MADISON — The […]
Category: News
‘Do you love me? . . . Feed my sheep’
Last weekend in Madison, more than 100,000 meals were packed for hungry people at home and around the world.
A good number of the meals are going to children. Many of the meals were packed by children.
Saturday, March 16, was the second annual Lenten “Feed My Sheep” food-packing day at the Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC) in Madison.
The driving force behind the event is “6:8,” a group based out of Prairie du Sac that spearheaded a fundraising event and brought the money needed for the 100,000 meals. Last year, the group raised enough money to package more than 68,000 meals.
The executive directors of 6:8 are the husband and wife team of John and Sarah Ramthun.
As volunteers, including many children of all ages, poured into the chapel at the CMC for orientation, John shared the message of 6:8: “We desire to transform communities by making service personal,” said John.
Lebanese youth await participation in Vatican’s Way of the Cross
BEIRUT (CNS) — When a committee of Catholic youth in Lebanon set out to compose the meditations for the Way of the Cross, they had no idea that a new pope would preside over the Good Friday service at Rome’s Colosseum.
By custom, the pope invites a cardinal or an ecclesial community to prepare the meditations. This year is the first that young people of a particular country were asked to participate. Pope Benedict XVI invited the youth of Lebanon to participate through Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, who was named a cardinal in November.
Going ‘To the Heights’ with Frassati Fest
“Verso l’alto!”
It was a phrase heard quite often around Chula Vista resort this past February 1 to 3. In English, it means “To the Heights,” and was a favorite saying of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, the patron of the newly named Diocesan High School Rally, Frassati Fest. The phrase speaks to different people in different ways, but is a universal call for each and every one of us to strive for greatness, ultimately leading us to the greatest height: heaven and eternal life.
Knights honor essay contest winners from St. Ambrose Academy
MADISON — On January 25, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life marking the 40th anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.
St. Ambrose Academy juniors and seniors were among the throngs of pro-lifers. Several St. Ambrose marchers also were recent winners of the Knights of Columbus Respect for Life Contest at the diocesan and state levels.
New name, new features, old favorites at high schoolers weekend
As you have likely heard, the Frassati Fest is the coolest weekend around for Catholic high school students in the Diocese of Madison. (In case you haven’t heard, this Fest is the newly renamed Resurrection Rally you are used to loving over the past 12 years.)
The planning team has been hard at work planning this year’s event. Here is some information about Frassati Fest:
Family’s quest to revitalize town after Sandy prompts others to join in
MANASQUAN, N.J. (CNS) — A Manasquan family’s desire to bring new life to their hurricane-stricken shore town has prompted scores of like-minded individuals to join them in their mission of compassion.
Melissa and Chip Dayton, along with seven of their eight children, have volunteered tirelessly with the SquanStrong movement since Sandy’s landfall Oct. 29 to revitalize the town and share their faith-filled surplus of compassion in time of need.
A busy month at Jefferson school
JEFFERSON — The month of November at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Jefferson was filled with several special events that concluded with the school’s annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.
The eighth graders and Student Council members sponsored the event, which collected over 600 items donated to the Jefferson Food Pantry. Fifth graders helped their “buddies” in pre-kindergarten make special turkey food bags for the many families given donations for Thanksgiving.
Fort Atkinson school hosts food drive for Sandy victims
FORT ATKINSON — St. Joseph School is donating $200 to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School Region of Staten Island, N.Y., to help with the destruction caused by Super Storm Sandy. The donation has been made from the funds raised during the school’s second annual Rake-A-Thon, which was held on Friday, Nov. 2. The blessings and prayers from the students and faculty at St. Joseph School go out to all the schools, families, homes, and businesses that were struck by Sandy.
St. Joseph School is also participating in a parish-wide food drive. People are invited to send non-perishable goods to St. Joseph School. Food will be collected in the classrooms, the school office, and in the parish’s gathering space.
St. Mary School in Bloomington enjoys exchange program with school in China
BLOOMINGTON — Kind, warm-hearted people, beautiful scenery, and a school like a family full of love — these were some of the lasting memories of six Chinese visitors who spent two weeks with families and myself at St. Mary School in Bloomington.
Last spring I visited China and set up an exchange program with Shijiazhuang Middle School Number 40 and Principal Yunhong Li.