MADISON — The Office of Evangelization and Catechesis welcomes all the women of the diocese to join us for a Advent Women’s Evening of Joy on Friday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Bishop O’Connor Center.
Women who attend will have an opportunity to gather in celebration and reflection on the coming of Christ. The evening will include food, fellowship, Advent carols, and a presentation by author and speaker, Gina Loehr.
Just as may be happening with Christmas, the religious aspects of our Thanksgiving holiday may also be fading in the United States with a growing secularization in our society.
That’s why it is important for us as Catholics to reflect upon the religious roots of Thanksgiving and perhaps to bring them up in discussions during our holiday observances at appropriate times.
It might be good for all of us to review facts about the first Thanksgiving. Most of us know that the Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth Rock in gratitude for a good harvest.
SINSINAWA — Fr. John Gerlach, OP, of the Dominican Center at Sinsinawa, Wis., passed away on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, at Unity Point Health — The Finley Hospital, Dubuque, Iowa.
MADISON — For the second time this month, the auditorium inside the Bishop O’Connor Center in Madison was packed with a Friday night audience. Back on November 1, All Saints Day, hundreds gathered to hear Fr. Michael Gaitley talk on 33 Days to Morning Glory and the consecration to Jesus through Mary.
MIDDLETON — In 2006, Andrew Ziehr’s life began unravelling because he was drinking too much. He got divorced, lost custody of his children, and lost his housing, his job, and his health.
Fortunately for Ziehr, he came to the Chris Farley House in Madison, which helped him transition back into the community after treatment for alcohol abuse.
It’s not uncommon for a pastor to greet parishioners in a gathering space prior to Mass or a prayer service. On this particular day, the pastor’s presence took on a special meeting.
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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,
Last week at the meeting of the Bishops’ Conference in Baltimore, our Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who serves as the personal representative of Pope Francis in the United States, addressed us bishops on behalf of Pope Francis.
In the first place, I thought it was interesting that a great deal of his address to us was focused on quotations from Pope Paul VI and Blessed John Paul the Great.
This is a sure sign that Pope Francis wishes to be seen in continuity with his venerable predecessors, a fact which he made clear recently as he affirmed Archbishop Agostino Marchetto’s account of the hermeneutic of continuity as a proper interpretive key for the Second Vatican Council.
But, I want to focus on one particular thought that Archbishop Viganò raised.
To the editor:
We want to thank you and the staff at the Catholic Herald for devoting considerable space in the paper to print the Wisconsin Catholic Conference testimony concerning the pending legislation on the mascot law.
At present the bill has passed both the Assembly and Senate, but it still needs the governor’s signature to make it law.
The new law would definitely reduce the opportunity for dialogue in those communities with race-based mascots, so it could damage the progress in Wisconsin for their removal.
Q: This is my least favorite time of year. I want to look forward to the holidays, but I dread them.
It just brings up memories of the gatherings we used to have but no longer can. My parents are still living, but dad has a type of dementia and mom has a bad heart along with many other medical conditions. They are now in an assisted living facility.
My siblings all make it a point to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but honestly it causes so much stress I wonder if it is worth it. It is just not the same and I think it makes mom feel bad that she can no longer host the traditional gathering.
My siblings are very set in their ways and don’t want to give up the appearance of a happy family celebration, even though it is far from happy for any of us.
How can I help my family realize we need to change the way we celebrate these holidays? (from a daughter in Cross Plains).
By Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB
This is the last article in the Abbot’s special Year of Faith series on the seven sacraments.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes: “Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with the vision of the ‘wedding-feast of the Lamb’” (CCC 1602; Rev 19:7, 9; Gen 1:26-27).
No wonder that the Church’s theology of the Sacrament of Matrimony is deeply rooted in sacred Scripture.
