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James Parker came out at age 17 and later entered into a relationship with another man.
He worked as a gay activist for a while, but his personal experiences of intimacy and human sexuality eventually led him to grasp that “same-sex marriage just doesn’t exist; even if you want to say that it does.”
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Recently, Stephen Colbert gave an interview in which the depth of his Catholic faith was on pretty clear display.
Discussing the trauma that he experienced as a young man — the deaths of his father and two of his brothers in a plane crash — he told the interviewer how, through the ministrations of his mother, he had learned not only to accept what had happened but actually to rejoice in it: “Boy, did I have a bomb when I was 10; that was quite an explosion . . . It’s that I love the thing that I wish most had not happened.”
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| Beth Ulaszek |
To prepare for the upcoming World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this September, the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Madison is providing a monthly series on a particular theme on marriage and family. Each theme is a chapter in the preparatory catechesis developed for the event entitled Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive, available in paperback from www.osvparish.com or for free online at www.worldmeeting2015.org
Four years ago I was given the first in a series of life changing gifts in the form of a diamond ring.
For weeks I would stare and delight in its beauty as light touched it and bounced back in various colors. In my excitement every friend, acquaintance, and stranger got to know my beloved as I feverishly relayed the story of how such a beautiful gift wound up on my finger.
Greater gifts followed as I became a wife and mother of two.
STOUGHTON — St. Ann Parish will hold a Spring Fever Gift and Plant Fair on Saturday, May 2, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at 324 N. Harrison St. Proceeds will help defray expenses for parish youth who are making a mission trip to Logan, W. Va., this summer.
Over 30 vendors will have hand-crafted jewelry, knit and fabric arts, straw baskets, African artifacts, stained glass and suncatchers, cards and signs, food and drink baskets, sewn and knitted baby/children/adult items, kitchen towels and accessories, cardigans and sweatshirts, and home décor.
STOUGHTON — St. Ann Parish will hold a Spring Fever Gift and Plant Fair on Saturday, May 2, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at 324 N. Harrison St. Proceeds will help defray expenses for parish youth who are making a mission trip to Logan, W. Va., this summer.
Over 30 vendors will have hand-crafted jewelry, knit and fabric arts, straw baskets, African artifacts, stained glass and suncatchers, cards and signs, food and drink baskets, sewn and knitted baby/children/adult items, kitchen towels and accessories, cardigans and sweatshirts, and home décor.
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On clear mornings from my apartment window which faces Platteville’s Mound, I enjoy watching the morning sun, like a huge orange-red host, rise majestically from earth’s chalice, inspiring me to offer a new day to God.
Beautiful sunrises deepen my respect for God’s gift of creation. Celebrating Earth Day on April 22 reminds me of my responsibility to care for this gift.
MADISON — As part of Catholic Schools Week, students in the Peer Ministry class at Edgewood High School had a chance to give back and help younger students grow in their faith.
The Peer Ministry class challenges students to develop their personal faith and leadership potential. Students plan and lead liturgies and prayer services throughout the semester along with participating and leading retreats and service programs.
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Every time a baby is born, there is new hope for the human race. I learned this as a high school sophomore when my baby brother was born.
What a miracle of grace! As I studied his perfectly formed hands and feet, I was filled with awe and hope. I wondered who he would grow up to be.
I hoped that he would be bigger, stronger, more athletic, and more intelligent than I was. My sister hoped that he would grow up to be a gentleman.
MADISON — Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles — in fact anyone involved with children — should visit By The Cross Catholic Gift and Bookstore on Madison’s east side.
This store is filled with many wonderful religious items for children, from coloring and activity books to prayer books to stuffed animals. It’s literally a treasure trove of educational, faith-filled, and fun things for Catholic kids.
Dear Friends,
This past Sunday — our Second Sunday of Advent — we continued to read from the Prophet Isaiah as he foretold Jesus’s coming. We heard of the coming Messiah and how “the Spirit of the Lord will come upon him (Is 11:2)” in the First Reading. …
