Year: 2017

On
Kevin Wondrash

Veterans to be honored at national shrine in Champion

CHAMPION — Veterans Day at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion will include a special honor for those who have served our country in the armed forces.

“We want to pay tribute to veterans and say thank you for what they’ve done for all of us,” said Corrie Campbell, events and communications coordinator at the shrine. “We know that many soldiers have deep wounds, and not all of those wounds are physical. It’s important to continue to reach out to veterans and show them our support.”

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Kevin Wondrash

Grant funding available for solar systems for churches

MADISON — There is $125,000 of grant funding available by Renew Wisconsin for mission-based organizations and houses of worship.

RENEW Wisconsin’s Solar for Good initiative fosters the expansion of solar power among mission-based nonprofits and houses of worship in Wisconsin.

RENEW Wisconsin will award a total of $125,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations to assist them in installing solar PV.

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Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Monona school becomes first LabLearner school in state

MONONA — Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) School in Monona, this school year, became the first LabLearner school in the state of Wisconsin.

What is LabLearner?

LabLearner is a 100 percent research-based, comprehensive, hands-on science education system.

It aims to promote interaction and experimentation in a laboratory setting to encourage diverse learning and thinking strategies, fostering a community atmosphere of learning.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Where have courtesy and civility gone?

In the later years of her life, my mother-in-law used a walker. Of course, it slowed down her pace and also made it difficult for her to open doors unless they had a handicapped door opener.

When I was with her, I could help her navigate doors. Sometimes she got ahead of me, so I wasn’t there when she reached the door.

I was unpleasantly surprised when other people would just walk through the door without offering to help her. She said this was a common occurrence.

Lack of courtesy

This lack of courtesy is something that seems to be escalating in our country. People seem to think only about themselves.

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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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On
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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