We’ve been hearing a lot about incidents of sexual abuse of girls and women this year.
It is a difficult subject to talk about, and I think many people want to avoid discussing it. However, I think we all have a responsibility to deal with this issue, especially in our own families.
We just observed Thanksgiving, the holiday started by the Pilgrims in 1621.
As we know, the Pilgrims emigrated to the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts and shared a harvest feast with the Native American Indians who had helped them.
The Pilgrims came from England to America primarily to be able to practice their religious faith freely.
Over the centuries, people from many other parts of the world have come to the United States. My own ancestors hailed primarily from Ireland, Germany, and Belgium.
As we observe Thanksgiving this week, of course it’s a time to give thanks for the blessings we have received in our lives.
While it is good to give thanks, it may be more difficult for us to go beyond giving thanks.
Although the president and some members of Congress would like to get a new tax bill passed soon, I think it would be wise for citizens to take a good look at this bill before it is fast-tracked.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, as it is called, is touted as saving taxpayers money and helping the country produce more jobs. However, there are concerns about whether both of those goals will be met in this bill.
In a November 9 letter to U.S. House of Representatives members, three bishops who are chairmen of three committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) called the House version of the bill “unacceptable” as written because it “contains many fundamental structural flaws that must be corrected,” reported a Catholic News Service article.
In the later years of her life, my mother-in-law used a walker. Of course, it slowed down her pace and also made it difficult for her to open doors unless they had a handicapped door opener.
When I was with her, I could help her navigate doors. Sometimes she got ahead of me, so I wasn’t there when she reached the door.
I was unpleasantly surprised when other people would just walk through the door without offering to help her. She said this was a common occurrence.
This lack of courtesy is something that seems to be escalating in our country. People seem to think only about themselves.
As Catholics, we believe that life begins at conception. So when babies die in miscarriage or stillbirth, their parents should be able to have a service for them.
Elizabeth Ministry, headquartered in Wisconsin, is also working with more cemeteries to set aside an area for babies who have died before birth.
In Wisconsin, there are two pieces of proposed legislation which seek to demonstrate greater respect for unborn children.
The Heal Without Harm Initiative is a package of two complementary bills, the “Unborn Child Disposition and Anatomical Gift Act” (SB 424/AB 550) and the “Fetal Remains Respect Act” (SB 423/AB 549).
As we approach the end of October observed as Respect Life Month and All Souls’ Day on November 2, our thoughts turn towards the end of life.
I think our society today avoids issues of suffering and death. Some say we live in a “death-defying and death-denying” society.
As Jeffery A. Johnson says in an article called “Denial: The American Way of Death” (www.OrthodoxyToday.org), modern Americans seems to be “preoccupied with the preservation of youth and beauty.” He says that “society seems content to cling to the illusion that youth — and life — can last forever.”
During October, which is observed as Respect Life Month in the U.S. Catholic Church, we publish a number of articles in the Catholic Herald about issues dealing with respect for life at all stages.
Perhaps one of the most difficult issues to discuss is the death penalty. If we admit it, I think many of us subscribe to the Old Testament belief in “an eye for an eye” when it comes to punishing those who harm others.
If someone murders another person, we may feel the death penalty is justified. After all, the murderer took someone’s life, so his life must be taken, too.
What’s wrong with this point of view? Quite a bit, if we start to look at it carefully.
After the tragic shooting in Las Vegas, one question kept surfacing in my mind: Are we still our brother’s keeper?
We know the phrase “my brother’s keeper” from the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:1-9. Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. After the murder, God asked Cain where Abel was. Cain’s answer was, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
We are surely not responsible for everyone’s safety at all times. However, we should not allow people to do violence if we can prevent it.
It all started with a parish priest’s simple dream in 1953, recounts the history of Camp Gray.
Msgr. Francis Gray was pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo. He dreamed of a place “where youths would be free and away from the temptations of the streets; where they could enjoy nature and become acquainted with it firsthand . . . a place where they could commune, under supervision, with their Creator and away from paths so frequently leading to delinquency.”
So, Monsignor Gray scouted out potential sites but became enamored of an unoccupied, uncultivated 100-acre wooded site about eight miles northwest of Baraboo.
