Author: Chris Lee

On
Chris Lee

St. Ambrose Academy to hold 10th annual benefit dinner

MADISON — It started with Chef Bishop Robert C. Morlino at the grill.

On the feast of St. Ambrose in December of 2007, Madison’s startup Catholic classical school, St. Ambrose Academy, welcomed 200 guests to the cozy social hall of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish for its first benefit dinner.

The red-aproned bishop led the student kitchen crew in cooking his very own recipes for roasted asparagus, garlic-and-rosemary potatoes, and chicken saltimbocca over a snowy grill in honor of the Italian bishop, St. Ambrose of Milan.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Jubilee Year of Mercy approaches its end

holy door
A Holy Door is located at St. Patrick Church, 404 E. Main St., Madison. Another Holy Door is located at Holy Redeemer Church, 120 W. Johnson St., Madison. Both churches are part of the Cathedral Parish. For more information on Mass and Confession schedule, go to www.isthmuscatholic.org A Holy Door is also found at the Schoenstatt Founder Shrine, 5901 Cottage Grove Rd. in Madison, which is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.  (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash)

MADISON — Led by our Holy Father, Pope Francis, Catholics around the world have had a great opportunity to make contemplating and celebrating the Mercy of God a daily part of our lives through our observance of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Here in the Diocese of Madison, we adopted the theme, “Contemplating the Face of God’s Mercy.”

Many of us may read this and wonder, “What does this mean for me and what does this mean for my church/our diocese?”

These are good questions to be asking, especially as we consider how to continue to respond to God’s mercy once the Jubilee Year concludes on November 20.

We should keep asking ourselves those questions, and now is the perfect time to reflect on our own, as well as our collective, participation in this Jubilee Year.

Where we’ve been

Whether alone, with our families, or with the larger community, we always start every faithful effort with sincere prayer — through study, meditation, and more formal worship — especially in placing ourselves in our Lord’s very presence at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and in Eucharistic Adoration.

Sincere and humble contemplation upon the face of God’s mercy will always lead us to the continual conversion we each need, and this conversion leads us to seek God’s mercy eagerly through the Sacrament of Penance and through living out the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy more frequently and more perfectly.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Three lessons for young Catholics

Last week, I had the privilege of speaking to around 9,000 middle school and high school students from the Catholic schools of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. They were gathered in the cavernous Galen Center at the University of Southern California (UCC), and the atmosphere in the room was electric.

There was a good deal of upbeat music and games, but when Archbishop Gomez processed into the arena carrying the Blessed Sacrament for Benediction, you could hear a pin drop. There is just something uniquely moving about seeing 9,000 energetic kids suddenly falling to their knees in silent adoration.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Deacon Ralph Poyo speaks on the New Evangelization

MADISON — Parishes and leaders in the Diocese of Madison recently got a chance to assess how they are living out the New Evangelization.

During the first week in November, Deacon Ralph Poyo spoke on this very topic.

Deacon Poyo runs New Evangelization Ministries, an Ohio-based ministry in which he travels the country and inspires the lay faithful, clergy, parishes, and dioceses through parish missions, retreats, and trainings leading them to answer the call to the New Evangelization.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Family is focus at Good Shepherd Festival

MADISON — From preparation to the actual event, the Good Shepherd Parish Family Festival engages family members of all ages.

Well known for the sale of pfeffernuesse cookies, the festival will be held Sunday, Nov. 13, at St. James Church located on St. James Ct. near Mills and Mound Sts.

The festival begins with a Children’s Mass at 8:30, followed by the opening of the trash and treasure sale in the school basement as well as the bakery, snack bar, silent auction and raffles, pfefferenuesse sale, and children’s games in the school gym. The chicken dinner starts at 11 a.m. and goes until 4:30 p.m.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Three ordinary men with extraordinary priesthoods

Fr. Gregory Ihm

Fr. Michael McGivney, Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, and St. John Paul II all have several things in common. They were ordinary men called to a life of holiness as parish priests and through their priestly ministry had significant historical impact on the Church.

The Vocational Booth sponsored by Diocesanpriest.com at World Youth Day in Poland this year highlighted these three priests in order to help ordinary men consider the impact that their “YES” to the Lord’s call can have on the lives of others.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

What to make of Simpsonization of men

Two recent films, Deepwater Horizon with Mark Wahlberg and Sully starring Tom Hanks, represent something of a breath of fresh air, for both movies feature men who are intelligent, virtuous, and quietly heroic. If this strikes you as a banal observation, that just means you haven’t been following much of the popular culture for the past 20 years.

Homer Simpsonization

One of the distinctive marks of films and television programs the last couple of decades has been the Homer Simpsonization of men. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big fan of the The Simpsons and laugh at Homer’s antics as much as the next guy.

But the father of the Simpson family is stupid, boorish, drunk most of the time, irresponsible, comically incompetent, and childish. In the cartoon world, he is echoed, of course, by Family Guy’s Peter Griffin, who is similarly buffoonish.

Read More