Seventh in a series on the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Madison
When the Diocese of Madison was created in 1946, St. Raphael Church, the first Catholic church in the city of Madison, was chosen as the cathedral church of the new diocese.
Msgr. William Mahoney was the pastor at that time.
St. Raphael Parish has a history in Madison that dates back to before Wisconsin became a state.
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A college student wrote in her school newspaper that sometimes she wished that she were a Catholic. She explained that if she were a Catholic, when she sinned, she could go to confession like her Catholic classmates and say, “Father, I sinned. I am sorry!”
The priest would then give her a penance. She would do the penance and feel forgiven.
She added, “But I’m not a Catholic. When I sin, I don’t confess to a priest. I confess directly to God.”
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As I was well into Ash Wednesday, last week, I was experiencing an interesting emotion. I was happy it was Lent.
Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, what is the matter with you?
You’re happy it’s Lent? You’re happy it’s a time of sacrifice and penance? You’re happy it’s a time when the joyous “A” word is not to be said or sung? You’re happy it’s the “sorrowful” time in the Church for 40-days until we get to Easter?
Yes, I am. Here’s why.
Sr. Casimira Adasiewicz, who lived her religious vocation as a teacher and organist for 80 years, died on January 18, 2021, at Sacred Heart in Milwaukee. Sister Casimira was 99 years old.
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Meditating on the Agony in the Garden, the First Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary, is always a source of great spiritual fruit for me.
We see Jesus alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, facing His imminent Passion and death, praying that this cup of suffering pass Him by.
Jesus is so anxious and distressed that He sweats drops of blood, struggling to surrender to the will of the Father and the mystery of the cross.
Radical filial obedience wins out, as Jesus utters His fiat, “Let your will be done, not mine.”
When Christ arises from this prayer, He moves forward with determination, arousing the sleeping apostles, facing Judas and the approaching mob, ready and willing to drink the cup of suffering to the very dregs.
In the Gospel passion narratives, once Jesus has made His surrender in Gethsemane, He embraces the terrible details of His trial, torture, and death with a peace, acceptance, and love that is truly divine.
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| A catechumen in 2019 signs the Book of the Elect during the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion. This year’s event will take place on Sunday, Feb. 21, at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee with safety measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
WAUNAKEE — The Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion will be held on Sunday, Feb. 21, at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee.
Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison will preside.
In this Church season of Lent, its primary purpose intensifies the time of preparation for those seeking Baptism.
Now that Lent has come upon us, it’s time to start this sacred work.
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (no. 64), which was promulgated during the Second Vatican Council, called for a revision of several of the rituals of our Church.
Part of this included the Baptismal rites for adults and children.
In 1988, an adult ritual was promulgated called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults which is commonly called RCIA.
Since that time, some or all of the RCIA has been used in parishes throughout the world.
MADISON — The trials and challenges of a pandemic can’t stop the growth and joy of Catholic community, and spring 2021 is shaping up to be a season of exciting happenings at St. Ambrose Academy (SAA).
After dozens of property searches by a team of professionals and numerous conversations with potential partners, the Academy first shared in December 2020 at the interactive, virtual See the Joy Benefit Dinner news of great joy: A site for a permanent school home is being finalized.
The centrally located Fitchburg development will be an ideal home for the first Catholic school building project in the diocese in over 50 years.PLATTEVILLE — “I think it was in the late 1970s that I submitted a few articles to the Catholic Herald,” said Fr. Donald Lange, speaking about how his column — “Seeing with Jesus’ Eyes” — got started. His new book Seeing with Jesus’ Eyes — A Seasonal Reader was just published in December of 2020. “At first, I wondered in the Catholic Herald would accept my articles, but gradually, they did.”
What began as an occasional guest column eventually became something more regularly published in the paper.
“After I retired, Pam Payne asked me if I would offer a name for the column,” he said, speaking of the Herald’s now retired associate editor. “That was about 14 years ago.”
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Death: Our Birth into Eternal life Damian Lenshek |
The following article is the next installment in a series that will appear in the Catholic Herald to offer catechesis and formation concerning end of life decisions, dying, death, funerals, and burial of the dead from the Catholic perspective.
St. Anthony the Great had a problem. He was 105 years old, he lived in fourth-century Egypt, and he was famous.
He did not want to be embalmed. But the common practice at the death of eminent personages such as himself was to preserve them, pose them on couches, and to keep them in their houses.
This was intended to honor the deceased. |
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By the time you’re reading this, we’ll be in the season of Lent — the annual 40 days of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that leads us to Easter.
Being blessed with the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago, it might seem like we never really left the last Lent we had.
With how we’ve been living the past almost 12 months, we might not feel we have to give up anything for Lent this year. We might feel like we’ve been giving things up this whole time.
Here’s my uneducated, unscientific, un-everything else thought: Don’t. Don’t “give up” anything this Lent.
OK, truth be told, I am still giving up some things this Lent. I’m giving up soda and desserts (I’m sweet enough already?).
