Category: Guest column

On
Beth Ulaszek

Theme three: The meaning of Human Sexuality

Beth Ulaszek

To prepare for the upcoming World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this September, the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Madison is providing a monthly series on a particular theme on marriage and family. Each theme is a chapter in the preparatory catechesis developed for the event entitled Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive, available in paperback from www.osvparish.com or for free online at www.worldmeeting2015.org

Four years ago I was given the first in a series of life changing gifts in the form of a diamond ring.

For weeks I would stare and delight in its beauty as light touched it and bounced back in various colors. In my excitement every friend, acquaintance, and stranger got to know my beloved as I feverishly relayed the story of how such a beautiful gift wound up on my finger.

Greater gifts followed as I became a wife and mother of two.

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Veronica Arntz

St. John Paul II: patron saint of the family

Veronica Arntz

St. John Paul II — the beloved pope and now saint — contributed a vast amount of knowledge and wisdom to the Church’s teachings on marriage and family.

Born on May 18, 1920, and ordained a priest in 1946, Karol Wojtyla’s adolescent years were marked by the reign and violence of the Third Reich.

Philosophy of personalism

Due largely to his devout Catholic parents, Wojtyla, rather than turning to violence himself, cultivated his mind through poetry and plays, eventually turning to philosophical inquiries, particularly in personalism.

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Patrick Hardyman

Supreme Court ignores principles in ‘Declaration of Independence’

Patrick Hardyman

On September 21, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which had earlier passed in the Senate by a vote of 85-14 and in the House of Representatives by a vote of 342-67.

DOMA had two major effects, “No state (or other political subdivision within the United States) need treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state and secondly the federal government may not treat same sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.”

Voters approve amendments

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On
Morgan Smith

The awakening

Morgan Smith

I am thinking now of my friend’s face. It is lit up with a mix of joy and surprise.

The other day, he was talking about his brother, whom he had seen the weekend before. His brother is in a program for recovering addicts which after years, he had finally wanted to enter. My friend was struck by his conversation with his changing brother. And so was I.

A new view of life

My friend said of his brother: “He shared in a way I’ve never witnessed him share before, about some changes in himself. He’s forming a new view on life; in particular he has an openness to being surprised, to novelty. He now takes his walks differently, open to beauty, and treats his interactions with people differently, wanting to learn about them and hear their story.”

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Veronica Arntz

Theme two: The Mission of Love

Veronica Arntz

To prepare for the upcoming World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this September, the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Madison is providing a monthly series on a particular theme on marriage and family. Each theme is a chapter in the preparatory catechesis developed for the event entitled Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive, available in paperback from www.osvparish.com or for free online at www.worldmeeting2015.org

God’s love story

The story between God and His creation is a story of love. Being perfect in Himself, He had no need to create the universe, the animals, or even man himself.

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Cathy Lins

Raising awareness of mental health issues

Cathy Lins

Along the mental health continuum are three major mental health states in which individuals can be located at various times in their lives.

At the “healthy” end of the continuum are individuals experiencing well-being, a state of good mental and emotional health. These individuals may experience stress and discomfort resulting from occasional problems of everyday life, but they experience no impairment to daily functioning.

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Andy Galvin

2015 World Meeting of Families

Andy Galvin

First in a series of articles on the World Meeting of Families to be held in Philadelphia in September.

The World Meeting of Families (WMOF) is a week-long international event of prayer, catechesis, and celebration that seeks to strengthen the bonds between families and to witness to the crucial importance of marriage and the family to all of society.

There are three parts to the WMOF: a Theological Adult Congress and a concurrent Youth Congress, the Festival of Families, and a Papal Mass.

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Morgan Smith

Reflections on the dignity of the human person

Morgan Smith

As I drove home from my friend Andrew’s funeral, I noticed in myself a deep sadness. This sadness was and is a tension that is related to a huge question: Why?

I was so moved. When I stood in line to enter the church, I was looking at all the faces­­ — these faces from my past that I now only see at funerals. A sea of shock, dismay, and disbelief.

Andrew committed suicide recently. This was the furthest thing that anyone would have ever expected him to do, and it feels so strange to type those words.

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