Author: Chris Lee

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Chris Lee

The covenant of marriage

My son Stephen and I recently attended the golden wedding anniversary celebration of my friends Piotr and Teresa Malecki.

It began with a Mass of Thanksgiving in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Cracow’s Wawel Cathedral — the place where Piotr and Teresa had exchanged vows on July 4, 1964, kneeling before their old kayaking and hiking friend, the archbishop of Cracow (who, as St. John Paul II, was canonized two months before the Maleckis’ jubilee).

Network of Wojtyla’s friends

Piotr Malecki, Karol Wojtyla’s altar boy at St. Florian Parish and the self-described “enfant terrible” of that network of Wojtyla’s friends known as Srodowisko, is a distinguished physicist.

Teresa Malecka, who had to convince Wojtyla (whom she and others called Wujek, “Uncle”) that she was ready for marriage at age 20, is an accomplished musicologist and the former vice-dean of the Cracow Academy of Music.

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Chris Lee

Women vicariate meetings in Diocese of Madison

MADISON — Women of the diocese are invited to fall vicariate meetings scheduled at parishes in Spring Green and Jefferson, Sept. 18; Berlin, Oct. 14; Bloomington, Oct. 16; and Pine Bluff, Oct. 22.

Rosa Roper, president of the Madison Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (MDCCW) encourages women to take advantage of these meetings to connect with other Catholic women in their area. The half-day meetings offer prayer, socializing, and service and fit into her theme as president: “Live, Learn, Love, and Share Our Catholic Faith.”

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Chris Lee

Lecture focuses on Pope Francis

Alejandro Bermúdez

MADISON — “Who Is Pope Francis? What Is His mind?” is the topic of the next St. Thérèse Lecture to be presented on Friday, Sept. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, 702 S. High Point Rd.

It will be presented by Alejandro Bermúdez, author of Pope Francis: Our Brother, Our Friend: Personal Recollections about the Man Who Became Pope.

Bermúdez will reveal little-known insights into the pope’s personality, his interior world, his human abilities, his work habits, his devotions, his concerns, and his friendships.

Bermúdez will open a fascinating door to better understanding the man whom the Holy Spirit called to lead the Church at this time.

Bermúdez is director of ACI-Prensa, the world’s largest Catholic news agency in Spanish, as well as the executive director of Catholic News Agency and the Portuguese agency ACI digital.

Bermúdez is a frequent contributor to the National Catholic Register and Our Sunday Visitor, and he hosts several Spanish programs on EWTN, including Criterios on Radio Católica Mundial.

He was a participant in the pivotal Fifth Conference of the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) at Aparecida in 2007, where Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) was elected to draft the final document.

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Chris Lee

Revisiting the just war theory

Is there such a thing as a just war? Can the massive death and destruction of armed conflict ever be morally justified by followers of the Prince of Peace?

For the first disciples of Christ the answer was a resounding “No!”

Following Jesus’ command

During the first 300 years of Christianity, it was unthinkable for followers of the nonviolent Jesus to kill a human being.

They took most seriously Jesus’ command: “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other as well. . . . Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”

Typical of early Church teaching on nonviolence, St. Clement of Alexandria said to wealthy Christians, “Contrary to the rest of men, enlist for yourself an army without weapons, without war, without bloodshed, without wrath, without stain — pious old men, orphans dear to God, widows armed with gentleness, men adorned with love.”

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Chris Lee

Arguing about moral matters

In his classic text After Virtue, the philosopher Alisdair MacIntyre lamented, not so much the immorality that runs rampant in our contemporary society, but something more fundamental and in the long run more dangerous; namely, that we are no longer even capable of having a real argument about moral matters.

The assumptions that once undergirded any coherent conversation about ethics, he said, are no longer taken for granted or universally shared. The result is that, in regard to questions of what is right and wrong, we simply talk past one another, or more often, scream at each other.

Red flags go up

I thought of MacIntyre’s observation when I read an article on the Supreme Court’s consideration of the much-vexed issue of gay marriage.

It was reported that, in the wake of the oral arguments, Justice Elena Kagan remarked, “Whenever someone expresses moral disapproval in a legal context, the red flag of discrimination goes up for me.”

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Chris Lee

Resources for voters prepared

MADISON — The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), the public policy voice of Wisconsin’s bishops, is distributing a series of resources to help Catholics reflect on their duties as faithful citizens.

The series is designed for parish bulletins, but it can also be reproduced on a parish website or as a series of posters.

John Huebscher, executive director of the WCC, explained that the bishops are “modeling the Catholic duty to engage in public life in an informed, consistent, and respectful manner.”

 

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Chris Lee

Why I love my invisible friend

One of the favorite taunts of the New Atheists is that religious people believe in an “invisible friend.”

They are implying, of course, that religion is little more than a pathetic exercise in wishful thinking, a reversion to childish patterns of projection and self-protection. It is well past time, they say, for believers to grow up, leave their cherished fantasies behind, and face the real world.

In offering this characterization, the New Atheists are showing themselves to be disciples of the old atheists such as Feuerbach, Marx, Comte, and Freud, all of whom made more or less similar observations.

I’m writing here to let atheists know that I think they’re right, at least about God being an invisible friend. Where they’re wrong is in supposing that surrendering to this unseen reality is de-humanizing or infantilizing.

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Chris Lee

Reflections on work as we mark Labor Day

Labor Day offers us opportunities to reflect upon the value, blessings, and crosses of work from the perspective of Catholic spirituality. Since we spend much time working and commuting to work, such reflection is important.

In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” By our work, we honor the gifts and talents we received from God. Our work helps us to co-create with God by transforming creation in ways that benefit humanity, reflect Christ-like values, and bring creation to its completion and fulfillment.

Transforming the world — and ourselves

When we make crutches or rosaries, or write about poverty, we ought to feel good because our work benefits others. When we prepare meals, grow crops, or repair computers, we should be proud because our work serves others.

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Chris Lee

Teachers are important for a good school year

The new school year invites us to reflect upon teachers’ importance.

Though they sometimes fall short like other humans, good teachers influence our youth who are the hope of the future. Through their classes pass future lawyers, doctors, reporters, writers, farmers, secretaries, engineers, and other shapers of tomorrow’s world.

Good teachers know and love their subject and their students. Coaches, chaperones, parents, counselors, and others who contribute to the school also teach youth. They often are role models.

We may have memories of teachers who made a difference. Some taught elementary school; others taught junior high, and still others taught high school or college. They often differed, but they had one trait in common. They cared about us, shared the subject that they loved, and helped us to grow. We should remember to thank them.

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Chris Lee

Catholic musician to sing at Bishop’s Charities Game

ALLOUEZ — The lyrics for “In Real Life,” the opening song on Amanda Vernon’s 2013 CD entitled Interior Gaze, include: “More than my favorite football team, I want you to see the real me.”

Occasionally when performing the song, Vernon adds the name of her favorite team, the Green Bay Packers.

“My parents are both from Wisconsin,” said Vernon, a singer, pianist, and composer. “We had two rules in our house. You have to be Catholic and be a Packers fan. I’m a legitimate cheesehead. I was born in La Crosse. My family then moved to Grand Rapids (Mich.).”

Vernon will get a close look at the Packers when she performs the National Anthem at the 2014 Bishop’s Charities Game, on Thursday, Aug. 28.

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