Day: November 2, 2017

On
From the United States Conferece of Catholic Bishops

National Vocation Awareness Week is November 5-11

seminarian group
Seminarians from the Diocese of Madison are pictured with Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison and Fr. Gregory Ihm, vocations director for the diocese, right.
For more on discerning and answering God’s call, see the special section on vocations in this week’s paper. (Photo by Backflip)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week, November 5-11.

This annual event is a special time for parishes in the United States to actively foster and pray for a culture of vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, reminds us that each of us in the Church has a key role to play in the witness of our vocation in ordinary circumstances.

“As we go about our everyday life and most especially this week, we must keep vocations in our prayers, while, at the same time, being a mindful witness with our own vocation,” said Cardinal Tobin.

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Julianne Nornberg

Turn problems into prayers, teach forgiveness

Everyday Faith column by Julianne Nornberg

I’d like to say that every day in our house is peaceful, that no one ever fights, that we ride out problems prayerfully and lovingly.

But it would be a lie.

Yesterday was particularly challenging, with tired children shirking household duties and worn-out parents losing patience. Throughout the rainy day we had to help solve quarrels, enforce obedience, redirect whining. In the face of all our little problems, we got stuck in the muck of anger and impatience.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Church invites all to encounter Jesus Christ

By now you’ve seen or heard a great deal about me and what I’m supposed to have done most recently. It’s been in the papers, online, and on TV and radio news. You’ve been told by your friends, and talked about it over coffee. To some of you, what you’ve heard simply confirms the judgements you’ve already made long ago. For others, what you’ve heard left you sad and scratching your heads.

In truth, I find myself in that latter group.

The observations and reactions that have been made simply do not account for the total context. And what has grown from there is a flurry of opportunity for people to jump to every sort of negative conclusion and to air those negative judgements freely and widely. All of this has occurred very much absent the reality of the situation.

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Msgr. James Bartylla, Vicar General, Diocese of Madison

Clarification on the Issue of Funeral Rites and Those in Homosexual Civil or Notorious Unions

Recently, there has been media attention regarding a private and confidential communication to the priests of the Diocese of Madison regarding funeral rites and those in homosexual civil or otherwise notorious unions. The answers below are an attempt to correct misinterpretations of the communication and provide explanation so there is greater clarity. To all those who try or hope to try to live the challenge of following the natural law and thereby the Church’s teaching while struggling with same-sex attraction and perhaps many times faltering, please know you are loved and respected, and always welcome in the Catholic Church and invited to the truth of the Gospel. Jesus Christ loves you and wants your joy.

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Bishop Robert Barron

‘iGen’ are perhaps least religious in U.S.

Jean Twenge’s book iGen is one of the most fascinating — and depressing — texts I’ve read in the past decade. A professor of psychology at San Diego State University, Dr. Twenge has been, for years, studying trends among young Americans, and her most recent book focuses on the generation born between 1995 and 2012.

Since this is the first cohort of young people who have never known a world without iPads and iPhones, and since these devices have remarkably shaped their consciousness and behavior, Dr. Twenge naturally enough has dubbed them the “iGen.”

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Kevin Wondrash

St. Peter in Ashton is drop-off center for Box of Joy program

ASHTON — St. Peter Parish in Ashton is a drop-off center spot for the Cross Catholic Outreach Box of Joy program the week of November 4 through November 12.

The drop-off center hours at St. Peter will be: November 4 (6:30-7:30 p.m.), November 11 (2-4 p.m.), and November 12 (10 a.m.-12 noon). Boxes will be collected in the church gathering room, 7121 CR K, Middleton 53562. A team of volunteers will be there to greet people.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Your voice is needed at State Capitol

As Catholics, we believe that life begins at conception. So when babies die in miscarriage or stillbirth, their parents should be able to have a service for them.

Elizabeth Ministry, headquartered in Wisconsin, is also working with more cemeteries to set aside an area for babies who have died before birth.

In Wisconsin, there are two pieces of proposed legislation which seek to demonstrate greater respect for unborn children.

Heal Without Harm

The Heal Without Harm Initiative is a package of two complementary bills, the “Unborn Child Disposition and Anatomical Gift Act” (SB 424/AB 550) and the “Fetal Remains Respect Act” (SB 423/AB 549).

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Kevin Wondrash

St. Dennis welcomes ‘trailblazer of forgiveness’ for fall mission

MADISON — On Sunday, Nov. 5, St. Dennis Parish will welcome Dr. Robert Enright to present the parish’s fall mission: “The Church as a Forgiving Community.”

As the founder of the International Forgiveness Institute here in Madison, Dr. Enright has been referred to as the “trailblazer of forgiveness” by Time Magazine.

An educational psychologist by training, he has built a 30-year academic career committed to researching and implementing forgiveness programs and curricula.

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