Day: February 25, 2015

On
Kevin Mauer, For the Catholic Herald

Students fill St. Paul’s on Ash Wednesday

Frs. Eric Nielsen and Mark Miller distribute ashes at St. Paul University Catholic Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Ash Wednesday is the busiest day of the year at St. Paul’s with over 1,900 students attending Mass. (Contributed photo)

MADISON — The marquee on Library Mall read, “Get your ash to Mass.” And get to Mass they did.

When Ash Wednesday comes around at St. Paul University Catholic Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, it’s all hands on deck.

Our liturgical rotation on Ash Wednesday included three priests, five sacristans, eight altar servers, 10 lectors, dozens of choir members, and 17 ashes-distributors for our five Masses.

Busiest day of year

We needed all the hands we could get. With students typically going back home for Christmas and Easter, Ash Wednesday is by far the busiest day of the year in the St. Paul’s chapel.

This year, over 1,900 students came through our doors to be told that they are dust and to dust they shall return. That number is about double the attendance of a typical Sunday.

Why so popular?

We’re still not sure what makes this day more popular than any Sunday or holy days of obligation.

Apparently, being repeatedly asked the question, “Excuse me, did you know you have dirt on your face?” at every class throughout the day is no deterrent to these students.

More likely, it’s an incentive. The fact that so many hundreds of students on campus would sooner claim Catholicism as an identity than to practice it by, for example, fulfilling the Sunday obligation is an indication that the Catholic brand is alive and well here.

This has major implications for the New Evangelization. It means that more people of the Millennial generation than we might think are willing to give the Catholic faith a chance, but have never discovered a reason to become fully alive in that faith and to actively seek a nearer approach to God.

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On
Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Love each other, don’t fight advice from couple married 76 years

MIDDLETON — On February 11, 1939, the start of World War II was more than six months away, the movie Stagecoach — John Wayne’s breakthrough role — was days away from premiering in New York and Los Angeles, and the Catholic Church mourned the death of Pope Pius XI, who died the day before.

The world, in many ways, has changed since then. One thing that has stayed in the same in the past 76 years is the love between Veronica and Donald Harrop.

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On
Fr. Robert Barron

Fry, Job, and the cross of Jesus

The British writer, actor, and comedian Stephen Fry is featured in a YouTube video which has gone viral: over five million views.

Fry is, like his British counterparts Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, a fairly ferocious atheist and debunker of all things religious.

Fry’s rant

In the video, Fry articulates what he would say to God if, upon arriving at the pearly gates, he discovered he was mistaken in his atheism.

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On
Patrick Gorman

Baptism: A new Exodus

Patrick Gorman

Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the third in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.

One of the most compelling stories in the Old Testament describes the Exodus (Ex 14-15:1), when God brought the people of Israel from slavery to freedom.

At the climax of the story, God parted the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through the water. As the Egyptians pursued, God allowed the water to rush back, destroying Pharaoh’s chariots and charioteers and saving the people of Israel.

The Scripture describing all of this is read each year at the Easter Vigil because it so clearly prefigures Baptism as we go through the baptismal waters from the slavery of sin to the freedom of a life in Christ.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Natural Family Planning classes offered in diocese

MADISON — The Couple to Couple League (CCL) will offer classes on the sympto-thermal method of Natural Family Planning (NFP) at several locations this winter and spring.

Each course is taught by a married couple who are certified NFP instructors. The main NFP course is offered in a three-part series.

Mobile fertility tracking

CCL now offers on-the-go mobile fertility tracking, CycleProGo, which allows couples to chart electronically, record fertility symptoms, and determine the fertile and infertile times of the cycle.

All those who register for a CCL course will receive a free 90-day trial of fertility tracking with CycleProGo.

Postpartum classes

Postpartum classes are scheduled and offered by appointment throughout the year. A postpartum class is designed to provide specific information on how to interpret fertility signs during the transitional stage between childbirth and the return of normal fertility cycles.

Couples interested in taking a postpartum class need to complete a CCL main NFP course or be concurrently enrolled in a main course or a CCL home study or virtual online course.

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On
Abbot Marcel Rooney

Adaptation and renewal of Religious Life: Pursuit of perfect charity

Reflections on Religious Life column by Abbot Marcel Rooney

Editor’s note: During this Year of Consecrated Life, this is the second in a series based on the Second Vatican Council’s document, Perfectae Caritatis (Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life) written by Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB, former abbot primate of the Benedictine order who now resides in Madison.

We have seen in the first reflection commenting on Religious Life that the basis for and origin of this way of Christian life is the example and teaching of Jesus (Perfectae Caritatis, #1).

The Second Vatican Council’s teaching says that the consecration of Religious Life is focused on the pursuit of perfect charity.

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On
Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Medical assistance with the battle of the bulge

Bariatric surgery, which often involves banding of the stomach, is a widely used procedure for treating severe obesity. Another approach that relies on an implantable “stomach pacemaker” also appears poised to assist those struggling with significant weight gain.

Many people have already benefitted from these kinds of surgical interventions, enabling them to shed a great deal of weight, improve their health, and get a new lease on life.

Weighing alternatives

At the same time, however, it’s important for us to examine such interventions from an ethical point of view. It’s not simply a matter of weight loss, achieved by any means whatsoever, but a rational decision made after carefully weighing the risks, benefits, and alternatives.

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On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

The Catholic Herald focuses on families

Editor's View by Mary C. Uhler

In September of this year, the World Meeting of Families will be held in Philadelphia. Pope Francis will be coming to join in this event, which calls people together from throughout the world to celebrate family life.

During February — which is observed as Catholic Press Month — the Catholic Herald has included information in each issue of the paper showing how the Catholic Herald focuses on families.

In each issue, we have talked about how our diocesan paper focuses on families. Included each week was a quote from Pope Francis’ Message for World Communications Day 2015, which also centers on families.

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On
the Office of the Bishop

Bishop Morlino seeks input for next October’s Synod

By way of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, has asked every bishop of the United States to submit a report responding to the Lineamenta and its questions for the purpose of contributing to the “Working Document” of the Ordinary Synod, to be held October 4 to 25.

Bishops are specifically encouraged to gather the thoughts and responses of a wide range of people in their dioceses in drafting their own reports.

To that end, we’d first like to make people in the diocese aware of the Lineamenta and the bishop’s invitation for them to read, reflect upon, pray about, and respond to the document in writing.

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