513 W. Verona Ave. in mid-September.
Project Rachel provides healing and forgiveness
MADISON — “Draw close to my heart. There you will find the peace and happiness you seek.”
Jesus speaks these words to every human being, even those who have sinned or fallen short of what God expects of us.
Community garden helps Catholic Multicultural Center
MADISON — In its 65th year of service, lack of fresh, healthy produce in the food pantry is no longer a problem for the Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC).
An over one-acre community garden began providing produce for the center this spring. The garden, which has been in existence for 12 years, is one of three overseen by a local volunteer group, Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens.
Remembering miscarried, stillborn babies
PINE BLUFF — St. Mary Parish in Pine Bluff is set to host a ceremony for the naming and commendation of miscarried and stillborn babies on Friday, Oct. 14. The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. and will feature Mass, a naming ceremony in church, and a reception in the church narthex. The Knights of Divine Mercy Schola, directed by Aristotle Esguerra, will provide music for the liturgy.
It’s a child, not a choice: Ultrasounds have powerful impact on pregnant women
In October we celebrate Respect Life Month. This is a special opportunity for Catholics to reflect on issues involving respect for all life from womb to tomb.
During October, I will focus on various life issues in the “Editor’s View,” starting at the beginning of life. I also encourage people to read the special Respect Life section and other articles in this week’s print edition and online edition of the Catholic Herald.
Life begins at conception
Human life begins at conception. The union of the egg and sperm includes all the genetic material needed for the baby to grow and develop.
The elderly are a blessing, not a burden
As the 20th century came to a close, the United Nations celebrated the International Year of Older Persons, heralding the vision of “A Society for All Ages.”
The first years of the new millennium have been anything but that, with the abandonment of frail seniors during natural disasters from New Orleans to Japan, the legalization of assisted suicide in several U.S. states and foreign countries, and political rhetoric that seems to consider the growing population of seniors merely as a drain on our health care system and the federal budget. Is this the society for all ages we envisioned in 1999?
Dangers of human stockpiling
A recent news report chronicled a Chinese woman named Huang Yijun. Sixty years ago, her unborn child died, but the pregnancy was never expelled from her body. Instead, her baby’s body slowly began to calcify inside her, becoming a crystallized, stone-like mass.
Such stone babies (known as lithopedions) are extremely rare. When Mrs. Huang was 92 years old, the baby was discovered in her abdomen and surgically removed.
This rare medical event prompts us to consider a thought experiment. Imagine a drug that could be injected into a child to crystallize him, but without killing him. The process would turn the child into a static mass for as many years as the parents wanted; another injection would reverse the process, and allow the child to wake up and continue growing.
On medical decision-making
Each fall, as we observe October, Respect Life Month, we are reminded of our obligation to combat the relentless attacks on all innocent human life.
Our experience throughout this past spring and summer indicates that in addition to the tragic killing of our preborn brothers and sisters, assaults on vulnerable elderly, sick, and disabled people are definitely on the rise, especially here in Wisconsin.
Providing advice, advocacy
Pro-Life Wisconsin is being enlisted to provide more and more materials, speakers, advice, and direct advocacy regarding end-of-life and medical decisions.
Tabernacle survives 1871 Peshtigo fire
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| Notre Dame Sr. Helen Plum, parish director at St. Mary Parish in Peshtigo, stands next to the tabernacle that was rescued from the Great Peshtigo Fire by Fr. John Peter Pernin in 1871. (Rick Evans | For The Compass) |
GREEN BAY — This year marks the 140th anniversary of a fire that killed 1,500 to 2,500 people and destroyed 2,400 square miles of forest and farm land in northeast Wisconsin. The fire left behind at least one miraculously spared relic that — if the slightly murky history is correct — can still be seen today.