Columns – Page 131 – Madison Catholic Herald

Editor’s note: Sr. M. Marcia Vinje, a Schoenstatt Sister of Mary, recently moved from Madison to work at Our Lady of Pity Parish in Staten Island, N.Y. Following are her reflections on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and other experiences.

The 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, are very much in the awareness of everyone in New York.

Everyone has a story about who they knew that died that day, or why their relative should have been at the World Trade Center but for various reasons they were not there that day or came later. The stories of God’s providence are phenomenal.

On September 15, 2011

Fr. Paul Ugo Arinze

Ten new seminarians point to Church’s hopeful future

As the fall season rolls in and many students are headed back to school, the seminarians for the diocese are all heading back to school to continue with their seminary formation after a much deserved summer break.

Starting this fall, we will have seminarians in seminaries in Detroit, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; Winona and St. Paul, Minn.; Seward,

Neb.; South Orange, N.J.; and Rome, Italy. Their years of seminary formation range from freshmen in college to the final year of theology.

On September 15, 2011May 20, 2021

Audrey Mettel Fixmer

Inspiration from my elders

Remember how you always looked up to the “older” ones?

When you were four, they were the six-year-olds; they went to school. But when you got to school yourself, it was the eighth graders who were the big shots, and to them it was the high school kids, who looked up to the college kids, etc.

On September 1, 2011

Fr. Donald Lange

Labor Day invites us to reflect upon the dignity of work

This year Labor Day falls on September 5, shortly before the 10th anniversary of 9-11. Most who died in these terrorist attacks were working when they died. On Labor Day, we can honor their memory by prayerful reflection on the value of work and workers.

Labor Day is a national holiday during which we honor the dignity of workers and the quality of their work. According to Hilda Solis, secretary of labor, the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on September 5, 1882, to honor the social and economic achievements of American workers.

On September 1, 2011

John Garvey

What happened to freedom of religion?

Is pregnancy a disease? Should Catholics, purchasing insurance for themselves or their employees be forced against their consciences to subsidize its prevention?

These questions lie at the heart of new regulations just issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which will administer President Barack Obama’s new health care law.

Ethics of reproductive health care

The regulations include a list of “preventive services” that all group health plans must provide without any co-pay. The list includes female surgical sterilization, plus all FDA-approved contraceptives, including some (like the prescription drug ella) that can act as abortifacients.

On September 1, 2011

John Huebscher

We celebrate Labor Day for very good reasons

Years ago, when we were packing for one of our family vacations, I asked my mother where she went for vacations when she was a little girl.

“We didn’t take vacations when I was little,” she said. “Your grandfather worked for a railroad, and if he wanted a day off, they would give his job to someone else.” She paused a moment and said, “Later when the union came, we got to take vacations.”

Enjoy benefits won by others

I think of that moment from time to time, usually around Labor Day. It’s useful to recall that what many of us enjoy today is the result of victories won by others years ago.

On August 25, 2011May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Bringing Christ to the clinic

A Catholic physician once related to me a powerful story about one of his patients, who had just received a diagnosis of advanced, metastatic cancer and had a relatively short time left to live.

On August 25, 2011

Tom Nelson

Closing rural post offices makes no sense

Rural life is a daily challenge to survive on most days; we citizens blessed enough to live in the beauty of the country often are too busy trying to get by to really enjoy all the scenic views of the rural landscape.

At this very moment I am looking at the tree-line between my property and the old Gilbertson Farm west of our home and billowing out in huge clouds of white smoke are the fiery fingers of flames that are consuming my neighbor’s cow barn.

On August 18, 2011May 20, 2021

Audrey Mettel Fixmer

Staying young through laughter

I learned about God’s humor from Sister Gregory, a delightful Franciscan nun who was staff advisor for my high school newspaper.

As editor, I had to “put the paper to bed,” meaning write the last headlines, cross all the t’s, and dot the i’s before going to press.

One night we had to work right through dinner time and both confessed we were hungry.

Sister excused herself and returned after a moment with a heaping, fragrant bowl of popcorn.

On August 18, 2011

George Weigel

Pope Benedict XVI on Europe’s future

World Youth Day 2011, being held in Madrid from August 16 to 21, will be an important moment in Pope Benedict XVI’s campaign to remind Europe of its Christian roots and to call Europe to a nobler understanding of democracy.

As the Holy Father demonstrated in an address in Zagreb, Croatia, in early June, the two parts of that campaign — the recovery of Christian roots and the deepening of 21st-century Europe’s idea of democracy — go together.