We can’t live out our vocation as faithful citizens unless we are also active between elections, when the hard work of making laws and policies is done.
Some of that hard work will take place in the next few weeks when the Joint Committee on Finance schedules its hearings on Governor Scott Walker’s state budget proposal. Those hearings will give Catholics and others a chance to influence the content of that budget. It is a chance we should exploit.
Q: After my mother suffered a massive heart attack I offered to have her move in with me so I could provide the necessary care. That was six months ago and in that time she has progressively gotten weaker and less able to care for herself. My care in the beginning consisted of making meals, doing her laundry and reminding her to take her medications. Now she is having trouble walking on her own; she definitely needs help with her personal hygiene and we have not talked about this level of care. I am extremely uncomfortable giving my mother a shower or helping her with other needs such as going to the bathroom. How can I convince her to accept some outside help? (From a daughter in Sun Prairie).
Seminarian Gabriel Lopez-Betanzos in Rome is pictured with St. Peter’s Basilica in the background. (Contributed photo)
Editor’s note: This is the third of a series of reflections on recent events happening at the Vatican by Diocese of Madison seminarians studying in Rome.
It was a cool, rainy evening in Rome. I stood in St. Peter’s Square with a group of seminarians and student priests from the North American College. Along with thousands of others from all over the world we awaited the smoke from the little chimney above the Sistine Chapel.
Then, without warning, smoke started coming out of the chimney! At first it appeared dark, but then it was clearly not the deep black smoke we had seen earlier. We have a new pope! As the smoke continued to flow from the chimney and the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica began to ring we made our way forward through the crowd. We reached a position centered in front of the now-famous balcony not far from the front of the crowd and waited anxiously to see the new pope.
SINSINAWA — Sister Mary Nona McGreal, OP, died March 20, 2013, at St. Dominic Villa, Sinsinawa. The funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. in Queen of the Rosary Chapel at Sinsinawa Tuesday, March 26, 2013, followed by burial in the Motherhouse Cemetery. Friends may call after 5:15 p.m. Monday, March 25, 2013, at the Motherhouse, Sinsinawa, where a wake and remembering service will be held at 6:30 p.m.
Sister Mary Nona McGreal made her first religious profession as a Sinsinawa Dominican Sister March 8, 1933, and her final profession Aug. 5, 1936. She taught in elementary schools of the Congregation for eight years, including St. Clement, Sheboygan, Wis., 1933; St. Brendan, Chicago, 1933–1937; and St. Thomas the Apostle, Chicago, 1937–1941. Sister Mary Nona completed her graduate studies at the Catholic University of America, receiving her Ph.D. in 1951. With Sister Mary Joan Smith, OP, she developed a widely used new curriculum for U.S. Catholic schools, publishing the three-volume work Guiding Growth in Christian Social Living: A Curriculum for the Elementary School during the 1940s.
Queridos amigos:
Estamos justo en medio del Año de la Fe y a punto de emprender lo que el Beato Juan Pablo Magno y el Papa Emérito Benedicto han alentado que hagamos, es decir, la “Nueva Evangelización”. Y no sólo eso, sino que nos encontramos en la era de un nuevo Papa. Mientras escribo esta columna, el Cónclave aún debe empezar, pero al momento en que la lean, es posible que ya tengamos un nuevo Papa.
A diferencia de las noticias en los medios (considerando su interés en el escándalo) una de las cosas claves en que los Cardenales en el Cónclave se concentrarán o en que se han concentrado, por inspiración del Espíritu Santo, es la elección de un Papa que seguirá en la realización de esa Nueva Evangelización.
De hecho, ha habido y hay gente pecadora en la Iglesia, y de hecho hay pecaminosidad “desde abajo hasta lo más alto” porque hay pecadores en todos los ámbitos de la Iglesia aquí en la tierra, pero nuestro primer pecado es y ha sido siempre alejarnos de Dios y de lo que Él nos llama. Volver a Dios es precisamente de lo que se trata la Nueva Evangelización y allí es donde cualquier reforma de la Iglesia tiene que empezar. Todo hombre, mujer y niño en la Iglesia – desde el Papa hasta el último – tiene que ser llamado nuevamente a encontrarse con la persona auténtica de Jesucristo de modo que transforme la vida y debe ser cambiado por Él. Toca ser sacudidos de la somnolencia que golpea a Pedro y los Apóstoles en el huerto de Getsemaní y que nos acecha cada vez que puede. Por medio de su Vicario, Cristo tiene que volver a nosotros, una y otra vez, para decirnos “¡Levántense… recen… la hora está cerca!”(ver Mt 26:36-46, y ss).
As of: March 2, 2013
Beloit:
3rd Sunday of the Month, 10:30 am – St. Jude Parish, 737 Hackett St.
Janesville:
2nd Sunday of the Month, 5:00 pm – St. Patrick Parish, 315 Cherry St.
3rd Sunday of the Month, 12:30 pm – St. Patrick Parish, 315 Cherry St.
Jefferson:
2nd Sunday of the Month, 12:30 pm – St. John the Baptist Parish, 214 N. Sanborn Ave.
4th Sunday of the Month, 4:00 pm – St. John the Baptist Parish, 214 N. Sanborn Ave.
Madison:
Saturdays 6:30 pm – Cathedral Parish of St. Raphael, (Holy Redeemer Church), 120 W. Johnson St.
Sundays 11:00 am – Cathedral Parish of St. Raphael, (Holy Redeemer Church), 120 W. Johnson St.
Sundays 1:00 pm – St. Peter Parish Church, 5001 N. Sherman Ave.
Sundays 6:30 pm – Cathedral Parish of St. Raphael, (Holy Redeemer Church), 120 W. Johnson St.
Sundays 7:00 pm – Good Shepherd Parish, (St. Joseph Church on the Beltline), 1905 W. Beltline Hwy.
MADISON — The sudden abdication from the pontificate by Benedict XVI shocked many around the world, but a number of young adults in the Diocese of Madison decided that the papal resignation and coming conclave were the perfect opportunity to plan a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Several diocesan employees began talking one day at the chancery offices: the new Tribunal staff desired to explain the canon law aspects behind the upcoming conclave, and the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis was excited to bring folks together to showcase the beauty and excitement of the Catholic faith. Soon, the creative sparks began to fly and a fantastic evening was in the works.
MADISON — When the longtime church supply store and Christian retailer Madison Church Supply went out of business in 2011, a void was left in the local community.
Into that breach stepped Kevin Niles, the owner of By The Cross Church Supply and Catholic Gift and Bookstore in Stevens Point. Originally from Texas and a transplant to Wisconsin by virtue of his wife, with whom he has six children, Niles has owned and operated the store in Stevens Point for three years.
To the editor:
Local Catholics need to know that the former Saint Benedict Center, now renamed Holy Wisdom Monastery (HWM), makes no proper distinction between Holy Mass with the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and a protestant service. It’s not at all in keeping with a Catholic understanding of authentic ecumenism.
The Sisters, who left their vows in 2006, now lead something like a pseudo-parish, not in communion with the Catholic Church, and host various activist dissent groups and so-called “womenpriests.”
To the editor:
In his recent 1,093-page budget, Governor Scott Walker has a provision that says certain taxpayers who have NOT paid their taxes for years — if the state knew of their underpayment but took no action — do NOT have to pay back these taxes.
In other words, the 61 new Department of Revenue employees who might discover these cheaters can take no action.
