A range of emotions were seen on the faces of more than 120 soon-to-be full members of the Catholic Church on Sunday, Feb. 22, at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee.
Day: March 4, 2015
Madison woman prepares to enter Church
MADISON — “It’s the best thing ever.”
“I love it. I can’t get enough.”
Those are just a couple of the verbally-expressed emotions from 27-year-old Tina Saviano from Madison as she is just a few weeks away from becoming a member of the Catholic Church.
Using the gifts of knowledge, reverence, fortitude
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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,
Please allow me to return to one of my familiar themes at this beginning of Lent. I mention often at Mass and in other contexts that all of us, especially we adults, should be mindful of the graces and gifts received at our Confirmation.
I think forgetfulness that we have been confirmed is one of the true enemies of our growth in holiness.
So many times in life we need courage, we need consolation, we need joy, we need to be freed from confusion, we need to make prudent judgments –and we forget that in the Holy Sacrament of Confirmation, we have been strengthened by the Holy Spirit, in precisely the gifts which we need to face the difficult moments in life.
How often do we fail to pray, “Lord, you gave me the gifts to face this problem, with prudence, patience, and strength when I was confirmed. Now Father, stir up these gifts. Make them real for me, so that by these gifts and by your grace you will bring me through whatever difficulties I might face.”?
Bishop Morlino to receive Christ Brings Hope Award
MADISON — Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison will be honored at the Relevant Radio 1240 AM Christ Brings Hope Award Dinner on Thursday, March 19, with the inaugural Christ Brings Hope Award.
Relevant Radio Executive Director Fr. Francis J. “Father Rocky” Hoffman said, “Bishop Morlino has certainly brought much hope and inspiration to the Diocese of Madison and beyond by his steadfast dedication, loving service, and fearless defense of the Catholic Church and her teachings.
Dealing with guilt and shame
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| Ask IPS |
Question: “During Lent, I feel like there is a large emphasis on sinfulness. I find myself feeling constantly ashamed of my past sins. Is this healthy?”
Response:William McKenna, M.S., Clinical Extern at the IPS Center for Psychological Services
A message written in blood
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Recently, the attention of the world was riveted to a deserted beach in northern Libya, where a group of 21 Coptic Christians were brutally beheaded by masked operatives of the ISIS movement.
In the wake of the executions, ISIS released a gruesome video entitled A Message in Blood to the Nation of the Cross. I suppose that for the ISIS murderers, the reference to “the Nation of the Cross” had little sense beyond a generic designation for Christianity.
Sadly for most Christians, too, the cross has become little more than a harmless symbol. I would like to take the awful event on that Libyan beach, as well as the ISIS message, as an occasion to reflect on the still startling distinctiveness of the cross.
Baptism: Renounce sin and proclaim Christ
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| Patrick Gorman |
Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the fourth in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.
Imagine yourself in darkness with only a few candles providing light. You are standing in a secret location in the middle of the night, shivering from the cold and damp.
You have been “apprenticing” as a Christian for some time and at last you are about to join this small sect. You have no idea what will happen next and you don’t understand some of the things that already have been done.
Suddenly, your companion (godparent) turns you around, you are told to reach out and imagine standing face-to-face with the devil. Finally a booming voice from out of the darkness asks, “Do you renounce Satan?”
Some laws say a lot about who we are, our values
Wisconsin’s laws make for some pretty dull reading. Most laws consist of technical prose defining eligibility for programs and drawing lines between legal and illegal conduct.
But some laws serve a different purpose. Some declare a policy vision for our state or define the scope and mission of what our government should do.
It is in these sections of the statutes that prose becomes poetry. It is there that we Wisconsinites define who we are and what we want our state to be.
Students fill ‘Socks of Love’
BERLIN — Students at All Saints Catholic School, Berlin, collected socks and basic need items for Father Carr’s Place 2B in Oshkosh during Catholic Schools Week.
The campaign was called Socks of Love. The fourth, fifth, and seventh grade classes filled the socks with items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soaps, deodorant, and more.
Edgewood student wins city spelling bee
MADISON — After more than 300 words, defending champion, Martius Bautista, a fifth grader at Edgewood Campus School, Madison, won the 2015 All-City Spelling Bee by outspelling 46 other spellers.
The event was held at the Mitby Theater on the Madison College campus.
The first word in the final round was “abhorrently,” which Bautista spelled correctly, and he went on to win the All-City Spelling Bee by spelling “lipogram.”