Month: February 2012

On
Kat Wagner, Catholic Herald Staff

RCIA teaches about liturgical beauty and Church facts

Bishop Robert C. Morlino receives candidate Kimberly Kazort during the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee on March 13, 2011. (CH file photo)MADISON — The annual Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion is approaching for the catechumens and candidates in the Diocese of Madison who are seeking the sacraments of initiation into the Catholic Church.

It’s an annual rite, taking place the first weekend of Lent, and it serves as a very public witness to the Church at large of the renewal and growth of our faith. It is filled with small rituals: the presentation of the catechumens, the Act of Election and the signing of the Book of the Elect, the presentation of the candidates, the Act of Recognition, the affirmation by sponsors and the faithful.

Rite of Election
The Rite of Election of Catechumens and Call to Continuing Conversion for Candidates of Full Communion in the Catholic Church will be held on Sunday, Feb. 26, at St. John the Baptist Church, in Waunakee. For more information about this celebration, click here.

For the Catholics not involved in RCIA, this is sometimes the last seen of these Church-seeking individuals until the Easter Vigil. Especially for longtime Catholics, there can be a vague idea that they return to classes to learn their catechism, facts about the Church, and exactly how one is supposed to genuflect in front of the tabernacle.

But RCIA is a deeper, richer process than that image provides. In the 1988 edition of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, it describes the structure of the process as gradual, as a journey that includes “not only the periods for making inquiry and for maturing . . . but also the steps marking the catechumens’ progress, as they pass, so to speak, through another doorway or ascend to the next level.”

The decree on the revision of the rite from the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1972 says that the time of the catechumenate, “intended as a period of well-suited instruction,” is “sanctified by liturgical rites to be celebrated at successive intervals of time.”

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On
Jean Mueller

Intervening with a parent’s right to drive

Ask Jean by columnist Jean MuellerQ My mother has Macular Degeneration and some other health conditions. She lives independently and has been able to manage her own affairs and care without my help.

On a recent visit I was shocked to learn just how limited her vision is. She admitted her vision has been slowly getting worse over the last few months.

The problem is she insists on driving. She says she only goes out in the day time and only drives before or after the rush hour. She also stays off busy streets.

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On
William Neu

Senate bill gives consumers choice to buy raw milk

To the editor:

We as a nation have parted ways with wholesome foods of the past and chosen instead the convenience of the present.

But let’s focus on fundamentals of the cow. For the sake of production quantity, we have opted to feed her rations comprised of high amounts of genetically modified soy and corn. This ration produces an unnatural, highly acidic condition within the rumen, and her whole physiology suffers, leading dairy cattle to barely reach a lifespan of half a dozen years, and then it’s off to slaughter.

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On
Mary and Dick Wilkinson

Letter writer answers pope’s call for public moral witness

To the editor:

In the January 26 issue of the Catholic Herald, there was an article from the Catholic News Service, “Pope warns of U.S. threat to freedom, conscience.” The pope called on the Church in America, including lay people, to render “public moral witness on crucial social issues.”

He spoke of Catholic politicians’ “personal responsibility to offer public witness to their faith, especially with regard to the great moral issues of our time,” which he identified as: “respect for God’s gift of life, the protection of human dignity, and the promotion of authentic human rights.”

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On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Sidewalk counselors save lives: Retired firefighter keeps up efforts despite health

Editor's View by Mary C. Uhler

We all know that firefighters save lives by battling fires in our homes, offices, schools, and even our churches.

There is one retired firefighter in Wisconsin, however,  who is saving lives on the streets. He is not putting out fires. Instead, he is a sidewalk counselor in Milwaukee, saving lives outside of an abortion clinic.

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