Month: November 2015

On
Michael Lancaster

Could return to past model help small Catholic schools remain vital today?

At this time each year, the Office of Catholic Schools collects data detailing the state of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Madison.

When looking at data from the past few years, we have seen some exciting trends, such as the addition of grades six to eight at three different schools, the addition of three-year-old pre-school programs at several schools, and marked enrollment increases at several Catholic schools in Dane County.

These positive signs indicate growing enrollment and a focus on continuous improvement and development. While growth comes with certain challenges, it is a reason for great hope for the future of Catholic schools.

While this growth is exciting and encouraging, many Catholic schools, especially those in rural communities, are facing a different set of challenges: how to remain vital and vibrant in communities where the general population is shrinking, leaving an ever smaller pool of students from which to draw.

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Monica Rose Quinones

Helping a veteran: It’s about having a home

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Monica Rose Quinones

Last year I heard an amazing Relevant Radio interview given by the president/CEO of Military Outreach USA.

Retired Army Major General James Mukoyama was talking about his inspiration to found an organization to help veterans.

“We bring programs and resources to churches and organizations to create awareness of issues affecting our veterans and then teach how help can be provided at the community level,” said Joe Palmer, executive director. If we all do a little, we can accomplish a lot as a community, he said.

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Liz Frias, For the Catholic Herald

St. Ambrose Academy annual Benefit Dinner

MADISON — On Saturday, Dec. 12, St. Ambrose Academy will host its annual Benefit Dinner, gathering hundreds from around the Diocese of Madison to celebrate Catholic education.

St. Ambrose Academy has hosted the annual dinner for nine consecutive years. As in years past, joining the evening’s festivities are Bishop Robert C. Morlino, as well as representatives from several local Catholic apostolates and organizations.

 

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Bishop Robert Barron

Daniel and the great unveiling

Toward the end of the liturgical year, we Catholics hear at Mass from the mysterious, often confounding, and utterly fascinating Book of Daniel.

Recent scholarship has demonstrated that the Book of Daniel had an extraordinarily powerful influence on the first Christians, providing them a most important template for understanding the significance of Jesus.

Daniel is, of course, an example of apocalyptic literature, which in the common understanding means that it has to do with the end of the world.

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Stanley Serkosky, For the Catholic Herald

King Fest Chili/Soup Cook-Off heats up in McFarland

MCFARLAND — Chili, one of America’s most popular soups, has a long and rich history. The number and variety of recipes grows daily.

Arguments lasting decades concerning the addition of meat to chili continue to rage without resolution and stories abound regarding its origins.

Stories about origins

Enthusiasts of chili say one possible though far-fetched starting point comes from Sister Mary of Agreda, a Spanish nun in the early 1600s who never left her convent yet had out-of-body experiences in which her spirit was transported across the Atlantic to preach Christianity to the Indians.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Laity bring light of Christ to the world

Although it dates me to admit it, I was a high school student during the Second Vatican Council.

In our daily religion classes at Aquinas High School in La Crosse (yes, we had daily classes all taught by priests at that time), we studied the documents of that council.

One of those documents had a special impact on me. It was the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church also known by its Latin title, Lumen Gentium.

This document — promulgated by Blessed Paul VI on November 21, 1964 — talks about the hierarchical structure of the Church, including the role of bishops, priests, deacons, and Religious. It also has a full chapter on the laity, which was especially interesting to me 51 years ago.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

St. Thérèse Lecture on November 20

MADISON — The fall presentation in the St. Thérèse Lecture Series presented by the Diocese of Madison will be Friday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the chapel of the Bishop O’Connor Center in Madison.

It will be entitled “A Treasure of Inestimable Value: The Beauty of Liturgy,” and will be given by Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB.

Abbot Rooney is president of the Orate Institute of Sacred Liturgy, Music, and Art. The institute is dedicated to the renewal of the sacred liturgy in our churches and other Catholic institutions.

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