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| 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.
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.
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.
To the editor:
I was proud of Mary Uhler’s stance that we should work for stronger gun control.
Last week’s Mailbag had two letters refuting gun control positions. I would guess that both men are strong in their faith and I would guess that neither supports abortion. But both letters troubled me in that they reminded me of the abortion lobby’s arguments.
Early in my life, I learned the value of praying the Rosary from my parents, especially from my father.
During the day, I often noticed him fingering the Rosary beads he always carried in his pocket. He had such a devotion to the Rosary that we had it engraved on his tombstone.
The power of the Rosary was demonstrated during St. Dominic’s time in the 13th century and continues to be seen today. We have learned that not only will the Rosary bring peace to our personal life, but it is also a powerful tool that can bring peace to the entire world.
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In the famous story of David and Goliath, Goliath boasts to the young David that after he kills him, he will give his flesh “to the birds of the sky and beasts of the field.” He conveys his profound disdain for David by speaking this way, deprecating even his corpse.
This offends our sensibility that dead bodies should not be desecrated, but should instead be respectfully buried. Proper disposition and care of another’s body also manifests our Christian faith in the resurrection of that body on the Last Day.
“We boldly take initiative to bring love to our neighbors, evangelizing with patience and joy . . . No task is too small in the eyes of the Lord when filled with great love.”
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Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion is one of the most stimulating and thought-provoking books of theology that I have read in the past 10 years.
Both an academic and a well-regarded preacher in the Episcopal tradition, Rutledge has an extraordinary knack of cutting to the heart of the matter. Her book on the central reality of the Christian faith is supremely illuminating, a delight for the inquiring mind — and man, will it ever preach.
MADISON — LeAnna and Brendan Wall, owners of Hatch Building Supply in Madison, have a special new monthly “date night” as members of Legatus.
This “date night” includes a Mass, followed by food, fellowship, and a presentation on some aspect of their Catholic faith. “We both have enjoyed doing more with our faith, having a date night out, and making business connections,” said Brendan Wall. The Walls are members of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Madison.
During a recent family reunion, my elderly mother and I were the only ones at the table without smartphones. We felt left out.
A few days later I read that Pope Francis advised parents to ban mobile devices from the dinner table to help restore the quality of family relationships.
These two occurrences reminded me of the life of our foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan.
