Author: Chris Lee

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Chris Lee

A Catholic approach to forgiveness

Msgr. John Hebl

Editor’s Note: During Lent, a series of articles on Forgiveness will be presented by Msgr. John Hebl, pastor emeritus and charter member of the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI), and Robert Enright, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, author, and founder of the IFI. This will help introduce the first ever International Conference on Forgiveness in July 2017 which IFI is sponsoring in the Holy City of Jerusalem. This is the fourth in the series of seven articles.

A number of years ago, an elderly priest in one of our neighboring dioceses began his Lenten homily by telling the people, “I hope I don’t die in the confessional.”

After pausing to get the parishioners’ attention, he added, “because they probably wouldn’t find my body for three days!”

What he meant, of course, is that many Catholics are not making use of the sacrament of God’s forgiveness commonly known as Confession. So the priest sits there all alone.

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Chris Lee

Stoughton students help build well in Sudan

stoughton students
Sixth grade students from St. Ann School in Stoughton are collecting money to send to Water for South Sudan to help build a well in a village there. Students include Savannah Hendrickson, Anthony Teche, Maggie Langenohl, Charlie Mehring, Lillian Talbert, Ellee Milota, Max Mueller, and Seth Allhands. (Contributed photo)

STOUGHTON — A group of St. Ann School sixth graders is putting their empathy into action for people in a village more than 7,000 miles away.

Inspired by the book A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park that they read and discussed in their language arts class, the students put together a Lenten project to help build a well in South Sudan.

A Long Walk to Water is about Salva Dut, a boy from a village in South Sudan, Africa, who fled his village as war erupted outside of his school. He ran with many other children to escape the violence. They ran not knowing if they’d ever find their families again.

Dut ended up walking more than 1,000 miles to safety, first to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, and eventually to Kenya. He spent 11 years in refugee camps until being sent to New York City to start a new life.

The book talks about Dut’s journey and about the plight of the people who often do not have access to good, clean water. Dut, after working and saving money, decided to go back to help his fellow Sudanese people by drilling wells.

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Chris Lee

On ‘owning’ the Church

The question of “who owns the Church” has had a stormy history in Catholic America, although the terms of reference have changed considerably over time.

In the 19th century, “lay trusteeism” — lay boards that owned parish property and sometimes claimed authority over the appointment and dismissal of pastors — was a major headache for the U.S. bishops.

Today, the question is more likely to arise from the wetlands of psychobabble; thus one Midwestern diocesan chancellor recently spoke about a diocesan “needs assessment” that “can give ownership to the people,” presumably of their lives as Catholics.

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Chris Lee

Conference held on Dignity at the End of Life

First in a series on the recent conference on “Dignity at the End of Life, from Suffering to Hope,” held in Fitchburg.

FITCHBURG — There’s no escaping it — we are all going to die.

Although it may result from a sudden event, census trends predict that most of us will experience the end of life after an extensive period of “old age”. This period often brings us new challenges in the form of physical or cognitive disabilities.

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Chris Lee

Why it matters more who Jesus is

I have been reading, with both profit and delight, Thomas Joseph White’s latest book, The Incarnate Lord: A Thomistic Study in Christology.

Fr. White, one of the brightest of a new generation of Thomas interpreters, explores a range of topics in this text — the relationship between Jesus’ human and divine natures, whether the Lord experienced the beatific vision, the theological significance of Christ’s cry of anguish on the cross, his descent into Hell, etc. — but for the purposes of this article, I want to focus on a theme of particular significance in the theological and catechetical context today.

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Chris Lee

Contest to name homeless center

MADISON — A contest is being held to name the new homeless day resource center operated by Catholic Charities with submissions being accepted from March 22 to April 7.

Groups, businesses, schools, clubs, and individuals can enter a naming idea and be eligible to win a gift with recognition at the ribbon cutting when the center opens in the fall.

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Chris Lee

Helpful hints on forgiving others

Msgr. John Hebl

Editor’s Note: During Lent, a series of articles on Forgiveness will be presented by Msgr. John Hebl, pastor emeritus and charter member of the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI), and Robert Enright, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, author, and founder of the IFI. This will help introduce the first ever International Conference on Forgiveness in July 2017 which IFI is sponsoring in the Holy City of Jerusalem. This is the third in the series of seven articles.

Pope Francis declared 2016 as a Jubilee Year of Mercy. However, few people realized that human mercy had its inception about 2,300 B.C, that’s 4,300 years ago, when Hammurabi reigned as the sixth king of the Babylonia Dynasty.

He noticed that people often wanted to “get even” when someone offended them. It had a snow ball effect as many times retaliation ended in a fashion of extreme violence.

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On
Chris Lee

Helpful hints on forgiving others

Msgr. John Hebl

Editor’s Note: During Lent, a series of articles on Forgiveness will be presented by Msgr. John Hebl, pastor emeritus and charter member of the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI), and Robert Enright, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, author, and founder of the IFI. This will help introduce the first ever International Conference on Forgiveness in July 2017 which IFI is sponsoring in the Holy City of Jerusalem. This is the third in the series of seven articles.

Pope Francis declared 2016 as a Jubilee Year of Mercy. However, few people realized that human mercy had its inception about 2,300 B.C, that’s 4,300 years ago, when Hammurabi reigned as the sixth king of the Babylonia Dynasty.

He noticed that people often wanted to “get even” when someone offended them. It had a snow ball effect as many times retaliation ended in a fashion of extreme violence.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Helpful hints on forgiving others

Msgr. John Hebl

Editor’s Note: During Lent, a series of articles on Forgiveness will be presented by Msgr. John Hebl, pastor emeritus and charter member of the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI), and Robert Enright, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, author, and founder of the IFI. This will help introduce the first ever International Conference on Forgiveness in July 2017 which IFI is sponsoring in the Holy City of Jerusalem. This is the third in the series of seven articles.

Pope Francis declared 2016 as a Jubilee Year of Mercy. However, few people realized that human mercy had its inception about 2,300 B.C, that’s 4,300 years ago, when Hammurabi reigned as the sixth king of the Babylonia Dynasty.

He noticed that people often wanted to “get even” when someone offended them. It had a snow ball effect as many times retaliation ended in a fashion of extreme violence.

Read More