We know that water is essential to all life on earth. In fact, human beings can only live for three days without water.
Yet, I think most of us take water for granted. We expect water to come out of our taps when we turn them on. We may experience some dry weather in summer in Wisconsin, but for the most part we have plenty of water to meet our needs.
This is the time of year when Catholics throughout the Diocese of Madison are hearing and reading about the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA).
Members of parishes have received a letter and pledge form from Bishop Robert C. Morlino. An insert about the appeal was distributed in parishes and also included in the Catholic Herald. This past weekend, we watched a video message from the Diocese of Madison in our parishes.
This Friday, March 17, we will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Although I am proud of my Irish heritage (I’m half Irish since my father was 100 percent Irish), this holiday is really for all of us. As they say, “Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.”
Why is that? Perhaps people in the United States in particular share a sense of camaraderie with the Irish people.
Many people in the Diocese of Madison remember the late John Kinsman, a farmer who was a member of Holy Family Parish in La Valle.
Kinsman was a strong advocate of family farming, going beyond his own farm to help other farmers in our state, nation, and the entire world.
Lent starts this week. It is a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as we prepare for Easter.
We should consider going beyond the basic requirements. What can we do to strengthen our faith during the 40 days of Lent?
Many people probably aren’t aware of the identity of Jane Roe in the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion.
Her real name was Norma McCorvey. Interestingly enough, she never had an abortion and later regretted her part in that decision. In fact, she worked for its overturn.
In recent years, I have written about the struggles of the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide the kind of health coverage that respects their faith and moral values.
I’ve also written about a car dealership in Minnesota that did not want to provide abortion-inducing drugs to its employees. “It has long been my conviction to run my business according to the teachings of my faith,” said Doug Erickson of Hastings Chevrolet.
These are just two instances where religious freedom has been imperiled.
One way to protect religious freedom is for President Donald Trump to sign an executive order promoting religious freedom.
In the 1970s, I remember going to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin to do a story on refugees from Vietnam who were settling in the Diocese of Madison.
One of our parishes — St. Joseph Parish in Dodgeville — helped sponsor a number of these Vietnamese refugees.
Over the years, refugees from other countries received assistance settling in our diocese through the Catholic Charities resettlement program.
Programs such as this continue throughout the United States through Catholic Charities and other religious-based agencies.
Faithful Catholics attend Mass every Sunday and hear the Word of God read and preached to them.
Our challenge as Catholics is to take that Word and live it out in our daily lives the rest of the week.
One of the ways we can see how our faith can be lived out is by reading about how it can be done.
During my own 12 years of Catholic school education, students were encouraged to be involved in service projects at school, in our parishes, and in our communities.
I can still remember Aquinas High School students in La Crosse in 1965 sandbagging along the Mississipi River. Severe flooding had caused the river to crest at 16 feet, nearly four feet above flood stage. Many students came out to help save the community.
