MINERAL POINT — […]
Year: 2013
Encontrar la paz real ante el conflicto
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| Esta columna es la comunicación del Obispo con los fieles de la Diócesis de Madison. Cualquier circulación más amplia va más allá de la intención del Obispo. |
Queridos amigos:
El sábado pasado, junto con muchos de ustedes estoy seguro, acogí el llamado mundial del Papa Francisco para ofrecer un día de oración y ayuno por la paz, especialmente por la paz en Siria. Mientras escribo esta columna, las cosas están cambiando y debemos ver todos qué sucede en cuanto a la acción en Siria y en todo Medio Oriente.
¡Ya hay sufrimiento, sin duda! La situación en Siria y en toda esa parte del mundo es terrible, pero la necesidad de paz se entiende bastante más allá del Medio Oriente, y se necesita la paz en un nivel más profundo para todos nosotros.
Sin considerar el resultado de las deliberaciones actuales respecto a Siria, nuestro trabajo por la paz debe seguir. Si deseamos la paz, tenemos que examinar nuestra consciencia y nuestro trabajo por la paz en nuestras vidas primero, para buscar una paz que no sea enturbiada. Hay mucho de eso más abajo.
Recordar el 11-S
No puedo dejar de mencionar que esta semana celebremos el aniversario del 11 de septiembre de 2001, cuando muchos estadounidenses conocieron al Príncipe de la Paz y, ahora seguimos rezando, para llegar a Él.
Por supuesto, la violencia del terrorismo es un atentado directo para arrebatar a buena parte de la gente su paz, no solo a los inmediatamente afectados sino a aquellos que siguen viviendo en el miedo, en el terror. Que el Señor siga erradicando el temor de nuestras vidas, reemplazándolo con esperanza: la esperanza que sólo Él puede dar.
Fr. John Putzer reflects on diplomatic studies
MADISON — In May of 2012, the Diocese of Madison announced that Fr. John Putzer had been selected to serve the Holy Father and the Church by training for future service in the Diplomatic Corps of the Holy See, an assignment that has required him to leave the Diocese of Madison to pursue his studies and assume his new role.
Father Putzer returned to the Diocese of Madison in July of this year at the conclusion of his first year of studies.
Catholic bloggers: a new kind of missionary
Whether you’re an active web surfer, or just like to keep up on modern jargon, you may be familiar with the term “blogging.”
Pregnancy Helpline seeks new volunteers
MADISON — Need a purpose? Want to impress your mom? Looking to make a difference in your community?
We know people volunteer for a variety of reasons. This fall, consider doing all that with the Pregnancy Helpline (PH).
Answer calls from home
PH is looking to increase the number of volunteers who staff its phones.
“The nice thing about answering calls on our Helpline is that you can answer all calls from home,” says Jessica Vinson, Pregnancy Helpline phone volunteer coordinator and member of St. Ann Parish in Stoughton.
Edgewood College president plans to retire
MADISON — As a crowded Anderson Auditorium on the Edgewood College campus waited on September 10 for the day’s “major announcement,” school President Dr. Dan Carey stepped behind the podium.
With a tone of gratitude to the entire college, Carey announced he will retire from his position at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
Carey said it is a time to “transition to meaningful work” at an age when he is still healthy.
He thanked the Sinsinawa Dominicans, Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, and students for all their help in the successes of Edgewood College during his time there.
Finding real peace in the face of conflict
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This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
This past Saturday, along with so many of you I’m sure, I took up Pope Francis’ worldwide call to offer a day of prayer and of fasting for peace — especially for peace in Syria. As I write this column, the gears are turning, and we shall see what comes in terms of action in Syria, and all of the Middle East.
There is already suffering, no doubt! The situation in Syria and all around that part of the world is terrible. But the need for peace extends far beyond the Middle East, and peace is needed at a much deeper level for all of us.
Regardless the outcome of the current deliberations with regard to Syria, our work for peace should continue. If we desire peace, we must make an examination of conscience and work for peace within our own lives first, to seek a peace that cannot be disturbed. There is more on that below.
Remembering 9/11
I cannot fail to mention that this week we come upon the anniversary of September 11, 2001, when so many Americans came to know the Prince of Peace and, we continue to pray, to reside with Him.
Of course, the violence of terrorism is intended as a direct attempt to rob a large number of people of their peace — not only those immediately affected, but those who continue to live in fear, in terror. May the Lord continue to remove fear from our lives, replacing it with hope — the hope that only He can bring.
National Day of Remembrance
The National Day of Remembrance (AbortionMemorials.com) is an effort of prayer and education focused on the approximately 35 locations throughout the United States in which the bodies of children killed by abortion are buried.
By telling the stories of these burials and having memorial services at each of these sites, the public is brought to a deeper awareness of the humanity of the unborn and the inhumanity of abortion. Moreover, this occasion can lead those who have lost children to abortion to a greater measure of healing.
This initiative is sponsored by three national pro-life groups: Priests for Life, Pro-life Action League, and Citizens for a Pro-life Society.
Destroyers of peace: Connection between abortion and other kinds of violence
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child — a direct killing of the innocent child — murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?”
The world was shocked to learn that hundreds of people — many of them women and children — were killed in Syria on August 21 reportedly by the use of sarin gas. In the past two years, it has been reported that over 70,000 people have been killed in Syria’s civil war — and that might be an underestimate.
Millions of babies aborted
However, in comparison, there have been over 56 million unborn babies killed in the United States by induced abortions since 1973, when the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion in this country.
So far in 2013, there have been over 828,000 abortions performed in the U.S., including almost 44,000 after 16 weeks of gestation (www.numberofabortions.com). According to the Guttmacher Institute’s report as of July 2013, about four in 10 pregnancies have been terminated by abortion in our country.