Tom – Madison Catholic Herald


	Tom Nelson, far right, member of St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Monroe, works in the St. Thomas Aquinas outreach garden in Madison. With him, from left, are St. Thomas Aquinas parishioners Neil Vassau, Paul Scheffelman, and Tom Hartberg. (Photo by Jane Lepeska Grinde)

NOTE: The first Rural Life Listening Session scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12, in Highland has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No decisions have been made yet on other scheduled sessions in November. A session in Iowa County will be rescheduled sometime after January 1.

MADISON — “Our bishop has planted the seeds, and now we must cultivate and tend the row so the harvest may be fruitful and sustaining across the heartland of our rural diocesan home,” said Tom Nelson, diocesan rural life coordinator in announcing three Rural Life Listening Sessions to be held this month.

The first session will be on Thursday, Nov. 12, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Ss. Anthony and Philip Church, 726 Main St. in Highland.

The next session will be on Monday, Nov. 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at St. Clare of Assisi Parish, St. Victor Church, 1760 14th St. in Monroe.

On July 2, 2020

Jane Lepeska Grinde, Catholic Herald Correspondent

Priest’s books for sale

MADISON — “Would I love to talk with Father Tom about books,” said Jonathan Grinde, a 2020 Carleton College graduate, when he learned that the over 3,000 books at the Good Shepherd Parish sale running through July at St. James School came from the priest’s library.

Grinde started kindergarten at St. James School when Msgr. Tom Baxter was the pastor and served Mass with him over the years. Known fondly as Father Tom, the pastor of Good Shepherd Parish is retiring this year after more than 40 years in the ministry and over 20 years at Good Shepherd.

On September 11, 2014

Kevin Wondrash

Postpartum NFP classes in Janesville

JANESVILLE — The Couple to Couple League (CCL) will offer postpartum Natural Family Planning (NFP) classes taught by Elaine and Tom McDonald in their Janesville home. Register for one class on one of the following dates: Thursday, Sept. 25, or Monday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m.

A postpartum NFP class provides specific information on how to interpret fertility signs during the transitional stage between childbirth and the return of normal fertility cycles.

On April 19, 2012

Tom Nelson

Shaking the hand that feeds you

The warmer than usual early spring weather has unleashed a flurry of activity and interest in gardening projects (urban and rural), farmers’ markets, and local farm produce available from our area farmers.

The Rural Life Office of Catholic Charities receives calls from those seeking local, fresh produce grower information so, in this section of the Catholic Herald, we will provide some basics for understanding different models of Wisconsin farming production and the communities they serve.

Conventional farming

Wisconsin has a long and esteemed position in providing for our nation’s food system. Our dairy herds are of all sizes and produce dairy products for direct sale through grocery businesses as well as providing the major ingredients for world renowned, artisan-crafted cheeses throughout our state.

On December 28, 2011

Tom Nelson

How we eat is as important as what we eat

The season of celebrating the Nativity of Jesus Christ is complete with abundant opportunities for eating, many from long-held family traditions and others might just be questionable habits we have picked up in our daily struggle to make ends meet and jam another activity into our already over-scheduled daily routines.

What if the old maxim “You are what you eat” also included “You are how you eat”?

A fast-food culture

For instance, when was the last time I ate by myself from a fast-food drive-up window?

On August 25, 2011

Tom Nelson

Closing rural post offices makes no sense

Rural life is a daily challenge to survive on most days; we citizens blessed enough to live in the beauty of the country often are too busy trying to get by to really enjoy all the scenic views of the rural landscape.

At this very moment I am looking at the tree-line between my property and the old Gilbertson Farm west of our home and billowing out in huge clouds of white smoke are the fiery fingers of flames that are consuming my neighbor’s cow barn.

On February 24, 2011

Tom Nelson

Food, eating, and Lent

Eating is a sacred act, for it represents the natural inclination for sustenance which powers all living bodies and therefore is the life-sustaining force of the Creator.

The Psalmist wrote: “(O Lord) You raise grass for the cattle, and vegetation for men’s use, Producing bread from the earth and wine to gladden men’s hearts, So that their faces gleam with oil, and bread fortifies the hearts of men” (Psalm 104: 14, 15).

In the same passage he continues, “They all look to you to give them food in due time. When you give it to them, they gather it; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.”

Tending the earth

In the earliest section of the Genesis narrative, God the Creator blows life into a shaped lump of earthen clay and from this act of His spirit the human family was born.