Kevin Wondrash

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.

On February 25, 2015

Kevin Wondrash

Natural Family Planning classes offered in diocese

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.

Mobile fertility tracking

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

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.

On February 25, 2015

Kevin Wondrash

Baptism: A new Exodus


	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.

On February 25, 2015

Kevin Wondrash

Fry, Job, and the cross of Jesus

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.

Fry’s rant

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.

On February 18, 2015October 19, 2022

Kevin Wondrash

‘Principal for the Day’

On Friday, Feb. 6, Max Jonas walked the halls of St. Joseph School in Fort Atkinson, gussied up in a dress shirt, tie, and sport coat, like any school principal would — checking in on all the classrooms, greeting students and staff, and also helping out in gym class.

On February 18, 2015

Kevin Wondrash

Lenten service project to help children overseas

ASHTON — In the Republic of Sierra Leona in West Africa, you would see the faces of children and families affected by the Ebola outbreak. If you look closer, you’ll also see “the face of Jesus in every child.”

That’s the message of Savior of the World — a children’s center that provides aid and a witness to the Gospel to orphaned and needy children in Sierra Leone.

The parish community at St. Peter in Ashton and St. Martin of Tours in Martinsville, including the religious education program, school, and other parishioners, are working this Lent to help support Savior of the World.

On February 18, 2015

Kevin Wondrash

Finding at-home assistance for seniors

Q My siblings and I gave our mother the gift of in-home assistance for Christmas.

She lives just outside of Madison and the rest of us live in surrounding counties.

The idea was to provide some support because we can’t be there as much as we would like and mom does not ask us for help.

She was reluctant to accept it at first, but then agreed that she could use some help with certain things.

On February 18, 2015

Kevin Wondrash

Reconciliation helps us to live Lent with renewed faith

In Matthew 9:10-13, the Scribes and Pharisees complain that Christ dines with sinners and tax collectors. They are right. He does. Jesus responds by saying that he has come not to call the righteous, but sinners.

R. Charles Miller wrote that a sinner, as used here, is someone who admits they have sinned and needs God’s forgiveness to help them change. Conversely, the self-righteous think they don’t need forgiveness.

Sharing God’s mercy

Christ became flesh and took on a human nature to share the Father’s mercy with us. Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel features three parables of God’s mercy.

On February 18, 2015

Kevin Wondrash

Baptism: Claimed for Christ


	Patrick Gorman

Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the second in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.

One of the first things that we do when we meet someone is learn their name. It’s so basic, yet so important.

In Baptism, the Church does the same thing.

The Rite of Baptism of Infants calls for the priest to welcome the child, parents, and godparents at the doors of the church (he does the same with adults when he welcomes catechumens). (1)

On February 18, 2015

Kevin Wondrash

Christianity not primarily about ethics

Many atheists and agnostics today argue that it is possible for non-believers in God to be morally upright.

They resent the implication that the denial of God will lead inevitably to ethical relativism or nihilism. They are quick to point out examples of non-religious people who are models of kindness, compassion, justice, etc.

Non-believers praiseworthy?

A recent article proposed that non-believers are, on average, more morally praiseworthy than religious people. God knows (pun intended) that during the last 20 years we’ve seen plenty of evidence of the godly behaving badly.