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.
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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.
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.“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.
SPRING GREEN — “We are truly a family here at St. John’s School” is proclaimed on the website for St. John the Evangelist School in Spring Green (www.stjohns-springgreen.org)
The average class size is less than 15, which allows the teachers to know every student as an individual and to respect each for his or her own individual talents and gifts.
CROSS PLAINS — A free identity theft educational seminar will be held on Sunday, March 30, from 12 noon to 12:30 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier Parish in the Fellowship Hall, 2947 Thinnes St.
The seminar is hosted by Catholic Financial Life and will be led by Neil Purtell, a retired FBI agent who has been an identity theft consultant with Associated Bank for seven years.
PRINCETON — St. John Parish, 1211 W. Main St., has scheduled a “Day of Prayer” on Tuesday, March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.
The day starts with a Children’s Mass at 8:30 a.m. followed by opening prayers and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Adoration will take place throughout the day.
MADISON — All are invited to attend a fun and brain-stimulating night of mental Olympics at Trivia Night II to be held at the St. Thomas Aquinas social hall, 602 Everglade Dr., on Saturday, March 29, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
Cost is $20 per person. Either bring your own team (up to 10 people) or you will be will paired up the night of the event.
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| The original Dead Theologians Society (DTS) chapter in Ireland is pictured above. Several of the girls are now pursuing a religious vocation and the others are active in leading the DTS chapter. Also pictured are Eddie Cotter, third from left, and his son, Rory, right, who recently helped lead a Confirmation retreat in Ireland with the Antrim DTS Chapter. (Contributed photo) |
BLACK EARTH — In the fifth century, St. Patrick travelled throughout Ireland, where he established small communities of people of the Catholic faith which eventually spread across the country.
Today a Catholic apostolate is following the blueprint of St. Patrick in spreading the faith, not only in Ireland, but in the United States and other countries.
It is the Dead Theologians Society (DTS), a Catholic apostolate for high school teens and college-aged young adults. DTS has its headquarters in the Diocese of Madison in Black Earth.
As we prepare to observe St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, it is appropriate to reflect on how DTS uses a similar approach to St. Patrick, said Eddie Cotter, co-founder and executive director of DTS.
“Our DTS efforts in Ireland (as well as here in the U.S. and other countries) really do follow the blueprint of St. Patrick, who traveled many miles establishing and strengthening small faith communities that produced disciples who converted an island and a race of people,” said Cotter.
Of DTS, he said, “It isn’t flashy, but it is real, and thank God it is truly effective! Young people in DTS are literally following in the footsteps of the saints. They are spreading the Gospel by their lives wherever they are.”
To help support this apostolate, an evening of Irish music, food, and fun will be held on Saturday, March 15, at the Bishop O’Connor Center in Madison with proceeds to help sponsor the work of DTS in poorer parishes in the U.S. and Ireland.
Last year the Catholic Church had something almost unprecedented happen: a pope resigned his office. Pope Benedict XVI said that due to his advanced age, he was “no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.” He was the first pope to resign in more than 600 years.
On March 13, 2013, the cardinals gathered in their conclave elected Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th successor of St. Peter. He took the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi.
Anyone who has read with interest the recent articles in these pages on the life of Venerable Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, O.P. would do no better than to read his fascinating and edifying Memoirs.
Several readers have met at the Cathedral Parish in Madison weekly to discuss what inspiration we find for the New Evangelization from Father Mazzuchelli’s writing. I share these gleanings.
