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| Andy and Mary Fabian |
This story begins in 1992, when one man married one woman the old-fashioned, non-destination way with eight bridesmaids, a wedding march, a dollar dance, and a DJ.
Cradle Catholic married Purely Protestant and the first issue up for debate was how to postpone pregnancy (the arguments about in-laws and money came much later).
In a recent article entitled “How We Created the First Synthetic Cell,” Dr. J. Craig Venter waxes broadly about how his research team succeeded in constructing a bacterial cell out of its component parts.
The story, which has captured the imagination of the media, appears to be a jaw-dropping breakthrough: “Scientists have created artificial life in a laboratory!” Such headlines evoke images of a Frankenstein creation, a Jurassic Park monster, or an alien life form. But in the final analysis, the scientific achievement of Venter and his team, although notable, is considerably less dramatic.
Editor’s note: The following is the homily given by Msgr. James Bartylla, vicar general, at Fr. Gregory Ihm’s Mass of Thanksgiving, St. Clement Church, Lancaster, June 27.
Fr. Greg Ihm, Bishop Morlino, and my brother priests, it’s an honor to give the homily at Father Ihm’s Mass of Thanksgiving at his home parish of St. Clement in Lancaster. Ray and Sherri, you should be very proud of your son who will make an exemplary priest.
It is also a privilege to come back to my adopted home of Grant County where I spent seminarian summers and my first years of priesthood. This includes time in Dickeyville, Lancaster, Kieler, Sinsinawa, Bloomington, and Patch Grove. In fact, I first met Fr. Greg Ihm at the Kieler picnic shortly after he finished a TEC retreat and decided to enter the seminary.
Father Greg spent most of his years in the seminary with me as his vocations director. As you know, Greg, vocations directors are always prone to giving advice to seminarians and maybe even newly ordained priests. I have to say there’s a bit of that still in me as a former vocations director. So today I offer you my top 10 tips on the priesthood as we look forward to your priestly ministry.
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?”
