Day: May 14, 2015

On
Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Mary has been with Mother Olga throughout her life

VERONA — “The only way I was able to get to all these places and get to where I am today is because of one mother.”

When Mother Olga — who spoke the above words — talks about her life, people listen. When the gentle soul, only 4’10” but tall in love of Jesus and love for Mary, shared her story with hundreds of people, all eyes and ears were focused on her. She got everyone’s full attention.

On Thursday, May 7, St. Christopher Parish in Verona hosted the spring St. Thérèse Lecture called “From Baghdad to Boston: A Journey under the Shadow of Our Lady.”

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On
Bill Van Wagner, For the Catholic Herald

Pope visits Pontifical North American College

ROME, Italy — Seminarians studying in the city of Rome have the special grace of being in close proximity to the Holy Father.

This closeness is manifested not only in the spiritual sense of being under the guidance and care of the shepherd of the whole universal Church, but in a particular way by being present with His Holiness during Wednesday audiences, Sunday Angelus addresses, and various liturgical celebrations throughout the year.

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On
Fr. Robert Barron

Modern Culture and science

Third in a series of reflections by Fr. Robert Barron on the life of Cardinal Francis George.

The second major feature of modernity that Cardinal Francis George identified is an extreme valorization of the physical sciences, or in his own words, “the imposing of scientific method as the point of contact between human beings and the world and society into which they are born.”

The founders of modernity appreciated the sciences not only for their descriptive and predictive powers, but also for their liberating potential. Bacon, Descartes, Leibniz, Newton, Kant, and many others held that the mastery over nature provided by burgeoning physics, chemistry, medicine, etc., would free the human race from its age-old captivity to sickness and the strictures of time and space.

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On
Abbot Marcel Rooney

Adaptation and renewal of Religious Life: A return to the sources of Christian life

Reflections on Religious Life column by Abbot Marcel RooneyEditor’s note: During this Year of Consecrated Life, this is the fourth 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.

When the Second Vatican Council called for the renewal of Religious Life, it was not speaking primarily about the externals which characterized that life, such as the Religious habit to be worn, the living arrangements of communities and individuals, etc.

Rather, from the outset, the council was concerned about the deeply interior renewal of this special sign of the Church’s life.

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On
George Weigel

John Paul II and “America”

In the years preceding the Great Jubilee of 2000, John Paul II held a series of continental synods to help the Church in different locales reflect on its distinctive situation at the end of the second millennium and to plan for a future of evangelical vigor in the third.

These special assemblies were easily named in the case of the Synods for Africa, Asia, and Europe. But when it came to the synod for the western hemisphere, John Paul threw a linguistic curve ball that made an important point.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Blessing of seeds and soil to be held

CROSS PLAINS — All gardeners and farmers (and all who appreciate good eating) are invited to a “Blessing of Seeds and Soil” Prayer Service to be held at St. Francis Xavier Church, 2947 Thinnes St., at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 17.

Fr. Bernard Rott, diocesan rural life director, will offer a reflection followed by the Litany of St. Isidore the Farmer. The service will conclude with a blessing of seeds, of the land we steward as growers, and of the animals of farms and fields.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Gala for the Glen features The Kells

BARABOO — The third annual Gala for the Glen, with Irish food, music, and fellowship, will be held at St. Joseph Catholic School gym, 300 Second St., on Saturday, May 30, starting at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are $50 and are available at Durward’s Glen or at the St. Joseph Parish office.

Following a dinner of shepherd‘s pie and Gaelic chicken catered by Claddagh Irish Pub from Middleton, The Kells, an international Irish band, will entertain with traditional Irish music.

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