Most people think of February as the month of Groundhog Day, the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day. Sometimes Lent begins in February, although this year it starts later with Ash Wednesday on March 5.
However, those of us involved in Catholic newspapers observe February as Catholic Press Month. …
Science Tests Faith is a presentation which includes videos of the testimony and reports of three professionals — an attorney, a scientist, and a journalist — who have examined certain mystical phenomena that have occurred in the Catholic Church in modern times.
Their work, Signs from God, Science Tests Faith, investigates Eucharistic miracles, the phenomenon of a statue of Jesus that weeps tears and blood, the stigmata in a current day mystic, and more.
NEW YORK (CNS) — Perhaps the best moment in the fact-based drama Gimme Shelter (Roadside) comes when its beleaguered, deeply sympathetic protagonist, played by Vanessa Hudgens, wonderingly recites a passage from the Book of Psalms that tells of God’s promises to those who trust in him.
It’s a moving scene precisely because such faith-based optimism seems so far removed from all that Hudgens’ character, teenager Agnes “Apple” Bailey, has previously endured.
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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,
You’ve been right at the heart of my prayers in the recent days and weeks. In addition to my usual prayers for your growth in the virtues of faith, hope, and love have been prayers for your warmth and safety, as well as for your joy in these frigid days!
I have been very fortunate to take some time for rest and renewal in warmer climes, as I’m blessed most always to do in January. (There are a number of things for which I am grateful to my predecessor, Bishop Bullock, but on a personal level, I’ll always remain grateful for his wise advice — and precedent — that I take my time for vacation in January, and not in the summer!)
I don’t take for granted for a moment the blessings that I’ve received. I’m grateful and I’m hopeful that such moments of leisure can prepare me all the more for my service.
And so it is with only the slightest sense of irony that the Lord has drawn to my mind the following three words and phrases from our readings this past Sunday: purification, suffering, and a sign of contradiction. And each of those words accompanies the readings, in order. Purification is spoken of in the first reading — Mal 3:1-4; suffering in the second reading — Heb 2:14-18, and a “sign of contradiction” in the Gospel reading — Lk 2:22-40.
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| Esta columna es la comunicación del Obispo con los fieles de la Diócesis de Madison. Cualquier circulación más amplia va más allá de la intención del Obispo. |
Queridos amigos:
Han estado en el corazón de mis oraciones en los días y semanas recientes. Además de mis oraciones habituales por su crecimiento en las virtudes de la fe, la esperanza y el amor, he rezado por su seguridad y calor, ¡así como por su alegría en estos días frígidos!
He sido muy afortunado al tener un tiempo de descanso y renovación en climas más cálidos, como casi siempre que recibo esta bendición en enero. (Hay muchas cosas por las que estoy agradecido a mi predecesor, el Obispo Bullock, pero a nivel persona, ¡siempre le agradeceré sus sabios consejos como el hecho de que tome mis vacaciones en enero y no en el verano!) No doy por descontado por un minuto las bendiciones que he recibido. Estoy agradecido y esperanzado porque esos momentos de descanso me preparan más para mi servicio.
Y así creo que es con algo de ironía que el Señor ha fijado mi atención en las siguientes tres palabras o frases de nuestras lecturas del domingo pasado: purificación, sufrimiento y signo de contradicción. Y cada una de esas palabras acompañan las lecturas, en orden. Sobre la purificación se habla en la primera lectura, Mal 3,1-4; del sufrimiento en la segunda lectura, Hb 2,14-18; y sobre ser “signo de contradicción” habla la lectura del Evangelio: Lc 2, 22-40.
To the editor:
In response to the letter concerning “big government” and the Affordable Care Act in the December 26 issue of the Catholic Herald, I would like to express support for the new health care law.
For decades, we, as a country, have let the insurance companies deny health care to those with pre-existing conditions.
I received the invitation in the mail shortly after New Year’s. It was in an elegant black satin envelope with a black velvet ribbon.
There was no return address, just the name of one of my friends in a fancy Edwardian script. As I eagerly opened the envelope, a return card slipped out and I read the following “You are cordially invited to attend our first annual Un-Valentine Party.”
Inside was a short letter arguing that all of us single girls needed to band together against this commercialized holiday, wear black in solidarity, and enjoy our singlehood with cocktails and embrace the freedom of not being shackled by love.
Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, in his December 13, 2012 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, argues that the cost of birth control could be reduced by eliminating the required doctor’s visit to get a prescription — making contraception available “over the counter.”
If it were made available this way, it would no longer be reimbursable by health insurance, and people could simply purchase it on their own.
Jindal posits that this approach would result in “the end of birth control politics.” He relies on several simplistic assumptions and inadequate moral judgments, however, as he tries to advance this argument.
January 26 to February 1 was Catholic Schools Week around the nation and in the Diocese of Madison. The students and staff at Blessed Trinity School in Dane used that as an opportunity to take a break from the challenging winter and normal classroom activities.
As many regular readers know well, the Catholic Herald celebrated the recently-concluded Year of Faith by publishing a variety of articles, stories, and information to assist the faithful of the Diocese of Madison in rediscovering and deepening their knowledge and practice of authentic Catholic faith.
One of the periodic features that the Herald offered during the Year of Faith was called “From the Archives,” in which full or partial articles from across the 65-year history of the Madison edition of the paper were reprinted.
In the process of preparing these features, I have spent a good amount of time pouring through the extensive archival records of the paper and have been surprised and fascinated by what I learned about life and activities in the diocese from 1946 to the present day.
