Editorial – Page 15 – Madison Catholic Herald

As I am looking at the calendar for October of 2020, and seeing we have a Friday, Oct. 16, coming up, I’m asking myself — How has it been five years already?

The last time October 16 fell on a Friday was in 2015.

My parish, St. Maria Goretti (SMG) in Madison, and the Diocese of Madison as a whole, had one of its most eventful days ever.

The relics of St. Maria Goretti came to the parish for nearly a 24-hour stay, part of the Pilgrimage of Mercy tour that had taken her relics around the country ahead of the Year of Mercy, which started later that year.

On October 6, 2020

Kevin Wondrash

Happy belated feast day, St. Faustina!

Dear St. Faustina,

By now you’re probably aware of me.

It’s me, Kevin, the guy who has this devotion to you and to Divine Mercy and can get quite nerdy about it.

Ever since I first read about you and what the message of Divine Mercy is, I was hooked.

On September 30, 2020

Kevin Wondrash

Using God’s gifts for good

I used to joke that if Bishop Robert Barron can often reference Bob Dylan in his written columns, then I’m going to write about Jimi Hendrix someday.

Welp, here goes.

We’re in the time of the year when rock radio stations and music magazines remember the “West Coast Seattle Boy” during the anniversary of this death — this year being 50 years on September 18.

Those same media entities will remember his contemporary, the singer Janis Joplin, on the anniversary of her death, also 50 years ago this year on October 4.

On September 23, 2020

Kevin Wondrash

Life changes, turning corners: an old normal

This month, I said goodbye to a labor of love of mine for the past several years.

Since 2013, I had been the coordinator of the young adult group (20s and 30s) — on a volunteer basis — at St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison.

As I’ve gotten older, the new people have gotten “younger,” many of my longtime friends have moved on from the group or moved away, and myself having less time and energy to devote to the ministry, it was becoming obvious and apparent that it was time to move on and let others take over from here.

On September 15, 2020

Kevin Wondrash

‘You can’t put your arms around a memory’

I took a couple of audio-visual trips down Memory Lane over Labor Day weekend.

My first trip consisted of dusting off two VHS tapes and watching some “home movies” of the high school band trip to Canada that I went on when I was a senior in high school back in the summer of 2002.

Although I and some of my peers may have rolled our eyes at the time, I’m very grateful that one of the parent chaperones on the trip was constantly using his camcorder and captured more than a dozen hours of memories as they were happening.

On September 8, 2020

Kevin Wondrash

Knowing the meaning of ‘yes’

During what might be my 378th attempt to devote myself to praying the Rosary every day, I’m reading a book that contains meditations on each Mystery of the Rosary.

It’s no surprise that the first chapter is on the First Joyful Mystery — the Annunciation.

Here we find the Blessed Virgin Mary saying “yes” to the Archangel Gabriel to be the mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Words in the chapter go on to describe how Mary’s “yes” literally transformed the world.

On September 1, 2020

Kevin Wondrash

We need less bad news and more Good News

I’m a news junkie. Anyone who works in news, or who has ever worked in news, has a little bit of that in them.

It’s a constant desire to know what’s going on, know the latest information, and know as much about what is going on as we can.

Then — us being us — we want to tell everyone about it.

Today, sharing news and information is easier than ever with Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media and communication.

Getting more of the latest information is also easier than ever with all of the digital and online channels available to be consumed.

On August 25, 2020

Kevin Wondrash

Giving more attention to peaceful actions

During Memorial Day weekend, I sat in front of my TV, totally captivated by the images on the screen — live chaos on State St. and in the downtown area in Madison.

Our area’s version of the protests following the death of George Floyd had disintegrated into violence, looting, angry shouting, and even a police car set on fire live on TV among other negative pictures.

For those seeking dialogue, attention, and something good out of the day’s events, these actions left sour images in many minds as the week went on.

On August 13, 2020

Kevin Wondrash

‘How is your prayer life?’

What is the one thing that we want to do more of, never make enough time for, are capable of doing in countless different ways, always wondering if we’re doing it right, are skeptical of its effectiveness, and the topic thereof is always seeming to pop up in our lives?

If you read the title of this editorial, you know it’s one of those words, and it’s not “how,” “is,” “your,” or life”.

Since you’ve made it to paragraph three, I’ll assume you know I’m talking about prayer, and you’re perfectly fine with this topic.

Whether it be in the confessional, in a conversation with a close friend or spiritual director, in a small group setting, or the occasional “sidewalk discipleship” encounter, talk of our struggles and challenges will come up.

On July 30, 2020

Kevin Wondrash

Finding what we all can agree on

I have a problem. Every time I see a potentially controversial Facebook post, tweet, message board posting, online news story, or any other message of the sort, I am immediately drawn to and sucked into the comments section.

For those unfamiliar with the more social media-esque methods of sharing news and information, the comments section allows people who’ve read the article — or just glanced at the headline — to type out and share their thoughts on it for all to see. These comments are often opinionated, emotional, or a reflection of one’s thoughts while reading said article or post.

These comments, even in the online Catholic media, can lead to a lot of back and forth debating — or let’s be honest, arguing — sometimes getting very personal.