Year: 2019

On
Fr. Steve Grunow

St. Padre Pio: Fascinating and frightening

Fr. Steve Grunow

There is a text that has become standard for the study of religious experience and phenomena by Rudolph Otto entitled, The Idea of the Holy.

In this book, Otto uses the phrase tremendum et fascinans (roughly translated as “fear and fascination”) to indicate what it means to encounter sacred realities.

The sacred, be it a place, person, or thing, can evoke the frightening, but still remain attractive, compelling. The holy is terrifying, yet at the same time, irresistible. I have always found Padre Pio as a kind of embodiment of Otto’s principle.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Diocesan Choir to perform with Ripon College singers

MADISON — The Madison Diocesan Choir will join the Ripon College Chamber Singers on Tuesday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m., in the Bishop O’Donnell Holy Name Memorial Chapel at Holy Name Heights, 702 S. High Point Rd.

The choir, directed by John C. Hughes, will conclude its annual tour and be joined by the Diocesan Choir for the first selection on the program.

The Chamber Singers will then perform a variety of unaccompanied choral works.

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On
Msgr. James Bartylla, Diocesan Administrator

Pride meets humility in the quiet of the desert

On the First Sunday of Lent, in all three liturgical years of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we’re confronted with the account of Our Lord’s temptation in the desert by the devil.

This is a beautiful text, because in a way the history of the world was played out in a quiet desert, away from the busy cities, between God-made-man and the fallen angel.

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On
Fr. Donald Lange

Let us choose a fruitful Lenten penance

Years ago a priest walked through a dark alley in a dangerous part of town. Suddenly a robber emerged from the darkness and pointed a gun at his back.

“Your money or your life,” the robber ordered. The priest turned to give the robber his money.

The robber recognized that he was a priest by his Roman collar and exclaimed, “Oh Father, I didn’t know it was you! I would never rob a priest!”

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On
Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D.

‘Exceptions’ and undermining moral law

Whenever we make small exceptions to universal moral rules, we shouldn’t be surprised that the rules themselves can be quickly undermined.

Establishing an “exception” in one case makes people think they’re due an exemption for their case as well. Certain norms of moral behavior, however, do not admit of any exceptions, and we risk undermining morality altogether if we don’t recognize them. Moral norms governing the protection of human life are one such example.

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On
Brandon Vogt

St. Frances: Finding God through your family

Word on Fire
Brandon Vogt

The Church faced serious problems when Frances Bussa was born in 1384. The papacy had fallen under the influence of the French crown and had developed a reputation for corruption.

Worse, in 1378 a majority of bishops elected a new pope, Robert of Geneva, even though a legitimate pope already reigned, which launched the Great Schism of the West.

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