Year: 2014

On
Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Biking to Mary: a ‘good cause’

JEFFERSON — For the average UW-Madison student in his or her 20s, a bike ride from College Library to his or her apartment just off University Ave. is a little more than one mile. Getting from that Point A to Point B can seem like a long ride.

Multiply that ride by about 200. That’s what one man, along with friends and family, did this past summer as a way to get closer to the Blessed Mother.

Chris Pundzak is a 27-year-old volunteer at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse. For the second year in a row, he biked from The Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians at Holy Hill in Hubertus, near Milwaukee, to the shrine in La Crosse.

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On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

People of faith can offer solutions

People of faith may provide some solutions to the unrest in our country over the deaths of civilians by police officers.

Like many others, I have been discussing these matters with people at home and work. We can understand the challenges faced by law enforcement in dealing with situations in their communities. Police officers are trying to protect citizens, but they can also find themselves in danger.

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On
Jean Mueller

Making the holidays meaningful for everyone

Q This may have been asked before, but I need some advice on how to manage holiday gatherings with someone who has dementia.

My mother lives with my sister. Mom has Alzheimer’s disease and my sister wants the entire family, all 25 of us, to gather at her home for Christmas.

I think it will be too hard for mom to be around all of us at the same time. My sister thinks we might not have another Christmas with mom so I don’t know how far to push.

(From a son in Sun Prairie).

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Hildebrand and our relativistic age

Postmodern relativism and deconstruction have produced, at the popular level a culture dominated by the “whatever” attitude, a bland, detached indifferentism to the good and the true.

How often have you heard someone say, “that’s perhaps true for you but not for me” or “who are you to be imposing your values on me?” or in the words of the Dude in The Big Lebowski, “well, that’s just like your opinion, man.”

Subjectivism in society

Is it not a commonplace today that the only moral absolute that remains is the obligation to tolerate all points of view? What this subjectivism has conduced toward is a society lacking in energy and focus, one that cannot rouse itself to corporate action on behalf of some universal good.

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On
Tony Magliano

A Christmas gift for suffering South Sudan

The world’s newest nation is in big trouble. After more than 20 years of civil war between the southern and northern areas of Sudan, the southern part of that country on July 9, 2011, became the independent nation of the Republic of South Sudan.

But the situation on the ground soon looked like South Sudan had not been born, but instead was still suffering intense labor pains.

The many years of war brought not only much death but also drained South Sudan of valuable resources, leaving it an extremely poor nation.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Reclaim the gift of Fear of the Lord

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,

Last week I joined with a group of faithful men for their monthly time of prayer and spiritual reflection. With them I focused upon the seventh gift of the Holy Spirit, and I’d like to do the same with you here.

Hopefully you recall the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So many of us older folks have them memorized while unfortunately, some of the middle-aged and younger don’t even know that they have access to such gifts.

The gifts are: wisdom, understanding, council, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and Fear of the Lord. All of these gifts belong to the Christian first by way of their Baptism, and especially by the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Confirmation.

If we use them and count upon them, these gifts help to perfect virtues in us and aid us in living the moral life and in obeying divine inspiration in our life.

Fear of the Lord

While it’s likely that all of us could use a refresher on every one of these tremendous gifts, I want to focus on that seventh gift at the moment: Fear of the Lord. Perhaps the timing will seem odd, because we’re getting ready to commemorate the coming of God into the world as a tiny baby, but Fear of the Lord properly understood, dovetails perfectly with God’s plan for our salvation, and I hope to help you understand why.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Service of Remembrance in Evansville

EVANSVILLE — All are invited to attend a Service of Remembrance for people of all faiths to remember, honor, and celebrate their loved ones who have passed away and to find comfort for their grief during this Christmas season.

The service will be held on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. at St. Paul Catholic Church, 39 Garfield Ave., Evansville.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

St. Peter Catholic School plans Christmas program

MIDDLETON — St. Peter Catholic School’s Christmas Program will take place on Monday, Dec. 15, at 6:30 pm.

This year’s program will feature the musical Miracle at Midnight performed by pre-K to fifth grade students. The moving story includes Bethlehem’s mayor preparing for a decree by Caesar Augustus, angels in heaven anticipating an important announcement, and a young couple from Nazareth getting ready for the birth of their first child.

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