MILTON — “And so my beloved . . . when red leaves are falling . . . the love bells shall ring out, ring out for you and me.”
With the holiness of Bing Crosby’s Father O’Malley and the grace of Ingrid Bergman’s Sister Benedict, St. Mary Parish in Milton’s “Belles of St. Mary” are witnesses of faith for their parish and surrounding community.
To the editor:
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism recently published an excellent article about the inspector general for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services conducting a much-needed audit of the multi-million dollar family planning industry in our state.
The recent article highlighted that clinics “overbilled Medicaid by $3.5 million.”
BARABOO — The Servants of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Vigil for Life will host the seventh annual Respect Life Retreat at Durward’s Glen Retreat and Conference Center in Baraboo on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19 and 20.
They are inviting anyone who works and/or prays to build a culture of life and who recognizes that this effort is ultimately the Lord’s battle to save souls and protect innocent lives from conception until natural death. All people of good will are welcomed.
MIDDLETON — For the past five years, teens from the Diocese of Madison have won scholarship awards celebrating their “faith in action.”
For the 2014 winners and the presenters, this year took on a special significance.
In September, Pope Francis celebrated “the blessing of long life” with thousands of senior citizens and their families.
In his homily that day, he spoke about the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, calling it “a Gospel of encounter.”
The pope encouraged those present — and through them, all of us — to follow Mary’s example and re-establish a covenant between the young and the old.
To the editor:
A couple of families from the Diocese of Madison will be sponsoring a life-size Nativity scene at our State Capitol, and we would like to invite others to help us make this display truly inspiring.
For the thousands of folks that will visit the Capitol with their children and grandchildren, the Nativity will remind everyone that Jesus is the reason for this special season.
To the editor:
I find it interesting that you are requesting people not to shop on Thanksgiving evening. Perhaps some of these people are working on “Black Friday” like me and are unable to shop on Friday. If they can get better value for their money by shopping early, that’s okay.
Further more, you are advocating watching football and those players are working and not spending time with their family you don’t seem to have an issue with that.
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| Pope Francis arrives to lead an audience at the Vatican recently. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) |
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis said he would attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September of 2015, making it the first confirmed stop on what is expected to be a more extensive papal visit to North America.
The pope made the announcement November 17, in a speech opening an interreligious conference on traditional marriage.
“I would like to confirm that, God willing, in September 2015, I will go to Philadelphia for the eighth World Meeting of Families,” the pope said.
The announcement had been widely expected, since Pope Benedict XVI had said before his retirement that he hoped to attend the Philadelphia event. Popes typically fulfill their predecessors’ publicly known travel plans, as Pope Francis did in July 2013, when he attended World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who was in Rome for the families meeting, told Catholic News Service the announcement was “a surprise in the sense that it was announced so early; you know usually they don’t make these announcements — four months out is the typical and here we are 10 months away, and the Holy Father said he is coming to Philadelphia.”
MADISON — After 10 years of mission and values-driven service, Dr. Frank Byrne announced recently that he plans to retire from his position as president of St. Mary’s Hospital on January 30, 2015. However, he will remain a member of the board of directors of St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation.
Under Byrne’s leadership, St. Mary’s nearly doubled in size with the 2008 completion of its expansion project. St. Mary’s and Dean began their journey toward HIMSS Stage 7 status with the transition to Epic’s electronic health record system.
To the editor:
Most of us are aware that there is a dichotomy of thought in our world concerning what determines the beginning of life. But is there an awareness that there is also a dichotomy of thought in the determination of what ends life?
Did you know that the use of neurological criteria to declare “brain death” was motivated by the desire to harvest the beating heart and other vital organs for transplantation and to remove life support from patients to keep from overcrowding intensive care units of hospitals?
