MADISON — Fifth grade is a great year!
We are able to play team sports through our school with the Madison Area Independent Sports League (MAISL), and many of us decided to play volleyball this fall.
It’s fun, it’s active, and it helps us learn about teamwork.MADISON — Fifth grade is a great year!
We are able to play team sports through our school with the Madison Area Independent Sports League (MAISL), and many of us decided to play volleyball this fall.
It’s fun, it’s active, and it helps us learn about teamwork.MADISON — Kindness, acceptance, and inclusion were the words of the day recently at Our Lady Queen of Peace (QP) School in Madison.
October 19 marked a national Unity Day where students would “make it orange” and “make it end”.
Students across the nation, as well as those at QP, participated in the day by wearing orange and showing a message of support, hope, and unity to show that they are united against bullying and for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.
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Recently I emailed questions to the auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Bishop William Shomali, asking him to share his first-hand insights regarding the many injustices and violent environment in the land of the Prince of Peace. He sent back a recorded audio response upon which this column is based.
Bishop Shomali said one of the most pressing problems facing Palestinians is Israeli-imposed restrictions on movement. For example, he said Palestinians living in Bethlehem or Ramallah need to obtain a permit to go just six miles to Jerusalem. And permits are only given during principle feasts. He said the ongoing illegal building of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the Occupied Territories is an extremely serious roadblock to a peaceful solution.
MADISON — Tony Magliano, a writer whose column appears regularly in the Catholic Herald, will speak at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Madison on Thursday Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. in the church gathering space.
The title of his talk is “Advancing the Kingdom of God in the 21st Century.” He will speak on the spectrum of life issues, including abortion, poverty/hunger, war, capital punishment, and environmental degradation.
What is this world coming to? Violence is happening everywhere.
We used to think of civil unrest and wars occurring elsewhere — not in our own cities. But now it seems like no one is safe from violence.
Every time I hear about another shooting, I say a quick prayer and feel like crying, “Not again!”
Who is to blame? Is there anything we can do?
Almost daily we hear reports of violence in our nation and the world. We experience sorrow, anger, and fear each time we learn about another shooting.
Eventually, we almost feel numb to the violence. We don’t know what we can do — if anything — in the wake of so much hatred in the world.
Of course, we can and should pray. Pray for the victims, their families, the communities affected, and even for the perpetrators. But what else can we do to bring peace to our world?
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For the first 300 years of Christianity, followers of the nonviolent Jesus — imitating his example — practiced total nonviolence.
But after Christianity was legalized and later made the official religion of the Roman Empire, Christians began fighting for the empire. And sadly, Christians have been fighting for empires ever since.
The “just war” theory was developed to offer criteria — like protecting civilians from attack — that had to be met before war could be theoretically morally justified and continued. Most unfortunately, this led to the Catholic Church’s abandonment of total Christ-like nonviolence.
MADISON — Our Lady Queen of Peace School is holding its second Annual Fun Run/Walk fundraiser to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation, WUNDERGLO Foundation, and the school.
All are invited to come to the school parking lot at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, to help cheer on students as they run or walk as many laps as they can in one hour around the Queen of Peace neighborhood to raise money for charities and the school.
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
The readings of this past weekend speak a much-needed word of consolation, hope, and joy to each of us, in the here and now.
I don’t know about each of you (though I’ve heard from a number of you), but in my opinion there are a good number of reasons for concern in our times, and there’s good reason to wonder where things are going — especially in terms of our national political scene.
But in such moments of uncertainty, the followers of Jesus Christ have always been able to consider the ultimate realities and to reflect back upon readings like those of this past weekend.
In the first place, we can consider the context of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:14, 43-52) as they have begun to go out and preach the Good News far and wide.
