These days it seems as if people fall into opposing camps on many issues. Abortion is certainly one of the most divisive issues in our society.
But people can change their minds on issues, even polarizing ones like abortion.
Someone who exemplifies the possibility of change is Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood Clinic director. Johnson — whom I’ve heard speak — is now a powerful advocate for the pro-life side of the spectrum.
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As any apologist worth his/her salt will tell you, the great objection to the proposition that God exists is the fact of innocent suffering.
If you want a particularly vivid presentation of this complaint, go on YouTube and look up Stephen Fry’s disquisition on why he doesn’t believe in God. (Then right afterward, please, do look at my answer to Fry).
But the anguished question of an army of non-believers remains: how could an all-loving and all-powerful God possibly allow the horrific suffering endured by those who simply don’t deserve it? Say all you want, these critics hold, about God’s plan and good coming from evil, but the disproportion between evil and the benefits that might flow from it simply rules out the plausibility of religious faith.
The skilled and experienced apologist will also tell you that, in the face of this problem, there is no single, unequivocal “answer,” no clinching argument that will leave the doubter stunned into acquiescence. The best approach is to walk slowly around the issue, in the manner of the phenomenologists, illuminating now this aspect, now that.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for Fr. Michael Emil Klarer, who died on Sunday, April 24, 2016 in Monroe at the age of 62.
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For some astronauts, an unexpected result of their participation in the space program was a deepening of their faith in God.
Frank Borman was commander of the first space crew to travel beyond Earth’s orbit. Looking down on Earth from 250,000 miles away, he radioed back a message, quoting Genesis 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.”
He later added, “After viewing Earth from space, I experienced an enormous feeling that there had to be a power greater than any of us, that there was a God and a beginning.”
“Hopefully it’ll be here as long as the school is here. We hope that not only will it inspire these kids, but it will inspire generations of kids to come,” said Artist-in-Residence Connie Bier.
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On a spring day about five years ago, when I was rector of Mundelein Seminary, Cardinal Francis George spoke to the assembled student body.
He congratulated those proudly orthodox seminarians for their devotion to the dogmatic and moral truths proposed by the Church, but he also offered some pointed pastoral advice.
He said that it is insufficient simply to drop the truth on people and then smugly walk away. Rather, he insisted, you must accompany those you have instructed, committing yourself to helping them integrate the truth that you have shared.
SAUK CITY — The Mary, Mother of God women’s group from Divine Mercy Parish will be hosting the “Taste of Divine Mercy: An Adoration Chapel Celebration” on Saturday, April 23 after the 4:30 Mass in the St. Aloysius School gym in Sauk City.
Bids will be taken towards an assortment of foods and a silent auction. All proceeds from the celebration will be geared toward the upkeep of the Adoration Chapel.
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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,
The readings of this past weekend speak a much-needed word of consolation, hope, and joy to each of us, in the here and now.
I don’t know about each of you (though I’ve heard from a number of you), but in my opinion there are a good number of reasons for concern in our times, and there’s good reason to wonder where things are going — especially in terms of our national political scene.
But in such moments of uncertainty, the followers of Jesus Christ have always been able to consider the ultimate realities and to reflect back upon readings like those of this past weekend.
In the first place, we can consider the context of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:14, 43-52) as they have begun to go out and preach the Good News far and wide.
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It seems odd, even a bit repulsive, when we encounter tales of elderly men running after women who are young enough to be their granddaughters.
The wheelchair-bound billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall was 89 years old when he married the 26-year-old Anna Nicole Smith. He had met the Playboy model and reality TV star in a strip club. Anna insisted that she really did love the old man and wasn’t in it for the money.
With age should come wisdom. It’s appropriate and fitting for older men to leave behind their former ways and no longer live and act like college frat boys. It’s right to expect growth in self-control as we mature and to expect a more reflective and sober approach to life.
MADISON — Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) is a Montessori-based method of Catholic faith formation that allows the individual child, from age three to 12, to encounter God through a deep exploration of Scripture and liturgy.
Several families in the Madison area have been working this past year offering the program in their home parishes.
