Christ – Page 8 – Madison Catholic Herald

Fr. Mark Link shared an inspiring story of a Catholic teenager who felt that her mother rejected her. She transferred her anger for her mother to Mary.

The girl reluctantly went on a required Confirmation retreat. The director talked about Mary. As the girl listened, angry feelings towards her mother surfaced. She rejected everything good the speaker shared about Mary. After the talk, she went outside to walk off her anger. She wanted to cry but her tears froze. She felt bitter loneliness and rejection.

She wandered aimlessly until her curiosity attracted her to a small grotto-like building. She looked inside and discovered a large statue of Mary from whom she was trying to escape. She wanted to run, but she was drawn to the kneeler at Mary’s feet. She fell on her knees, weeping in the folds of Mary’s robes. When she stopped crying, she felt cleansed and renewed. Touched by Mary, she began to accept her as her spiritual mother.

On June 21, 2012May 20, 2021

Christopher Stefanick

The priest: in persona Christi

I met a young priest in Fairfax, Va., last week. Of course “young” is a relative term. Everyone around me gets younger with each passing year.

Father Jaffe had been at the parish for less than a week and was the priest on call for the local hospital. It was 2 a.m. when his pager went off. A couple had lost their eight-year-old son hours before and the mother wouldn’t let go of his body.

All attempts of the staff and hospital chaplain to get her to release her son had failed. She sat rocking him, unresponsive to anyone. The woman wasn’t Catholic, but the staff knew from experience that it was time to call in a priest.

When the newly ordained 26-year-old arrived, he did the only thing that came to mind. He sat with the parents in silence for a moment and said, “It looks like you need some prayer.” He opened his rite book, The Pastoral Care of the Sick to the section with the prayers for the deceased and he began to pray aloud.

On June 21, 2012

Fr. Paul Ugo Arinze

The Almighty has done great things for us

On behalf of Bishop Robert C. Morlino and all our seminarians, I would like to congratulate Deacons David Johannes and Mark Miller on their upcoming ordinations to the priesthood.

The entire Diocese of Madison rejoices because the Lord has shown us great favor in calling these two men to be numbered amongst the Levites. I also want to extend our congratulations to Deacons Vince Brewer and Garrett Kau who were ordained to the transitional diaconate in May. We wish you all fruitful ministry in the Lord’s vineyard.

God works in our midst

Ordination of men to the priesthood is a good reminder to us of how God continues to work in our midst. The Holy Spirit working through the bishop, by his imposition of hands and prayer of ordination, raises these men to become in effect “Alter Christus.”

On June 7, 2012May 20, 2021

Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

The hidden power in our suffering

In a 1999 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, patients with serious illness were asked to identify what was most important to them during the dying process.

Many indicated they wanted to achieve a “sense of control.” This is understandable. Most of us fear our powerlessness in the face of illness and death.

We would like to retain an element of control, even though we realize that dying often involves the very opposite: a total loss of control, over our muscles, our emotions, our minds, our bowels, and our very lives, as our human framework succumbs to powerful disintegrative forces.

On May 24, 2012

Fr. Donald Lange

Pentecost reminds us to use gifts of Holy Spirit received at Confirmation

I was confirmed in seventh grade. In religion class, I learned that in the Sacrament of Confirmation we receive the Holy Spirit who strengthens us to be Christian witnesses. I worried whether I could witness to Christ by dying for him as a martyr. I took Confirmation seriously.

The Church received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. To prepare to receive the Spirit, for nine days key followers of Jesus gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. These included the apostles, together with Mary, some other women, and disciples. They were united in intense prayer.

In Acts 2:2-4, it says, “Suddenly there came from the sky, a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Tongues as of fire appeared to them, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”

On May 3, 2012

Fr. Donald Lange

We thank God for our mothers

Some mothers claim that they would do anything for their children. Stephanie Decker, a 37-year-old Indiana mother, demonstrated this in a heroic way.

On March 2, as a tornado crushed her family home, Stephanie covered her children with her body to protect them. Debris from the tornado caused her to lose part of both legs while saving her children from the deadly 175 mph tornado.

Enduring maternal bond

Someone wrote that a mother carries her child in her womb for nine months and in her heart for the rest of her life. Conceiving, carrying, and giving birth to a human being is as close as any person can come to the act of creation. After birth, motherhood continues through nurturing, sacrificing, loving, and ultimately letting go.

On April 12, 2012

Tony Magliano

The challenge of Lent continues beyond Easter

As the Lend ends, let us never forget its commanding start: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!”

We could spend most of our lives reflecting and acting on this single powerful sentence. And indeed we should.

For in turning away from all that hurts our relationship with God — sin — and being faithful to the essential foundation which nurtures that relationship — the Gospel — we discover ever more fully the beauty, peace, joy, and meaning of this life, and prepare well for the incomprehensible wonders of eternal life!

Turning away from sin

This is the ideal time for the nation as a whole to turn away from sin.

On April 5, 2012

Anonymous Sufferer in Training

I want to see Him suffer

Stop me if you’ve heard this one already. On one unfortunate day, the art teacher, the science teacher, and the development director of a prestigious Catholic high school all died and found themselves standing before the gates of heaven in front of a less than pleased St. Peter.

The frowning apostle said to them, “It is no secret up here that the three of you never got along on earth and constantly quarreled amongst yourselves. So, in order to get into heaven, you must complete one final test. You must all agree which moment in the life of Christ you would like to see first-hand, and it will be granted to you.”

On April 5, 2012

Fr. Donald Lange

Encountering the risen Lord

Cecil DeMille, the famous movie director, was enjoying an overdue vacation at a Maine lake resort.

He was reading a book in a canoe, when he noticed a water beetle crawling up the boat’s side. When the beetle got halfway up, it stuck the talons of its legs to the canoe’s wood and died.

DeMille resumed reading. Three hours later he glanced again at the water beetle. What he saw amazed him. The beetle had dried up and its back began to crack open. First, a moist head, then wings, and finally a tail emerged. Out of apparent death, new life emerged in the form of a magnificent dragonfly.

As the dragonfly dazzled his eyes with its acrobatic flight, Cecil De Mille nudged the dried out beetle shell with his finger. It looked like a tomb.

From Good Friday to Easter

The water beetle’s amazing transformation reminds us of what happened to Jesus on Good Friday when he truly died on the cross and rose from the dead.

Jesus’ body that rose on Easter was different from the body buried on Good Friday. It was not a resuscitated body, restored to its original life like that of Lazarus or Jairus’ daughter. It was a risen glorified body.

On March 15, 2012

Fr. John Nellissery

Observing Lent with Mary

Lent invites us to seek and find God. In this regard, our earthly pilgrimage continues, fixing our eyes on God.

It is our delight to take short-cuts, especially when our way is long and hard. Indeed, our way to God looks enormously long and tedious. God knew our problem and came to our rescue.

Seeking and finding

God in his infinite love created in his children a heart that longs for him. God, from his part, loved to be with us. Salvation history illustrates beautifully this mutual seeking and finding of God and his children. God was the first one to seek.