An ever-emerging issue at the end-of-life is organ donation and the leaving of one’s body to “science.” Since the first successful organ transplant in 1954, organ donation and its morality have been an ongoing topic of discussion. While complex and nuanced, a general sketch of organ donation can be useful.
Category: Columns
Longfellow’s Christmas poem inspires us to hope
On Christmas Day in 1864, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow listened to Christmas bells ring out the good news of peace on earth and goodwill to all.
Praying about death
Before our current pandemic, I occasionally had the opportunity to spend time with some of my far-flung godchildren.
A reflection of goodness
One of my favorite stops on my way to and from the Twin Cities where I attended seminary is the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse.
Managing pain at the end of life
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Death: Our Birth into Eternal life Fr. Joseph Baker |
The following article is the next installment in a series that will appear in the Catholic Herald to offer catechesis and formation concerning end-of-life decisions, dying, death, funerals, and burial of the dead from the Catholic perspective.
Using the principle of therapeutic proportionality, we have examined the use of curative and life-sustaining treatments.
Recall that there is no moral obligation to utilize such treatments, if, in one’s best judgment, such measures would be futile or result in burdens disproportionate to anticipated benefits.
Mary helps to prepare us for Advent and Christmas
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We have begun another Church year with the season of Advent. During the first part of Advent, the readings of the Mass prepare us for the second coming of Christ in his glory.
Then on December 17 to December 24, the readings focus upon preparing us for Christ’s coming at Christmas.Connection between souls amidst a tattered world
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All masked up, my family and I sat 12 feet away from my elderly parents outside their apartment. Sitting side by side, my parents looked out at us from behind the screened porch.
They clasped hands, as always, embracing the odd state of the world — not knowing what the future would hold — but content to be facing it together, just as they had faced all things in their 63 years of married life.The Order of Christian Funerals: Funeral Mass part 2
The following article is the next installment in a series that will appear in the Catholic Herald to offer catechesis and formation concerning end of life decisions, dying, death, funerals, and burial of the dead from the Catholic perspective.
The Order of Christian Funerals: Funeral Mass
The following article is the next installment in a series that will appear in the Catholic Herald to offer catechesis and formation concerning end of life decisions, dying, death, funerals, and burial of the dead from the Catholic perspective.
Thanking our teachers this Thanksgiving
I hope that everyone enjoyed a blessed Thanksgiving. Truly, we have numerous blessings for which to give thanks. I am particularly grateful that our Catholic schools have been operating in-person this fall and that they have been able to provide children with a safe, faith filled, educational experience that honors and develops their intellectual, physical, social, spiritual and emotional traits by cultivating human relationships through in-person education. I am thankful that our students have experienced this aspect of “normal” life in the midst of a most abnormal year.