“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it!”
Barbara Kutchmarek quoted this passage from Psalm 188 as she greeted those attending the Madison Catholic Woman’s Club’s 100-Year Anniversary Celebration held May 6 at the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Pastoral Center.
The Madison Diocesan Choir directed by Dr. Patrick Gorman — joined by a chamber orchestra and four guest soloists — presented what Bishop Robert C. Morlino called a “spectacularly beautiful” concert of choral masterworks at its spring concert on Friday, May 9.
Most people think of February as the month of Groundhog Day, the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day. Sometimes Lent begins in February, although this year it starts later with Ash Wednesday on March 5.
However, those of us involved in Catholic newspapers observe February as Catholic Press Month. …
To say he’s a fixture at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Madison would be an understatement. For 48 of the parish’s 69 years of existence, George Gibert has served as the head usher at the parish.
Prayer is not always high on the list of priorities for many young people today, but it should be — especially if they want God’s help in deciding the future direction of their lives.
Most of us don’t know what real hunger is. We may get some hunger pangs when we skip a meal or wait awhile to eat. But we probably have never experienced the pain, weakness, fatigue, and other symptoms of excessive or chronic hunger.
If you check for symptoms of hunger on the Internet, you find that there are many other affects of extreme hunger, especially in children. Hunger hits children physically with delayed growth and development, as well as greater susceptibility to diseases. Hunger also affects children’s learning and impacts their social interactions.
One Human Family, Food for AllOfficial prayer from Caritas O God, you entrusted to us the fruits of all creation so that we might care for the earth and be nourished with its bounty. You sent us your Son to share our very flesh and blood and to teach us your Law of Love. Through His death and resurrection, we have been formed into one human family. Jesus showed great concern for those who had no food — even transforming five loaves and two fish into a banquet that served 5,000 and many more. We come before you, O God, conscious of our faults and failures, but full of hope, to share food with all members in this global family. Through your wisdom, inspire leaders of government and of business, as well as all the world’s citizens, to find just and charitable solutions to end hunger by assuring that all people enjoy the right to food. Thus we pray, O God, that when we present ourselves for Divine Judgment, we can proclaim ourselves as “One Human Family” with “Food for All”. AMEN. |
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What is really sad is that since over 40 percent of households in the United States live below the poverty level, approximately 13 million American children live with hunger or are at risk of experiencing hunger.
What can we do to help those who are hungry? This week Pope Francis helped launch a global campaign of prayer and action against world hunger, according to a Catholic News Service (CNS) article.
Organized by Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based federation of Catholic charities, the global “wave of prayer” began at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 10, on the South Pacific island of Samoa and headed west across the world’s time zones.
Pope Francis offered his blessing and support for the “One Human Family, Food For All” campaign in a five-minute video message released on the eve of the global launch (go to food.caritas.org for his message and more information and resources on this campaign to end world hunger).
Caritas Internationalis invited its 164-member organizations and local churches to pray for an end to hunger and malnutrition as well as to act on a local, national, or global level against food waste and promote food access and security worldwide, said the CNS article.
In the United States, Caritas works with Catholic Charities USA (Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Madison is an affiliate) and Catholic Relief Services.
Fr. Gary Wankerl, a priest of the Diocese of Madison, has presented a portrait of Pope Francis he painted recently to Bishop Robert C. Morlino and the diocese.
As the bells rang out from the church’s bell tower, people filled Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church for a special Mass culminating the parish’s year-long celebration of its 150th anniversary on Sunday, Oct. 27.
For the past 10 years, members of Pro Labore Dei (PLD) — wearing bright orange aprons — have fed the hungry in downtown Madison every Friday since September 26, 2003. They began feeding people each Saturday a few months later.
There were plenty of western hats atop smiling faces as volunteers from Deloitte Consulting’s Madison office joined with clients and staff of Catholic Charities’ Adult Day Center (ADC) for a western-themed event on August 23 as part of the 21st annual United Way of Dane County’s Days of Caring.
