My 12 years of education at Blessed Sacrament Elementary School and Aquinas High School in La Crosse prepared me well for life.
I received an excellent academic education, but more importantly, I learned about my Catholic faith and how to put it into practice in serving others.
But while my education was good for me personally, I didn’t realize at the time that our Catholic schools are also a gift to our country.
Being pro-life is not in opposition to science, as some people may think. It is quite the opposite, in fact.
That’s what organizers of the annual March for Life being held in Washington, D.C., assert on their website (https://marchforlife.org) in discussing the theme of this year’s event, “Unique from Day One.”
Contrary to some of the anti-immigrant rhetoric we’ve been hearing these days, immigrants actually have a positive effect on the U.S. economy and society.
I checked a number of studies about the effects of immigration, and nearly all of them gave statistics showing that immigration is good for our country.
In Luke’s Gospel for Sunday, Dec. 16, comes this passage, “The crowds asked John the Baptist, ‘What should we do?’ He said to them in reply, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.’”
St. John the Baptist was foreshadowing Jesus’ own words from the Gospel of Matthew, which emphasize that his followers won’t enter the kingdom of heaven if they don’t give food and drink to the hungry and thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the sick or those in prison.
Most of us want our children and grandchildren to grow up healthy in mind, body, and spirit.
But I bet many parents and grandparents aren’t aware of one of the best ways to ensure that successful development: it’s sitting down and eating meals together as a family.
Thanks to Catholic Herald correspondent Sue Barry, I read an article by Leah Davies, M.Ed.,“Is Family Mealtime Important?” from the Kelly Bear website (www.kellybear.com).
In the past 15 years that I’ve known Bishop Robert C. Morlino, one of the strongest memories of him is the deep sense of gratitude he showed to me and many others with whom he worked.
One of my last one-on-one conversations with him was marked by that gratitude. He thanked me for all I do as editor of the Catholic Herald and praised our paper as “one of the best” in the country. (He often told his staff at our monthly catechesis sessions that we were the best staff in the country.)
He then concluded our conversation by saying, “God love you.”
It was quite exciting for me to hear that the Catholic bishops of the United States gave their assent to the canonization effort launched for Sr. Thea Bowman, FSPA, during their recent meeting in Baltimore.
While we in the United States were devastated by the recent shooting of 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, there has also been continuing violence in the Holy Land.
A Catholic News Service (CNS) article published on October 29 said Holy Land Church leaders expressed concern in the wake of recent incidents involving the Christian community.
Catholic News Service posted a photo of a Pittsburgh Steelers fan displaying a sign October 28 to honor the victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue before the game between Pittsburgh and the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
The sign said, “Hatred can’t weaken a city of steel.” It pointed to the killing of at least 11 people and the wounding of six others, including four police officers, during the October 27 shooting at the synagogue.
We have been observing October as Respect Life Month, and our focus as Catholics has been on protecting life from “womb to tomb.”
But it seems as if we often put more emphasis on the beginning of life rather than on the end of it. We must be vigilant to make sure that our society respects all human life at every stage.
Increasingly, there have been efforts to promote physician-assisted suicide or what is now being called “medical aid in dying.”
