Author: Kevin Wondrash

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Kevin Wondrash

Waiting for Christ — and enjoying it

Editor’s note: The following column was adapted from a homily given by Bishop Robert C. Morlino at his Stational Mass at St. Patrick Church in Madison on the first Sunday of Advent.

Dear Friends,

I want to begin by offering a special greeting to our good friends who have undertaken RCIA formation and soon will be received into full communion with the Church — some through Baptism and Confirmation and some through Confirmation and reception at the great Easter Vigil. Your journey is truly under way and I hope you have the sense of just how close you really are. You’re almost there! We welcome you into our family wholeheartedly and we want to walk with you through the rest of your beautiful journey to Easter, as so many have been walking with you faithfully in the days past.

Pope Benedict was very visible as we commenced our Advent Season. He celebrated Solemn Vespers on Saturday night to begin Advent and, of course, he gave his regular Sunday Morning Angelus Address. In this space, I thought I might give you some of my reflections on the three points which our Holy Father made.

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Kevin Wondrash

Filled with hope and gratitude

Dear Friends,

As I write this, I am freshly arrived back from the annual assembly of our National Bishops Conference, filled with hope indeed. On my way to Baltimore for the meeting, I had a stopover in Washington, during which time I had a good opportunity to visit with our seminarian who is a Basselin Scholar at the Catholic University of America, and some of the fellow seminarian friends whom he has met. The experience was totally upbeat and filled me with hope, both for the present and for the future.

Additionally, at meetings of the bishops conference, Tuesday night is usually the “free evening” for dinner and recreation for the bishops, though in many instances, bishops are very generously giving themselves, on Tuesday evenings, to the work of the various committees or sub-committees of our conference.

 

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Kevin Wondrash

Old age: The equalizer?

Grand Mom by Audrey Mettel Fixmer

It’s a privilege to get old; not everyone has the chance to experience life in their 80s. It’s a time when we can no longer hide our age with cosmetics and high style when there are other obvious signs of deterioration.

Whereas we once walked tall, carrying ourselves with grace, we are now shrunken and our backs are bent. The sure-footed stride has evolved into cautious baby steps. And the head held high now is bent to watch for possible ice or bumps on our path.

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Kevin Wondrash

Our covenant through Baptism

Living and Learning column by Msgr. Daniel T. Ganshert

Thankfulness for many blessings over this past year already fills the minds and hearts of my family and, I imagine, yours, as well. In particular, thanking God for my cousins’ now one-year-old quadruplets. Yes, that’s right. We are all still amazed at this spontaneous gift from God to Michael, Angela, and little Delaney. Now they are seven. Like some other great stories it happened once upon a night.

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Kevin Wondrash

Anwar al Awlaki and the Fundamental Option

Editor’s note: The following column is adapted from Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s staff catechesis on November 11.

If you’ve paid attention to the news in recent weeks, you may have heard the name Anwar al Awlaki. He is the former imam (which is the Muslim term for pastor) of a mosque in Fairfax County, Virginia, whose services and sermons were attended by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood killer, and simultaneously, three of the 9-11 hijackers.

Awlaki, who now resides in Yemen, has articulated, as a pastor, a concept of conscience. This is one of our main words of interest as Catholics: “conscience.” Awlaki has said that Major Hasan, who killed 13 and wounded many others, is in very good conscience as a Muslim because it is good to prevent American service people from waging war in Islamic countries, however you do it. It is, Awlaki articulated, the Will of Allah, that faithful Muslims take such preventative measures against American or allied service people, because the good of the worldwide Islamic Caliphate requires it. The Caliphate, in general, refers to a huge Islamic State which is desired by many Islamic extremists.

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Kevin Wondrash

Making time to take a retreat

Living and Learning column by Msgr. Daniel T. Ganshert

You haven’t changed a bit. That was the tongue in cheek line at a recent reunion I attended. As home towns go, mine is the best, of course. Small but still drawing all of us wayfarers back from time to time to catch up on things.

Reunions make that possible thanks to those who give their energy and time to draw a community together. Our oneness of experience growing up made for good conversations and the rekindling of memories from years gone by.

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Kevin Wondrash

Just one more thing . . .

Live Greater by Jon Leonetti

Picture it. The rich man encountering Jesus Christ. Face to face. As they look into each others’ eyes. People hear the commotion, inching closer. Can you feel the tension? The rich man, feeling quite well about himself, I am sure, asking Jesus if there is more.

“You follow the commandments, you say? You are a good person, you say? That’s great. But it’s not enough . . .

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Kevin Wondrash

Challenged to keep our faith

Living and Learning column by Msgr. Daniel T. Ganshert

Afraid. When he mentioned this word, I was surprised because of all he had been through. What could make him afraid now?

His name was An and we had met at a retreat where he told me that he was one of the boat people who fled from southeast Asia some years ago. Government authorities had discovered the Catholic seminary where he was a student.

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Kevin Wondrash

When pregnancy goes awry

Making Sense out of Bioethics column by Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Human pregnancy begins whenever a sperm unites with an egg inside the fallopian tube. The newly-minted embryo must then travel along the fallopian tube during the next few days before finally implanting into the wall of the mother’s uterus.

In rare instances, the embryo will fail to reach the uterus and will instead implant in the fallopian tube along the way, which is a very narrow tube not designed to support a pregnancy.

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