Day: August 4, 2016

On
Julianne Nornberg

Sharing, teaching God’s love with children

Everyday Faith column by Julianne Nornberg

The face of my four-year-old scrunched up as he sounded out a word in a book. “Gah,” he said, successfully figuring out the sound of the letter “G.”

He considered the next letter, “O,” thought a moment, then said, “Ahh.”

Finally he got to the last letter, “D,” and put the sounds together. “Gah-ahh-dd,” he said slowly, enunciating each letter individually, his eyebrows knit in concentration.

“Gahd.”

Suddenly, his eyes flew open, his eyebrows shot up, and the light of understanding emanated from his joyous grin as he shouted out, “God! It says God!”

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

The cross of Jesus: God’s awful work of love

I would like to continue reflecting on Fleming Rutledge’s extraordinary book The Crucifixion, which I consider one of the most insightful theological books of the decade.

In a previous article, I drew attention to Rutledge’s bracing insistence on the awfulness and shame of the crucifixion. In the ancient world, there was no punishment more painful, terrifying, and de-humanizing than the cross.

It is not simply that Jesus died or even that he was put to death by corrupt people; it was that he endured the death reserved only for the lowest and most despised.

In the light of the resurrection, the first Christians looked back on this horrific event and saw in it something commensurate with the weight of sin. Somehow, on that instrument of torture and humiliation, the Son of God was addressing what could not be adequately addressed in any other way; he was paying the requisite price.

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On
Veronica Arntz

Answering the question: ‘What is marriage?’

Veronica Arntz

Marriage and family are clearly under attack in many forms in our secular society.

Thus, as Catholics, we must clearly understand the Church’s teaching on marriage and family.

Yet, even in the Church, there is disagreement surrounding marriage and family (including how to help the divorced and remarried), especially since the publication of Pope Francis’s post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia.

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On
Bernadette Maurice

Stop long-term solitary confinement in Wisconsin

To the editor:

“I was in prison and you came to me.” Matt. 25:37

The 22,500 people incarcerated in Wisconsin’s prisons are largely hidden. Although the UN has declared solitary confinement for over 15 days to be torture, about 20 percent of Wisconsin inmates are held in solitary confinement each year, some for weeks, some for decades. Imagine spending 23 hours a day in your walk-in closet, almost never having human contact, all for “recklessly eyeballing” a guard.

While 15 days of solitary confinement may be a useful tool for controlling some prisoners and punishing more serious infractions, isolation has been shown time and again to cause and exacerbate mental illness if used for a longer period of time.

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On
Jane Tarrell

Right to bear arms rooted in Constitution; abortion is not

To the editor:

Mary Uhler and Monica Simpson fail to understand that the cities today with the strictest gun control (Chicago and Washington, D.C.) have the highest rate of crime. Wyatt  Earp displayed, in the city of Tombstone, Ariz., “No guns allowed within city limits”. He and his family reaped grave consequences for enforcing those restrictions.

The right to bear arms is rooted in the Constitution for a reason. We the people must be protected from government tyranny. Legal gun use has to be the peoples’ protection. Gun restriction laws are simply ignored by those who intend to break the law.

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