Columns – Page 109 – Madison Catholic Herald

The National Day of Remembrance (AbortionMemorials.com) is an effort of prayer and education focused on the approximately 35 locations throughout the United States in which the bodies of children killed by abortion are buried.

By telling the stories of these burials and having memorial services at each of these sites, the public is brought to a deeper awareness of the humanity of the unborn and the inhumanity of abortion. Moreover, this occasion can lead those who have lost children to abortion to a greater measure of healing.

This initiative is sponsored by three national pro-life groups: Priests for Life, Pro-life Action League, and Citizens for a Pro-life Society.

On September 12, 2013May 20, 2021

Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

The most prayerful experience of my life

As I follow people on Twitter and help to put together the issue of the Catholic Herald each week, I read about a lot of Catholics taking pilgrimages to the three approved Marian Shines in Wisconsin: the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians at Holy Hill, near Milwaukee; the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, in Champion, near Green Bay; and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, near La Crosse.

I have been to two of the three sites, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe being the only one I have yet to visit. I would now like to reflect on the first time I visited one of these shrines.

A chance to go

Back in May of 2012, I went on a one-day bus trip with parishioners from St. Christopher Parish in Verona to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion (formally known as Robinsonville).

On September 5, 2013

Tony Magliano

Negotiating peace before the trains collide

“The Israelis and Palestinians are like two trains on the same track heading towards each other,” said Maryknoll Father Jack Sullivan.

Focusing on the issue of peace in Israel/Palestine for the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Father Sullivan added that the Palestinians are extremely frustrated living under Israeli occupation, and that their growing sense of hopelessness is “a disaster waiting to happen.”

On September 5, 2013

Michael Lancaster

Catholic schools educate the whole person

As we begin September, we prepare to engage in the wonderful task of teaching and learning in Catholic schools.

Some may wonder and question why this task is any different than similar tasks undertaken by tens of millions of students and hundreds of thousands of teachers at public schools?

After all, aren’t all schools in the business of teaching and learning? Don’t all parents want basically the same things for our children — to educate them so they gain the knowledge and confidence necessary to succeed economically and socially, to instill traits that will ensure that they understand and fulfill their social responsibilities and perform well the duties of national and global citizenship?

On August 29, 2013

Fr. Donald Lange

Labor Day: Making our work a prayer

In the 15th century in a village near Nuremberg, Germany, Albrecht Durer and his brother Albert dreamed of attending art school.

But Albrecht Sr., their father who supported 18 children, understandably couldn’t afford to send them. So the two brothers made an agreement. Albrecht would attend art school while Albert worked in the mines to pay his expenses. When Albrecht graduated, he would use his artistic talents to pay for Albert’s tuition and other expenses.

On August 22, 2013

George Weigel

On really not getting it

In the wake of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s homicide convictions this past May, several state legislatures began crafting laws that would protect unborn life at earlier stages of gestation while shutting down horror houses like Gosnell’s Philadelphia “clinic.”

Whether these laws will stand constitutional scrutiny remains to be seen; what is worth noting now is the degree to which deeply-entrenched supporters of the unrestricted abortion license created by the Supreme Court in 1973 still don’t get it — and still continue to muddle the public debate with their confusions.

On August 22, 2013

Jean Mueller

Recognizing depression affecting a senior citizen

Q: Both of my parents are alive, and in their late 80s. They have some physical health issues, nothing major, and I am grateful that they are still mobile and able to live independently.

My issue is with my dad’s emotional health. He sleeps almost all day. He gets up to eat and then returns to bed or to his chair and naps. He has lost interest in gardening, helping around the house, and doesn’t even seem to want to go out or do anything.

My mother feels it is just his age and doesn’t expect him to help with anything. She does not want to force the issue. I say he is depressed but my mom doesn’t want to do anything about it. It is sad to see him sleeping away — should we force him to see a doctor? (From a son in Monona.)

On August 15, 2013

Fr. Gregory Ihm, For the Catholic Herald

Encouraging a culture of vocations

“We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Pt. 1:16-19).

This is my prayer for each of you who are reading this article and especially for each of the seminarians for the Diocese of Madison.

How beautiful it is when we hear the voice of God speak to us personally and we respond by following him, like SS. Peter, James, and John at the Transfiguration.

On August 15, 2013

Fr. Donald Lange

Mary’s Assumption gives us hope

The Renaissance painter Titian painted an inspiring picture of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven.

Mary is dressed no longer in blue, but in the flaming red of victory. Escorted by angels, she rises majestically in the heavens into the glory of God.

The apostles stand below gazing upward with wonder and joy. The picture is so vivid that it almost appears to be a photograph.

On August 15, 2013May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Morality and the Natural Law: The importance of being guided by a moral compass

People sometimes use the phrase “moral compass” to describe the innate sense of right and wrong that human beings have.

President Obama, for example, recently mentioned in one of his speeches how we need to, “keep our own moral compass pointed in a true direction.” Although he didn’t spell out what that true direction might be, his remark nevertheless highlighted something that all can agree upon, namely, the importance of being guided by a moral compass.