Sonora Louise Smart Dodd is known as the “Mother of Father’s Day.” In 1909, she heard a sermon on the need to set aside a day to honor mothers. She agreed, but she wondered why there wasn’t a day to honor fathers.
Her father, William Jackson Smart, left indelible marks of love on her heart.
He was a Civil War veteran and a widower for 21 years who heroically raised Sonora and her five younger brothers after their mother died while giving birth to her brother Marshal.
On June 2, we celebrate Corpus Christi, the feast of the Eucharist. In Latin Corpus Christi means the Body of Christ. The full Latin name of this feast is “Corpus et Sanguis Christi’’ — “The Body and Blood of Christ.”
In some countries and sometimes in our diocese, during this feast there are edifying processions when the sacred host is carried outdoors or around the church.
By Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB
We have seen in a previous reflection that the first thing the Holy Eucharist does is proclaim God’s great love for us, above all through the Paschal Mystery of Jesus (i.e., His Death, Resurrection, and Ascension) which is the means of our eternal salvation.
In the light of that great divine love coming to us, through sacramental signs, we need to respond in faith and in love.
STOUGHTON — Msgr. Gerard Healy will retire in July as the pastor at Stoughton’s St. Ann Parish. He served there for the past 24 years, and an additional 28 years as a priest at five other parishes throughout southwestern Wisconsin.
A celebration will be held in his honor on Monday, May 27, at St. Ann Parish grounds, 323 North Van Buren St., from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., with a pig roast from 4 to 6 p.m.
To the editor:
Thomas Jefferson had some very grave concerns about the powers of the United States Supreme Court. In a letter he wrote in 1820 he voiced his concerns: “You seem to consider the judges the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions; a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges . . . and their power [are] the more dangerous as they are in office for life, and are not responsible, as the other functionaries are, to the elective control.”
In 1962 the Supreme Court removed state-sponsored prayer from public schools (Engel v. Vitale). In 1965 it tossed a law preventing married couples from buying contraceptives by creating a “right to privacy” (Griswold v. Connecticut).
To the editor:
Kermit Gosnell is guilty, and justice has been done. According to one courtroom observer, Gosnell seemed surprised that he was found guilty, and it is that aspect of his cold attitude that describes the monster he is.
If sane and moral people had tried to conjure up the most monstrous abortionist alive, they would have been hard put to come up with the atrocities committed by Gosnell. Our fear that he would be acquitted is unrealized, and America is once again a nation with a conscience which recognizes a grave injustice.
To the editor:
I was reading the guest column by Frank Zawlocki (April 25 issue, Catholic Herald) and it brought back memories of my serving days. I loved serving and we actually had to memorize Latin responses back then.
My mother was a little embarrassed one time on Sunday when the sermon was over and she saw me sitting asleep. Thirty seconds later, I heard the people responding to the priest and I rose very quickly.
HUBERTUS, Wis. — The Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians at Holy Hill will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Shrine with a Mass on Saturday, May 25, at 4:30 p.m.
Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee will be the principal celebrant, with the Discalced Carmelite priests of Holy Hill concelebrating.
Archbishop Listecki will also re-dedicate the Shrine Chapel, recently repainted by Conrad Schmitt Studios (of New Berlin), as well as formally bless the newly installed bronze doors.
These doors, depicting St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Virgin Mary, were designed by renowned figurative sculptor, Cody Joseph Swanson, casted by Vanguard Sculpture Services, Ltd (of Milwaukee,), and fabricated by Louis Hoffmann Co (of Menomonee Falls). This special Mass is open to the public.
SINSINAWA — Sister Mary Owen Haggerty, OP, died May 22, 2013. The funeral Mass was held in Queen of the Rosary Chapel at Sinsinawa May 30, 2013, followed by burial in the Motherhouse Cemetery.
Sister Mary Owen made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican Aug. 5, 1952, and her final profession Aug. 5, 1955. She taught for one year, served in the health care field for 50 years, ministered as the coordinator of volunteers for the Motherhouse for 11 years, and served as pastoral assistant for seven years. She was well-known at the Dubuque (Iowa) Farmers’ Market for selling Sinsinawa bakery products. Sister Mary Owen served in Iowa, Wisconsin, Washington and Illinois.
SINSINAWA — Sister Jeanne Dion, OP, died May 17, 2013, at St. Dominic Villa. The funeral Mass was held in Queen of the Rosary Chapel at Sinsinawa May 21, 2013, followed by burial in the Motherhouse Cemetery.
Sister Jeanne made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican Dec. 16, 1972, and her final profession May 22, 1976. She ministered as a secretary for 11 years, bookkeeper for seven years, pastoral associate for nine years, and parish administrator for eight years. Sister Jeanne served in Wisconsin, Illinois, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.
