MCFARLAND — Mary’s Rosary Assemblers at Christ the King Parish in McFarland is hosting Rosary sales after the Masses on selected weekends.
This Lent, the Rosary Assemblers invite all to Christ the King Parish on Saturday and Sunday, March 7 and 8 and 14 and 15, to their Lenten Rosary Sale.
MADISON — Ann Walsh was selected as the Irish Person of the Year by the Dane County Shamrock Club. She will be honored at the club’s Irish flag ceremony in the Capitol rotunda, 2 E. Main St., at 12 noon on Sunday, March 15; at the St. Patrick’s Day parade following the flag ceremony; and again at the club’s St. Patrick’s Day dinner on March 22. These events are open to the public.
REEDSBURG — To support local growers and educate the public about sustainably-grown and locally produced foods, the Justice and Peace Commission of diocesan cluster 350 is holding its fifth annual Food Fair and Farmers’ Market on Saturday, March 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Sacred Heart School gym, 624 N. Willow St. in Reedsburg.
There will be vendors with everything from beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and fish to vegetables, mushrooms, seeds, preserves, cheese, bakery goods, maple syrup, honey, chocolates, and much more.
Dear Friends,
I hope that your Lent has gotten underway in a way that is already prayer-filled and fruitful. Furthermore, I hope that it continues to be so.
On the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, the readings provided me with a few points for reflection — they are three simple points about being “outside the camp.”
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“The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” With these two compelling sentences — as recorded in the Gospel of Mark — Jesus inaugurates his ministry and sums up what his mission is about: to break the shackles of sin that enslave humanity, to put us on the path of liberation from all oppression, and to teach us how to unconditionally love one another.
But what does it mean to repent?
Striving to avoid sin and living virtuously is certainly part of what it means. But there’s more.
In the Gospels, the biblical word used for repentance is the Greek word metanoia — a radical change of mind, heart, soul, and action.
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Bariatric surgery, which often involves banding of the stomach, is a widely used procedure for treating severe obesity. Another approach that relies on an implantable “stomach pacemaker” also appears poised to assist those struggling with significant weight gain.
Many people have already benefitted from these kinds of surgical interventions, enabling them to shed a great deal of weight, improve their health, and get a new lease on life.
At the same time, however, it’s important for us to examine such interventions from an ethical point of view. It’s not simply a matter of weight loss, achieved by any means whatsoever, but a rational decision made after carefully weighing the risks, benefits, and alternatives.
Editor’s note: During this Year of Consecrated Life, this is the second in a series based on the Second Vatican Council’s document, Perfectae Caritatis (Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life) written by Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB, former abbot primate of the Benedictine order who now resides in Madison.
We have seen in the first reflection commenting on Religious Life that the basis for and origin of this way of Christian life is the example and teaching of Jesus (Perfectae Caritatis, #1).
The Second Vatican Council’s teaching says that the consecration of Religious Life is focused on the pursuit of perfect charity.
MADISON — The Couple to Couple League (CCL) will offer classes on the sympto-thermal method of Natural Family Planning (NFP) at several locations this winter and spring.
Each course is taught by a married couple who are certified NFP instructors. The main NFP course is offered in a three-part series.
CCL now offers on-the-go mobile fertility tracking, CycleProGo, which allows couples to chart electronically, record fertility symptoms, and determine the fertile and infertile times of the cycle.
All those who register for a CCL course will receive a free 90-day trial of fertility tracking with CycleProGo.
Postpartum classes are scheduled and offered by appointment throughout the year. A postpartum class is designed to provide specific information on how to interpret fertility signs during the transitional stage between childbirth and the return of normal fertility cycles.
Couples interested in taking a postpartum class need to complete a CCL main NFP course or be concurrently enrolled in a main course or a CCL home study or virtual online course. |
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| Patrick Gorman |
Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the third in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.
One of the most compelling stories in the Old Testament describes the Exodus (Ex 14-15:1), when God brought the people of Israel from slavery to freedom.
At the climax of the story, God parted the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through the water. As the Egyptians pursued, God allowed the water to rush back, destroying Pharaoh’s chariots and charioteers and saving the people of Israel.
The Scripture describing all of this is read each year at the Easter Vigil because it so clearly prefigures Baptism as we go through the baptismal waters from the slavery of sin to the freedom of a life in Christ.
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The British writer, actor, and comedian Stephen Fry is featured in a YouTube video which has gone viral: over five million views.
Fry is, like his British counterparts Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, a fairly ferocious atheist and debunker of all things religious.
In the video, Fry articulates what he would say to God if, upon arriving at the pearly gates, he discovered he was mistaken in his atheism.
