Category: Opinion

On
Catholic Herald Staff

Letters to the editor (10-22-2020)

Examine conscience before voting

This is my first and will be my only letter to the community. The upcoming election will be very important, as all elections are. I’m hoping that there won’t be untruths, name-calling, violence, and disrespect during the campaign.

My main reason for the letter is to convey the importance of life. There seems to be a total disregard for this important subject: violence, rioting, looting, shootings and killings in neighborhoods across the country, wars, and abortions.

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

Remembering one of the best days ever

kevin-editorial

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.

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

Letters to the editor (10-15-2020)

‘I do belong in the Church’

During this challenging time, I have found it difficult to reconcile my faith and what I’ve heard from some in the Church.

This has caused me distress to the point where I’ve asked myself if I belong in the Church.

As I searched, Peter’s words came to mind, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

Using God’s gifts for good

kevin-editorial

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.

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

‘All lives matter’

In the upcoming November 3 election there is only one thing that really matters and that is the “Right to Life” of all people.

Sure, I agree that “black lives matter,” but “all lives matter”.

If I may quote Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, “however, the right to life position is, in one sense, not about an ‘issue’ at all. Nor are those who hold it ‘single issue voters.'”

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

Life changes, turning corners: an old normal

kevin-editorial

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.

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

Recognizing National Assisted Living Week

Dear Editor:

September 13 to 19 is National Assisted Living Week.

This annual observance was established by The National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) as a way to celebrate those who choose this type of living option and the caring, dedicated staff members who serve them; and to educate the general public about the importance and benefits of this type of long term care.

This year’s theme is “Caring is Essential.”

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

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

kevin-editorial

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.

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

Knowing the meaning of ‘yes’

kevin-editorial

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.

Read More