Year: 2016

On
Joan Carey, For the Catholic Herald

St. Ambrose Academy celebrates the saints at fundraiser for March for Life

MADISON — Each year, St. Ambrose Academy holds an All Saints Day party whose proceeds fund the students’ biennial journey to Washington, D.C., to march on behalf of the unborn.

Hundreds recently flocked to the wooded hills of southwestern Dane County on a sunny but crisp autumn afternoon for frolic and fellowship in support of the great cause of sending young people to the March for Life.

Saints alive!

Many of this year’s party guests dressed as saints: Gianna Mollo strolled about in a white doctor’s jacket, a little Kateri Tekakwitha rode on her uncle’s shoulders in a leather fringed wrap with feathers.

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Kevin Wondrash

Dig & Save Outlet offers coats for $1

MADISON — The annual $1 Coat Sale opened at Dig & Save Outlet, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul store at 1900 S. Park St., on November 3.

More than 10,000 donated coats were ready for the event, in sizes from infants to adults and in many styles, colors, and weights. St. Vinny’s will continue to sell coats for $1 at Dig & Save through the end of the year or until they are gone.

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Kevin Wondrash

St. Mary’s Hospital hosts screening of film focusing on end-of-life care

MADISON — SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital-Madison, in partnership with Home Health United, is hosting a free, community screening of the documentary Being Mortal on Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Sr. Mary Jean Ryan Conference Center.

After the screening, audience members can participate in a guided conversation on how to identify and communicate wishes about end-of-life goals and preferences.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Continuing the Year of Mercy

We are approaching the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis, which began on December 8, 2015, and will conclude on November 20.

This year has been an invitation for all of us to rediscover and encounter the incredible mercy of God. It has been an invitation to love, kindness, and generosity — things that we all need more than ever in our world today.

And just because the Year of Mercy ends on November 20, it doesn’t mean we have to stop learning more about mercy and incorporating it into our daily lives.

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Fr. Gregory Ihm

Three ordinary men with extraordinary priesthoods

Fr. Gregory Ihm

Fr. Michael McGivney, Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, and St. John Paul II all have several things in common. They were ordinary men called to a life of holiness as parish priests and through their priestly ministry had significant historical impact on the Church.

The Vocational Booth sponsored by Diocesanpriest.com at World Youth Day in Poland this year highlighted these three priests in order to help ordinary men consider the impact that their “YES” to the Lord’s call can have on the lives of others.

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Bishop Robert Barron

What to make of Simpsonization of men

Two recent films, Deepwater Horizon with Mark Wahlberg and Sully starring Tom Hanks, represent something of a breath of fresh air, for both movies feature men who are intelligent, virtuous, and quietly heroic. If this strikes you as a banal observation, that just means you haven’t been following much of the popular culture for the past 20 years.

Homer Simpsonization

One of the distinctive marks of films and television programs the last couple of decades has been the Homer Simpsonization of men. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big fan of the The Simpsons and laugh at Homer’s antics as much as the next guy.

But the father of the Simpson family is stupid, boorish, drunk most of the time, irresponsible, comically incompetent, and childish. In the cartoon world, he is echoed, of course, by Family Guy’s Peter Griffin, who is similarly buffoonish.

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Kevin Wondrash

Andrew Showers ordained transitional deacon at St. Peter’s Basilica

ROME — Andrew Showers, a seminarian from the Diocese of Madison, was one of 30 seminarians from the Pontifical North American College in Rome who were ordained to the transitional diaconate during a celebration of the Eucharist on Thursday, Sept. 29.

Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM. Cap., archbishop of Boston, was the ordaining prelate at the Ordination Mass, celebrated at the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter, in the Papal Basilica of St. Peter, in the Vatican.

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