Day: May 12, 2016

On
Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herld Staff

Parishioners honor Blessed Mother in Lancaster

st. clement, lancaster march
Parishioners of St. Clement Parish in Lancaster, with Pastor Fr. John Sasse, process down S. Madison St. with a statue and image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sunday, May 1. The procession was held to ask for Mary’s intercession for good weather, a good harvest, and other intercessions. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash)

LANCASTER — Sunday, May 1.

The first day of the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

May 1 was a chance for one Catholic community in the Diocese of Madison to honor the Blessed Mother, give thanks for her intercession, and pray for the year ahead.

The prayers to Jesus through Mary started that day at St. Clement Church in Lancaster, the county seat of Grant County in southwestern Wisconsin.

Enrollment in the Brown Scapular

The first special event of the day began at the 9 a.m. Mass. Following his homily, Pastor Fr. John Sasse enrolled the recent parish second grade First Communicants into the Brown Scapular.

In what was a display of family faith togetherness, parents of First Communicants were also enrolled into the scapular at the same time.

The Brown Scapular is worn as a sign of devotion to the Blessed Mother.

A promise made by Mary is that those who wear the scapular when they die will not suffer the pains of hell.

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Jane Lepeska Grinde, For the Catholic Herald

Program helps families and parishes evangelize

BERLIN — The National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) has published a “We Are Called to Witness” program to provide ideas for implementing the New Evangelization in parishes and families.

Downloadable from the Madison Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (MDCCW) website (www.mdccw.com/pdfs/new_evangelization.pdf), the program can be used throughout the year and includes ideas for religious holidays and family gatherings.

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On
Care Net Pregnancy Center of Dane County

Elizabeth House helps pregnant mother build ‘forever family’

“That time in my life was very confusing,” shared Amanda. “I had recently dropped out of college due to stress, anxiety, and depression. And then I found out I was pregnant . . . I just didn’t know what to do.”

Amanda and her boyfriend, Brandon (names changed), came to Care Net feeling nervous, scared, and “a little lost.” They were greeted by “open arms and smiling faces.”

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Proclaiming the truth about the Ascension

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,

Why did Christ ascend to heaven? Wouldn’t it have been nice if He had just stayed here on earth and appeared regularly for the rest of history? Wouldn’t it be nice if every so often we could go to a certain place and He would appear? Wouldn’t it be nice if the whole world simply knew the truth and would not have to seek after faith, since they would have regular audiences with Christ, our God? Wouldn’t it be nice!

What was so important that Christ, with His Father and the Holy Spirit, decided not to do it that way? What could be so important? Two things:

Christ is Eternal High Priest

First of all, the Eternal High Priesthood of Christ had to be definitively accomplished, completed, and revealed. And that Eternal High Priesthood was definitively completed and revealed only when Jesus ascended and took His place at the Father’s right hand.

It says in the Hebrew Scriptures, the one who takes his place at the Father’s right hand is, in fact, the Eternal High Priest. “The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand while I make your enemies your footstool . . . You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek (Psalms 110: 1, 4)’.”

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On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Caring for both babies and mothers

Some people criticize the pro-life movement for caring too much about unborn babies and not enough about their mothers. In my experience, their criticism is unfounded. Pro-lifers DO care about both babies and their mothers.

There really should not have to be a choice between a woman and her child. We as a society should be concerned about the life of both. Yet we realize that there are women facing crisis pregnancies. They are confused, alone, afraid.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

Shakespeare and the fading Catholic world

Last week the world marked the 400th anniversary of the death of the greatest writer in the English language and one of the three or four most significant artists the human race has produced. William Shakespeare simply contains so much.

In the manner of Dante, Homer, Michelangelo, James Joyce, and Aquinas, he seems to encompass the whole: every texture of feeling, every nuance of thought, the tragedy of sin, the most exquisite longings of the soul, the most confounding confusions, heaven, hell, and everything in between.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Conversation about restorative justice

MADISON — There will be a community conversation about restorative justice practices in Dane County on Tuesday, May 17, at the Urban League of Greater Madison, 2222 S Park Street, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The panel will include Jonathon Scharrer, director of the Restorative Justice Project at the UW Law School Frank J Remington Center, Ron Johnson, Coordinator, Dane County Community Restorative Court, Ismael Ozanne, Dane County District Attorney, Sheila Stubbs, Dane County Board of Supervisors, and Chief David Raasch, former chief judge of the Mohican Nation Tribal Court.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Conversation about restorative justice

MADISON — There will be a community conversation about restorative justice practices in Dane County on Tuesday, May 17, at the Urban League of Greater Madison, 2222 S Park Street, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The panel will include Jonathon Scharrer, director of the Restorative Justice Project at the UW Law School Frank J Remington Center, Ron Johnson, Coordinator, Dane County Community Restorative Court, Ismael Ozanne, Dane County District Attorney, Sheila Stubbs, Dane County Board of Supervisors, and Chief David Raasch, former chief judge of the Mohican Nation Tribal Court.

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