Dear Friends,
What a joy the celebration of the Sacred Triduum was and what a joy this Easter has been for me, and I hope it was the same for each of you!
Among the joys for me at Easter was the spending of time with many of our diocesan seminarians, who always inspire me with joy and with hope for the future.
Q I come from a family of five — three boys and two girls. Mom is still living, dad passed away several years ago. We have always been “worriers” — with my mom setting the standard.
One of my sisters has just been diagnosed with a serious disease and does not want mom to know because she will worry. I think she should know what is going on but I am the only one. Is it a good idea to hide this information from mom to “protect” her? (A son in Portage)
Q I come from a family of five — three boys and two girls. Mom is still living, dad passed away several years ago. We have always been “worriers” — with my mom setting the standard.
One of my sisters has just been diagnosed with a serious disease and does not want mom to know because she will worry. I think she should know what is going on but I am the only one. Is it a good idea to hide this information from mom to “protect” her? (A son in Portage)
“If I knew then what I know now” is a common opener for us senior citizens.
It is especially appropriate for things involving health care . . . the benefits of regular exercise, for example.
Granted, our Mamas got lots of exercise hanging out laundry, the Papas didn’t have power lawn mowers, and the kids didn’t get rides to school. Everybody walked everywhere.
I just wish I had heard about exercise during my childbearing years in the late 40s and early 50s.
I expected to get back into shape by pulling on a Playtex rubber girdle. (Oh, the memory of sweating through that one!)
When I was growing up, my dad (a teacher who had summers off) always planted a large vegetable garden.
As his tomatoes, beets, carrots, and other vegetables multiplied, he would often take pails of produce around the neighborhood as gifts to other families. I helped with planting and weeding, although my main role was taking care of the flowers decorating the garden.
Ever since then, I’ve always enjoyed gardening. Being outdoors with the smell of dirt (to me it smells good) and the bees buzzing gives me a sense of calm and peace.
When our children were young, we, too, had a vegetable garden. However, it got to be too much work to keep up with the weeding and harvesting — plus two of our neighbors had gardens and liked to share their produce with us. We decided to give up the vegetables, but we still have flowers and maintain our fairly large yard.
“The Gift that Keeps on Giving” is the theme for the Rock Deanery Spring meeting on Tuesday, April 24, at St. Paul Parish here.
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The warmer than usual early spring weather has unleashed a flurry of activity and interest in gardening projects (urban and rural), farmers’ markets, and local farm produce available from our area farmers.
The Rural Life Office of Catholic Charities receives calls from those seeking local, fresh produce grower information so, in this section of the Catholic Herald, we will provide some basics for understanding different models of Wisconsin farming production and the communities they serve.
Wisconsin has a long and esteemed position in providing for our nation’s food system. Our dairy herds are of all sizes and produce dairy products for direct sale through grocery businesses as well as providing the major ingredients for world renowned, artisan-crafted cheeses throughout our state.
One widely-encountered idea today is that there is no black and white when it comes to morality, only a kind of “gray area.” This is often taken to mean that we really can’t know with certainty what is right and wrong, allowing us to “push into the gray” as we make certain moral decisions that at first glance appear to be immoral.
The behavior of the semi-legendary figure of Robin Hood is sometimes mentioned as an example of this “gray area” phenomenon, since he was a character who would steal money (morally bad) for the purposes of helping the poor (morally good).
By focusing on the good intentions motivating our choices, and by arguing that morality is ambiguous and mostly “gray” anyway, a person can more easily justify and provide cover for morally problematic actions. When we begin to scrutinize the claim that morality is “gray,” however, we encounter significant problems and contradictions.
One morning as I walked to the Mound cafeteria for breakfast, I saw the rising sun, like a bright orange-red host, rise slowly from the chalice of the good earth. It was beautiful!
In the cafeteria, two Sisters were also deeply moved by its beauty. One of them exclaimed, “This is my morning prayer!”
Sharing a beautiful sunrise or sunset can bond us with others and open us to God’s presence. It can invite us to respect God’s gift of earth. It can help prepare us for Earth Day.
We celebrate Earth Day on April 22. Earth Day was started by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin to teach and to inspire the public to take better care of the environment.
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Queridos amigos:
Mucho se desprende de nuestra celebración de Semana Santa, culminando, por supuesto, en la celebración de la Resurrección. La celebración de Pascua, en la que nos encontramos ahora, verdaderamente es el centro y manantial de todo nuestro año.
Uno de los eventos en el corazón de la Semana Santa es la Misa Crismal, cuando junto a mis hermanos sacerdotes y fieles de la diócesis nos unimos para bendecir y consagrar los Santos Óleos que serán usados en los sacramentos para el próximo año. Es un momento intenso y un buen inicio considerando nuestra misión de Pascua.
Durante la consagración de los óleos rezamos lo siguiente: “dejemos que el esplendor de la santidad brille en todo el mundo, desde cada persona, lugar o cosa ungida con estos Santos Óleos”. Dense un momento para leer esta hermosa oración otra vez: “dejemos que el esplendor de la santidad brille en todo el mundo, desde cada persona, lugar o cosa ungida con estos Santos Óleos”. Esto se refiere a la iglesia, al altar, a los diáconos y sacerdotes que han recibido las Sagradas Órdenes, y se refiere también a ustedes, los bautizados y confirmados, que tienen su propio tipo de sacerdocio. Cada uno de los bautizados está llamado al sacerdocio, un hermoso tipo de sacerdocio que es muy distinto al sacerdocio ordenado. Pero ambos son necesarios y hermosos. Pasemos revista a eso.
En la Oración del Prefacio de la Misa Crismal rezamos: “Cristo ha dado da la dignidad real del sacerdocio al pueblo que ha hecho suyo…”. Aquí nuevamente la Iglesia enfatiza el sacerdocio real de los bautizados. ¿Qué significa eso? Significa que todos los ungidos en el Bautismo tienen un rol que jugar, “dejando que el esplendor de la santidad ¡brille ante todo el mundo!”
