2014 – Page 50 – Madison Catholic Herald

This is the time of year when Catholics throughout the Diocese of Madison are hearing and reading about the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA).

Members of parishes have received a letter and pledge form from Bishop Robert C. Morlino. In addition, there have been prayers and announcements about the ACA at Masses each weekend. There was an insert about the appeal distributed last weekend in parishes; it is also included in this week’s Catholic Herald. Next weekend, we will watch a video message from our bishop.

Why the ACA is important

Why is this so important? The ACA funds the ministries and services benefitting every Catholic in the Diocese of Madison. It supports the work of diocesan offices and agencies in the 11 counties of our diocese and also the work of our Church beyond the diocese.
Perhaps the best way to talk about the ACA is to explain why I give to the appeal — and why I think you (other Catholics in our diocese) should, too.

On March 20, 2014

Cathy Lins, For the Catholic Herald

Lenten project engages parishes in providing meals for those in need

MADISON — Three and a half years ago, Madison area youth ministers were looking for a project that would engage their parishes in action befitting the Lenten season.

Several parishes banded together with the Catholic Multicultural Center, Kids Against Hunger, as well as the organization 6:8 Making Service Personal, and made a plan.

On March 20, 2014

Fr. Robert Barron

Why goodness depends on God

One of the most common observations made by opponents of religion is that we don’t need God in order to have a coherent and integral morality.

Atheists and agnostics are extremely sensitive to the charge that the rejection of God will conduce automatically to moral chaos. Consequently, they argue that a robust sense of ethics can be grounded in the consensus of the human community over time or in the intuitions and sensibilities of decent people, etc.

What I would like to do is lay out, in very brief compass, the Catholic understanding of the relationship between morality and the existence of God and to show, thereby, why it is indispensably important for a society that wishes to maintain its moral integrity to maintain, at the same time, a vibrant belief in God.

On March 20, 2014

Jim Ottney, For the Catholic Herald

Edgewood High School goes ‘Crazy for You’

MADISON — The Edgewood High School (EHS) spring musical is Crazy for You, winner of the 1992 Tony Award for Best Musical.

Based on the original Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, but incorporating music from many different Gershwin shows, Crazy for You is a high energy romantic comedy with a storyline designed to be an entertaining background for the fabulous dance numbers and memorable Gershwin music.

On March 20, 2014

Kevin Wondrash

‘Living Last Supper’ visits area churches

Several Catholic parishes of southwestern Wisconsin will host the annual “Living Last Supper” performance at multiple parishes between March 29 and April 13.

On March 20, 2014

Kevin Wondrash

‘Living Last Supper’ at Sinsinawa

SINSINAWA — A presentation of the “Living Last Supper” will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, at Sinsinawa Mound.

An interdenominational group of local men portray Jesus and the 12 apostles, bringing to life the famed painting of The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci.

On March 20, 2014

Tony Magliano

Thirsting for clean water

We turn on our faucets and out comes water — clean, refreshing, plentiful, life-sustaining water. But we rarely give it a thought.

We just tend to take for granted that it will always be there. We even forget to thank God — the well-spring of life.

Lack of access to clean water

But for 768 million fellow human beings, clean plentiful water is a distant dream, according to the United Nations. For them, the water they drink, cook with, and bath in, is polluted and often disease-ridden, and must be carried long distances in many cases.

According to figures released by the United Nations Children‘s Fund in 2013, lack of access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene is a leading cause of death from diarrhea in children under five, amounting to approximately 1,400 children dying each day.

On March 20, 2014May 4, 2023

Fr. David Wanish, For the Catholic Herald

Focusing on the plight of immigrants during Lent

“Forty days in the desert” describes Jesus at the start of his ministry and the Christian community during Lent.

For me, henceforth, it will also bring to mind migrants who make a dangerous journey through Mexico to the United States. I learned on a tour with the organization Witness for Peace that the trip for those who start in southern Mexico or Central America can take one to two months and often includes walking through treacherous stretches of desert.

On March 20, 2014

Kevin Wondrash

‘We’re more than a school . . . we’re family’

SPRING GREEN — “We are truly a family here at St. John’s School” is proclaimed on the website for St. John the Evangelist School in Spring Green (www.stjohns-springgreen.org)

The average class size is less than 15, which allows the teachers to know every student as an individual and to respect each for his or her own individual talents and gifts.

On March 20, 2014

Kevin Wondrash

Identity theft seminar to be held at Cross Plains parish

CROSS PLAINS — A free identity theft educational seminar will be held on Sunday, March 30, from 12 noon to 12:30 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier Parish in the Fellowship Hall, 2947 Thinnes St.

The seminar is hosted by Catholic Financial Life and will be led by Neil Purtell, a retired FBI agent who has been an identity theft consultant with Associated Bank for seven years.