On the first Sunday of Lent, March 9, more than 100 people came forward saying they want to be full members of the Catholic Church.
Day: March 20, 2014
Latin American Mission Program celebrates 50th anniversary
MADISON — It has been 50 years since the first volunteers went to Mexico with the Latin American Mission Program (LAMP).
To mark this anniversary, there will be a Mass at 12 noon celebrated by Bishop Robert C. Morlino on Sunday, April 6, at the Bishop O’Connor Center, 702 S. High Point Rd.
A catered dinner will follow the Mass at the Bishop O’Connor Center. All past LAMP volunteers are welcome and encouraged to attend the anniversary celebration.
Annual Catholic Appeal: Why I give to the appeal and why you should, too
This is the time of year when Catholics throughout the Diocese of Madison are hearing and reading about the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA).
Members of parishes have received a letter and pledge form from Bishop Robert C. Morlino. In addition, there have been prayers and announcements about the ACA at Masses each weekend. There was an insert about the appeal distributed last weekend in parishes; it is also included in this week’s Catholic Herald. Next weekend, we will watch a video message from our bishop.
Why the ACA is important
Why is this so important? The ACA funds the ministries and services benefitting every Catholic in the Diocese of Madison. It supports the work of diocesan offices and agencies in the 11 counties of our diocese and also the work of our Church beyond the diocese.
Perhaps the best way to talk about the ACA is to explain why I give to the appeal — and why I think you (other Catholics in our diocese) should, too.
Lenten project engages parishes in providing meals for those in need
MADISON — Three and a half years ago, Madison area youth ministers were looking for a project that would engage their parishes in action befitting the Lenten season.
Several parishes banded together with the Catholic Multicultural Center, Kids Against Hunger, as well as the organization 6:8 Making Service Personal, and made a plan.
Why goodness depends on God
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One of the most common observations made by opponents of religion is that we don’t need God in order to have a coherent and integral morality.
Atheists and agnostics are extremely sensitive to the charge that the rejection of God will conduce automatically to moral chaos. Consequently, they argue that a robust sense of ethics can be grounded in the consensus of the human community over time or in the intuitions and sensibilities of decent people, etc.
What I would like to do is lay out, in very brief compass, the Catholic understanding of the relationship between morality and the existence of God and to show, thereby, why it is indispensably important for a society that wishes to maintain its moral integrity to maintain, at the same time, a vibrant belief in God.Edgewood High School goes ‘Crazy for You’
MADISON — The Edgewood High School (EHS) spring musical is Crazy for You, winner of the 1992 Tony Award for Best Musical.
Based on the original Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, but incorporating music from many different Gershwin shows, Crazy for You is a high energy romantic comedy with a storyline designed to be an entertaining background for the fabulous dance numbers and memorable Gershwin music.
‘Living Last Supper’ visits area churches
Several Catholic parishes of southwestern Wisconsin will host the annual “Living Last Supper” performance at multiple parishes between March 29 and April 13.
‘Living Last Supper’ at Sinsinawa
SINSINAWA — A presentation of the “Living Last Supper” will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, at Sinsinawa Mound.
An interdenominational group of local men portray Jesus and the 12 apostles, bringing to life the famed painting of The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Thirsting for clean water
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We turn on our faucets and out comes water — clean, refreshing, plentiful, life-sustaining water. But we rarely give it a thought.
We just tend to take for granted that it will always be there. We even forget to thank God — the well-spring of life.
Lack of access to clean water
But for 768 million fellow human beings, clean plentiful water is a distant dream, according to the United Nations. For them, the water they drink, cook with, and bath in, is polluted and often disease-ridden, and must be carried long distances in many cases.
According to figures released by the United Nations Children‘s Fund in 2013, lack of access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene is a leading cause of death from diarrhea in children under five, amounting to approximately 1,400 children dying each day.Focusing on the plight of immigrants during Lent
“Forty days in the desert” describes Jesus at the start of his ministry and the Christian community during Lent.
For me, henceforth, it will also bring to mind migrants who make a dangerous journey through Mexico to the United States. I learned on a tour with the organization Witness for Peace that the trip for those who start in southern Mexico or Central America can take one to two months and often includes walking through treacherous stretches of desert.