To the editor:
I commend the publication of Fr. Jim Murphy’s letter in the December 25 edition of the Madison Catholic Herald. He brought up a topic we, as Catholics, need to consider. I, too, am concerned about the participation of Catholics in unprovoked wars. I think Father Murphy’s admonition of prudent caution regarding Catholic involvement in the U.S. military at this time is well spoken.
Ad majorem Dei gloriam — It was the first Latin phrase that I committed to memory. The cross and the four letters A.M.D.G. were mandatory on all homework assignments for Sister Dolorosa’s eighth grade class.
At my home parish, eighth grade meant not only graduation, but Confirmation, and Confirmation meant knowing who you were, why you were created, and what God wanted you to do. In eighth grade it was difficult enough to discern right from wrong, much less discern the will of God in your life. How do you hear God through the voices of friends, raging hormones, new and strange emotions, and trying to retain the pleasures of childhood while balancing on the edge of an adult world?
Vicki Thorn, founder of Project Rachel, the Catholic Church’s ministry for post-abortion healing, will speak on “The Biochemistry of Sex” on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m., at the Bishop O’Connor Center as part of the Diocese of Madison’s St. Thérèse of Lisieux Lecture Series.
Did you weep that night? November 4, 2008, was one of those times when every senior citizen in this country had to whisper, “Thank you, Lord, for letting me live to see this day when an African American has been elected president of the United States, the leader of the free world.”
Regardless of how one may have voted in this election, no one who had lived through witnessing President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 sign an order that would allow people of any color, race, or creed the right to vote, or who could recall the race riots and the separate drinking fountains and bus seats of the ’50s could possibly be unmoved by this drama.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Each year we set aside a week in late January to focus attention on and celebrate our Catholic schools. This year Catholic Schools Week runs from Sunday, Jan. 25, to Saturday, Jan. 31, with the theme, “Celebrate Service.”
To the editor:
I want to thank Fr. Jim Murphy for his letter of 25 December, “Catholics should not serve in the U.S. military at this time.” Central to Catholic moral doctrine is that one must form a good conscience, reflecting a prayerful and studied approach to good conduct.
To the editor:
Father Murphy’s letter in the December 25 edition of the Catholic Herald touched on a number of sensitive issues concerning the military.
To the editor:
On September 21, 1996, President Bill Clinton, an opponent of same-sex marriage, signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which had passed in the Senate 85 to 14 and in the House of Representatives 342 to 67.
DOMA had two major effects, “No state (or other political subdivision within the United States) need treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state, and, secondly, the federal government may not treat same sex relationships as marriages for any purposes, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.”
The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion on demand for the full nine months of pregnancy. Attempts to overrule that decision by passing a Human Life Amendment have failed.
To help stock the shelves at the brand new St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Madison, 10 Catholic schools in and around the Madison area are holding a food drive during Catholic Schools Week.
