Year: 2012

On
Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.

President’s ‘compromise’ still infringes upon religious liberty

When President Obama mandated that religiously-based organizations violate core tenets of their faith, Americans were rightly outraged.

The president then announced an “accommodation” policy to these organizations, but the so-called compromise is not a compromise at all because it does not take away the mandate that infringes upon religious liberty.

On January 20, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, affirmed a rule that requires church-affiliated hospitals, agencies, and universities to provide contraception and sterilization in the health insurance for their employees.

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On
Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo

Lenten alms: A rice bowl for all

When I first heard about Operation Rice Bowl at my parish in America, I thought they were talking about something I knew so well from Chinese culture.

I don’t have to tell you that the Chinese people eat a lot of rice — you have been to enough Chinese restaurants and seen enough Chinese landscapes with rice paddies to know that. But “rice bowl” was a term I heard all the time, and not just at mealtimes.

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On
Fr. Donald Lange

Lent calls us to deeper conversion

Seeing with Jesus' Eyes, by Fr. Don Lange

In the Peanuts comic strip, each fall Lucy held the football for Charlie Brown to kick. At the last second, Lucy picked up the ball and Charlie Brown missed it and fell flat on his face.

After years of being tricked, Charlie refused to kick the football because he no longer trusted Lucy. She broke down, shed tears, and confessed, “I have sinned. I want to change. Won’t you give me another chance, please!” Charlie Brown trusted her again.

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On
Kat Wagner, Catholic Herald Staff

RCIA teaches about liturgical beauty and Church facts

Bishop Robert C. Morlino receives candidate Kimberly Kazort during the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee on March 13, 2011. (CH file photo)MADISON — The annual Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion is approaching for the catechumens and candidates in the Diocese of Madison who are seeking the sacraments of initiation into the Catholic Church.

It’s an annual rite, taking place the first weekend of Lent, and it serves as a very public witness to the Church at large of the renewal and growth of our faith. It is filled with small rituals: the presentation of the catechumens, the Act of Election and the signing of the Book of the Elect, the presentation of the candidates, the Act of Recognition, the affirmation by sponsors and the faithful.

Rite of Election
The Rite of Election of Catechumens and Call to Continuing Conversion for Candidates of Full Communion in the Catholic Church will be held on Sunday, Feb. 26, at St. John the Baptist Church, in Waunakee. For more information about this celebration, click here.

For the Catholics not involved in RCIA, this is sometimes the last seen of these Church-seeking individuals until the Easter Vigil. Especially for longtime Catholics, there can be a vague idea that they return to classes to learn their catechism, facts about the Church, and exactly how one is supposed to genuflect in front of the tabernacle.

But RCIA is a deeper, richer process than that image provides. In the 1988 edition of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, it describes the structure of the process as gradual, as a journey that includes “not only the periods for making inquiry and for maturing . . . but also the steps marking the catechumens’ progress, as they pass, so to speak, through another doorway or ascend to the next level.”

The decree on the revision of the rite from the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1972 says that the time of the catechumenate, “intended as a period of well-suited instruction,” is “sanctified by liturgical rites to be celebrated at successive intervals of time.”

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On
Jean Mueller

Intervening with a parent’s right to drive

Ask Jean by columnist Jean MuellerQ My mother has Macular Degeneration and some other health conditions. She lives independently and has been able to manage her own affairs and care without my help.

On a recent visit I was shocked to learn just how limited her vision is. She admitted her vision has been slowly getting worse over the last few months.

The problem is she insists on driving. She says she only goes out in the day time and only drives before or after the rush hour. She also stays off busy streets.

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On
Chris Lee

Additional day of Adoration offered in Sauk City

SAUK CITY — Adoration of Our Lord is experiencing bountiful growth at Divine Mercy Parish in Sauk City.

Less than a month after proposing the idea of adding an additional day of Eucharistic Adoration, parishioners responded with enthusiasm, and Our Lord is now being exposed at St. Aloysius Church following the 8:15 a.m. Mass on Wednesdays until Benediction at 7:45 a.m. on Fridays.

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On
William Neu

Senate bill gives consumers choice to buy raw milk

To the editor:

We as a nation have parted ways with wholesome foods of the past and chosen instead the convenience of the present.

But let’s focus on fundamentals of the cow. For the sake of production quantity, we have opted to feed her rations comprised of high amounts of genetically modified soy and corn. This ration produces an unnatural, highly acidic condition within the rumen, and her whole physiology suffers, leading dairy cattle to barely reach a lifespan of half a dozen years, and then it’s off to slaughter.

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