If there is an off-season in state government, summer of an even-numbered year qualifies. The campaign season is beginning and, to the extent they can, politicians will avoid controversial decisions until after the election.
But that doesn’t mean all policy work stops. In both the legislative and executive branches, our leaders are setting the stage for the debates of 2011.
If anyone were to evaluate our parish by the attendance at daily Mass, they might get the impression that ours was an “old timers’ religion.” It’s mostly a collection of gray heads with a few colors sprinkled in.
In my lifetime, I have witnessed that the biggest population change in our parish, however, is in committee members. This struck me most recently while attending our parish library committee meeting.
As we approach the closing of the Year for Priests, the Diocese of Madison is blessed with two deacons, Rev. Mr. David Carrano and Rev. Mr. Greg Ihm, who will be called to the Order of Presbyters.
We are also blessed with the ordinations of Rev. Mr. Jorge Antonio Miramontes and Rev. Mr. Timothy Renz to the transitional diaconate in late May.
By God’s providence this coming October, at the American College of Immaculate Conception, in Leuven, Belgium, two more men, Mr. John Putzer and Mr. Chad Droessler, will be ordained transitional deacons.
June 1 is the day on which candidates for the fall elections may begin to circulate nomination papers to secure a place on the primary election ballot. As such it marks the official beginning of the campaign season.
As this season begins, it is important to remember how we as Catholics can engage in faithful citizenship. The Wisconsin Catholic Conference’s (WCC) Guidelines for Church Involvement in Electoral Politics, first approved by the bishops in the early 1980s and periodically updated, share “dos and don’ts” for involvement by church organizations in election campaigns.
Mrs. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd is generally credited with organizing the first modern Father’s Day. It was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Wash. The idea of Father’s Day originated in Sonora’s mind as she listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909.
Sonora’s mother died while giving birth when Sonora was 16. William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran, raised the newborn and five other children with caring love. Sonora, the eldest child, admired the endless sacrifices her dad made so his children could live better. Consequently she wanted a Father’s Day to honor her father and other fathers. We celebrate Father’s Day this year on June 20.
As we age, we try not to focus on all of the “unfinished” projects and all of the “unrealized” dreams we are leaving behind. When we have children, however, they just might finish some of those projects and achieve some of those dreams. If we are lucky, it may even happen in our lifetime.
My husband, Bob, dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but when the babies were in such a hurry to arrive, he had to give up that dream. Before he died, however, he had the thrill of seeing our grandson, Craig, graduate with honors from a top law school.
After many months of hard work on the part of hundreds of the faithful throughout the diocese, Bishop Morlino has put forth a strategic plan for addressing the challenges that face our Catholic schools.
This plan forms a foundation or structure for planning our work over the next several years. The natural question that follows something like this is, “How are we going to do this?”
“The Church can’t tell ME how to use my body.” Ever hear that?
I can’t even count the number of women who have remarked how lucky I am to be a stay-at-home mother. Another thing I can’t count is the number of women who say they wish they could afford to have more children.
MADISON — The new strategic plan for Catholic schools in the diocese has been completed after over 18 months of work and the involvement of hundreds of people from throughout the diocese. The plan, entitled Catholic Schools: Our Faith, Our Future, details specific strategies for meeting the critical challenges faced by our schools.
While it may cost an arm and a leg to live in the state of New York these days, it may soon cost a liver or kidney to die there.
Residents of the state have been debating a legislative measure put forward by a state lawmaker that would automatically enroll all residents as organ donors. The law would rely on what is termed
