Chris Lee

The plight of over 60,000 unaccompanied children from Central America who are at our borders seeking refuge from the unspeakable horrors afflicting their homelands has stirred controversy, outrage, and no end of political posturing in our country.

But this situation, tragic as it is, provides an opportunity to witness what it means to be pro-life. The Catholic Church in the United States and here in Wisconsin is rising to that challenge.

The children arriving at our southern borders with Mexico are fleeing lives of danger and privation in search of something better, a life of peace and hope that is the birthright of every child.

On August 7, 2014

Chris Lee

Hercules, N.T. Wright, and the modern meta-narrative

On the first day of my recent vacation, I perused N.T. Wright’s latest book, a collection of essays on contemporary issues in light of the Bible.

A point that Wright makes in a number of the articles is that modernity and Christianity propose fundamentally different meta-narratives in regard to the meaning and trajectory of history.

The emergence of modernity

Modernity — at least in its Western form– is predicated on the assumption that history came to its climax in the mid- to late-18th century, with the definitive victory of empirical science in the epistemological arena and liberal democracy in the political arena.

Basic to this telling of the story is that modernity emerged victorious after a long twilight struggle against the forces of obscurantism and tyranny. The matrix for these negative states of affairs was none other than the Christian religion, which enforced a blind dogmatism on the one hand and an oppressive political arrangement on the other.

On July 24, 2014

Chris Lee

What is Natural Family Planning?

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term for certain methods used to achieve and avoid pregnancies. These methods are based on observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle.

NFP is not “Rhythm.” The Rhythm (or Calendar) method was developed in the 1930s. It was based on the scientific theory that ovulation could be predicted by calculating previous menstrual cycles. This method was often inaccurate because it did not take account of the unique nature of each woman’s menstrual cycles.

On July 24, 2014

Chris Lee

Pro-life cross country walkers stop in Madison

MADISON — A group of eight young adults attended 6:30 a.m. Mass on a recent Monday morning at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Madison.

They were noticeably distinctive, wearing neon green T-shirts saying “PRO LIFE” in big letters.

The young men and women were one of three groups of pilgrims in the United States with Crossroads — an effort to walk across the country “To witness to the dignity and sanctity of every human life, especially the unborn,” according to its website.

On July 24, 2014

Chris Lee

Finding life in infertility

We were one of those crazy couples. We wanted six or seven children (and still do!) when we were married.

Even though we didn’t have any money, we said “God will provide!” and did not use contraception or Natural Family Planning.

In fact, when we were dating, I remember having a conversation about children. Chris asked me, “How many children do you want? I was thinking six.”

“As many as God will give us!” I responded joyfully.

But, it has been almost 10 years, and we still do not have any children. I certainly did not think that when I said “as many as God will give us,” that that might be none.

On July 24, 2014

Chris Lee

Superman, General Zod, and God

I didn’t really care for the latest cinematic iteration of the Superman myth. Like way too many movies today, it was made for the generation that came of age with video games and MTV and their constant, irritatingly frenetic action.

When the CGI whiz-bang stuff kicks in, I just check out, and Man of Steel is about three-quarters whiz-bang.

Freedom vs. tyranny

However, there is a theme in this film that is worthy of some reflection, namely the tension between individual autonomy and a state-controlled society.

Man of Steel commences with a lengthy segment dealing with the closing days of the planet Krypton. We learn that a fiercely totalitarian regime, led by a General Zod, is seeking the arrest of a scientist called Jor-El.

On July 24, 2014

Chris Lee

Honor our Jewish roots

To the editor: […]

On July 21, 2014

Chris Lee

Spanish Masses in the Diocese of Madison

As of: July 1, 2014

Beloit:

3rd Sunday of the Month, 10:30 a.m. — St. Jude Parish, 737 Hackett St.

Fort Atkinson:

Saturdays 7 p.m. — St. Joseph Parish, 1660 Endl Blvd.

Janesville:

Sundays 5 p.m. — St. Patrick Parish, 315 Cherry St. (except 3rd Sunday of the month, which is at 12:30 p.m.)

Jefferson:

Sundays 12:30 p.m. — St. John the Baptist Parish, 214 N. Sanborn Ave.

Madison:

Saturdays 6:30 p.m. — Cathedral Parish of St. Raphael, (Holy Redeemer Church), 120 W. Johnson St.

Sundays 11 a.m. — Cathedral Parish of St. Raphael, (Holy Redeemer Church), 120 W. Johnson St.

Sundays 1 p.m. — St. Peter Parish Church, 5001 N. Sherman Ave.

Sundays 6:45 p.m. — Cathedral Parish of St. Raphael, (Holy Redeemer Church), 120 W. Johnson St.

Sundays 7 p.m. — Good Shepherd Parish, (St. Joseph Church on the Beltline), 1905 W. Beltline Hwy.

2nd Sunday of the Month, 6:30 p.m. — St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, 602 Everglade Dr.

Black Madonna icon visits Madison

MADISON — The pilgrim icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa (also known as the Black Madonna), a replica of the original icon found in the Jasna Gora monastery in Poland, was in Madison recently as part of an historic pilgrimage in the movement to build a culture of life.

On June 19, the Black Madonna was on display on the sidewalk outside of the Planned Parenthood Clinic on Orin Rd. for an afternoon prayer vigil and at an evening Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona.

On July 17, 2014

Chris Lee

Knowing difference between just and unjust laws

To the editor:

What is a just law? In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which had passed in the Senate by a vote of 85-14 and in the House of Representatives by a vote of 342-67.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, struck down a major portion of DOMA, which has led to an onslaught of federal judges striking down DOMA laws in many states, including Wisconsin. Which action was just?

In 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a letter from his Birmingham jail cell in which he talked about just and unjust laws. The great civil rights leader quoted from St. Augustine, “an unjust law is no law at all.”