In what has been called a “complete paradigm shift,” the Diocese of Madison is launching a new Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA) this year to support the ministries and services it provides in the 11-county diocese.
Day: March 19, 2009
Joining the survivors’ club
The Survivors Club is currently a best seller. In his travels far and wide, the author found that faith in God was the top reason people gave for surviving the ups and downs of life.
Speaking of survivors, have you heard the story about the three Olympic Games fans who had no tickets to see the track and field events?
Bishop Morlino answers questions about Annual Catholic Appeal
Following are excerpts from Bishop Robert Morlino’s comments on the new Annual Catholic Appeal prepared by Catholic Herald editor Mary C. Uhler.
Want to be a faithful citizen? Attend hearing on budget
Whenever we at the Wisconsin Catholic Conference talked to groups last year about the US Bishops’ statement on political responsibility, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, we emphasized that faithful citizenship is about more than voting. It is about doing the hard work of citizenship on a year-round basis.
In the coming weeks, Catholics around the state who want to live out their call to be faithful citizens will have a chance to do so — by attending one of six hearings on the 2009 budget bill. The hearings, conducted by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance will take place over a two-week period beginning on Monday, March 23, and concluding on Friday, April 3.
Spring St. Thérèse Lecture on April 23: ‘Prove it, God!
Patty Schneier is a St. Louisan, cradle Catholic, wife, and mother of three and has been presenting her personal conversion testimony at Catholic conferences across the United States.
Catholic Relief Services: Small changes, big results
What do fish, coffee, and apples have in common besides being an interesting Lenten meal?
Each of these foods has a story that highlights how Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has worked with local people to find a new way to create economic success.
CRS is the major international outreach to 100 countries in Central and Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East. Programs are designed to work with people of a community in helping lift their poverty.
These three examples of fish, coffee, and apples show how small changes lead to big results.
With a song in my heart
Recently, a young man on American Idol sang a “modern” song, one of those all-beat-and-no-sense. I used to complain that I couldn’t understand the words, but now that my TV has the words printed on the bottom of the screen and I can actually understand them, I know I wasn’t missing much. And nothing rhymes. How can they memorize them? Oh, yes, they just repeat one phrase a hundred times.
In a recent interview, one of these guys whose voice seemed spectacular despite the song said that his vocal music training had come primarily from church choirs. Two thoughts came to my mind: He should have stuck with the church music and where have I heard that before?
Addressing the ‘credibility crisis’
Dear friends,
As we come to the midpoint of Lent, it is a good time for us to remember to look ahead and to mark down in our calendars the many celebrations and commemorations of Holy Week, and especially the great Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night — the most important liturgy of the Church year.
We continue to pray for those women and men, and boys and girls, who will enter our Church at Easter, that they might continue to have a grace-filled time of preparation.
Let us all look forward to the Easter Vigil, that we might celebrate with joy, and faith, and a good deal of enthusiasm!
It is a temptation for us, during Lent and even otherwise, to fall short in that enthusiasm which should be ours as Catholics. There is a temptation to get caught up in the comings and goings of our everyday lives, and to get caught up in the politics of our day and age and to forget that which is really most important, that is Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead.
Send postcards to president to protect conscience rights
To the editor:
It is time again for another avalanche of postcards to Washington, D.C. — this time directed to President Obama.
ACA: New letters with new meaning
In the past, we used to hear about the DSA — the Diocesan Services Appeal. But this year, parishioners in the Diocese of Madison will be hearing some new letters: ACA. They stand for the Annual Catholic Appeal.