MADISON — As part of the ongoing repurposing of the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Center, electrical power to the building will be shut down from early morning Friday, April 22, through the evening of Sunday, April 24.
This will also shut down the diocesan IT equipment, including phone, web, and email servers.
HIGHLAND — In honor of the Feast of St. Philip, Fr. Jim Murphy, pastor SS. Anthony and Philip Parish, has scheduled a Mass on Sunday, May 1, at 1 p.m. at St. Philip Church.
At this Mass, Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer, a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison, will be recognized for the 60-year anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. Monsignor Schmelzer celebrated his first Mass at St. Philip Church in May of 1956.
BELOIT — On Saturday, April 23, Our Lady of the Assumption School will hold its third annual Spring Fling at La Casa Grande Restaurant in Beloit. This is the major fund raiser for the school, replacing the walk-a-thon several years ago.
Tickets, which include an Italian and Mexican buffet, silent and live auctions, and entertainment by Dueling Pianos, are $45 each, two for $80, or a table of eight for $300.
To purchase tickets, go to the parish website (olabeloit.com) and click on the Spring Fling link or call the school at 608-365-4014.
FORT ATKINSON — St. Joe’s 55-PLUS Group will present James Athas in concert on Thursday, April 21, at St. Joseph Parish Hall when the group gathers for its semi-monthly potluck social.
In this concert, Athas will perform on the piano/hammered dulcimer, showcasing his varied talents.
The potluck luncheon begins at 1 p.m. with the Athas Concert scheduled at 1:45 p.m.
To the editor:
In his letter responding about the use of Latin in liturgical worship (Catholic Herald, March 17), Tom Roberts wrote, “The Council of Toulouse in 1229 declared, ‘We prohibit also that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the old and new testament’; they were in Latin.”
More information is required lest false conclusions be drawn about the Church. The Council of Toulouse was a local council, held by a local church. It was not an Ecumenical Council, for the whole Church.
It addressed the problem of Albigensian heretics (aka Cathars), very active in Toulouse, who mistranslated the Latin Scriptures to support their pernicious heresies. When the Albigensianism problem was resolved, the limited edict for that local church was no longer needed.
As a small child, I can remember watching my grandmother work in the garden on the family farm. It was so peaceful to be outside in such a beautiful setting.
My father also had a garden in the backyard of our house in La Crosse when I was young. As a teacher, he had summers off and had the time to plant a big garden. At harvest time, he often went through the neighborhood giving away beets, tomatoes, and other extra vegetables.
I enjoyed helping him plant and care for the vegetables and flowers (which were my favorite part of the garden). To this day, there is nothing I like better than digging in the soil and planting flowers. The smell of the dirt and the sound of insects always make me feel good.
Msgr. James Bartylla, […]
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| Mary Nellis (right) and her husband, Bob (center), visit Betty Bormett (left) at Bormett’s home in Madison. The Nellises are part of the Parish Care Team through St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Madison and Catholic Charities Madison. Care Team members volunteer to help the homebound or those living alone to preserve a rich and independent lifestyle through home visits and other means. (Contributed photo) |
MADISON — “It’s a very personal ministry, taking care of people.”
For the past 10 years, Mary Nellis of Madison has been involved in that “personal ministry.”
She is one of two team leaders of the Parish Care Team at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Madison.
Nellis said the mission of the care team is “to be able to keep [those homebound or living alone] as independent as possible with a little bit of support from the parish and from fellow parishioners.”
Team members offer friendly visits and phone contacts; assistance with shopping, errands, and household tasks; along with emotional support, prayer, and home Communion visits.
“We will go in and bring the Eucharist to them and visit with them,” said Nellis, “and share something from the Mass the previous weekend, or just do a social visit with somebody who is lonely and who would appreciate somebody within the parish coming and just being a friend.”
The team also offers respite, relief, and support to family caregivers so they may rest and relax.
Catholic Charities Madison partners with the team to provide training and on-going consultation.
Nellis said she comes “from a long line of volunteers in my family,” and saw a need to get involved in the care team ministry as her own parents eventually needed respite care and realized some people don’t have anyone to come and check on them.
Her husband, Bob, got involved with the ministry first, and she soon followed.
One of her first partners was a wife suffering from dementia and nearing death.
Dear Friends,
There is a great deal to consider and to speak of this week. However, I want first to comment on the readings of this past weekend and specifically upon the Second Reading (Rev 5:11-14), which provide us with a beautiful image of heaven.
In that reading we hear of the vision that St. John had of all creation singing eternally: “To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever!” A beautiful, glorious hymn of praise for all eternity is one very reliable picture of what heaven is like.
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Mother Angelica, one of the most significant figures in the post-conciliar Catholic Church in America, has died after a 14-year struggle with the after effects of a stroke.
I can attest that, in “fashionable” Catholic circles during the ’80s and ’90s of the last century, it was almost de rigueur to make fun of Mother Angelica. She was a crude popularizer, an opponent of Vatican II, an arch-conservative, a culture-warrior, etc., etc.
And yet, while her critics have largely faded away, her impact and influence are incontestable. Against all odds and expectations, she created an evangelical vehicle without equal in the history of the Catholic Church.
Starting from, quite literally, a garage in Alabama, EWTN now reaches 230 million homes in over 140 countries around the world. With the possible exception of John Paul II himself, she was the most watched and most effective Catholic evangelizer of the last 50 years.
Read Raymond Arroyo’s splendid biography in order to get the full story of how Rita Rizzo, born and raised in a tough neighborhood in Canton, Ohio, came in time to be a nun, a foundress, and a television personality.
For the purposes of this brief article, I would like simply to draw attention to three areas of particular spiritual importance in the life of Mother Angelica: her trust in God’s providence, her keen sense of the supernatural quality of religion, and her conviction that suffering is of salvific value.
