Author: Chris Lee

On
Chris Lee

One candidate stands up for life and religious liberty

To the editor:

Catholics will be very influential in determining who will become our next president. The choice is really only between the candidates of our two major parties. Though neither candidate this year is ideal, I would argue that one of them is far superior to the other from a Catholic point of view.

One of the candidates now substantially embraces the pro-life position and has promised, as president, to only appoint pro-life justices, like the late Antonin Scalia, to the Supreme Court. The other candidate wants no restrictions on abortion and is the darling of America’s largest abortion provider-Planned Parenthood.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

One candidate is best prepared for presidency

To the editor:

Recent letters to the editor have tried mightily to avoid saying the name, but encourage us, just the same, to vote for the Republican candidate. The plea is to support the Republican Party platform and to view abortion above all other issues. There appears to be little concern about electing a man to the most important position in the world despite his racist, sexist, xenophobic, and anti-religious views. Likewise, his election would allow his finger to be on the nuclear button that could eliminate all life on earth.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Schoenstatt Shrine has busy Year of Mercy

The Schoenstatt Founder Shrine in Madison has one of three Doors of Mercy in the Diocese of Madison during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which continues until November 20. (Photo (c) by Robert J. Arntz)

MADISON — It has been a busy year at the Schoenstatt Founder Shrine in Madison, primarily because the shrine was designated as a Door of Mercy during the Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy.

During the Year of Mercy, the Diocese of Madison designated three Holy Doors. The other two sites are at the Cathedral Parish: St. Patrick Church and Holy Redeemer Church in Madison.

Place of pilgrimage

The doors provide a place of pilgrimage and they bear with them a plenary indulgence granted by Pope Francis.

The possibility for an indulgence comes under the usual conditions: a person must be in the state of grace, make a sacramental Confession, receive the Holy Eucharist, pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, and have the interior disposition of being detached from sin, including venial sin.

People have until November 20 to take advantage of this opportunity to pass through a Door of Mercy.

Busy year

According to Sr. M. Catherine Ditto, Schoenstatt Movement coordinator in the Diocese of Madison, “It has been a busy year at our shrine. About 550 people each month have visited the shrine from different parishes, schools, and organizations.”

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Called to be salt and light for all

This is the second in a two-part series on salvation history, with the goal of understanding the role we play in this history. In the first part, Bishop Barron discussed how the creation narrative in Genesis teaches us that our role as human beings is to “praise God on behalf of all creation” and that the Fall is man’s loss of this “priestly identity.” In this second part, he covers the three other acts in the “drama” of salvation history: The Formation of Israel, the Coming of the Messiah, and the Church.

Beginning with the covenant with Abraham, God shapes a nation according to his own mind and heart; he teaches a particular tribe to worship him aright, to be his priestly people. His ultimate intention is to use Israel for the instruction of all the nations of the world.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Volunteers enjoy working in pantry gardens

Second in a series on the Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens.

MADISON — Scripture readings often come to mind for Msgr. James Uppena, a retired priest residing at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish who serves as a co-leader with Dick Reynolds at the Schulte Garden on the Hershberger property.

It is part of the Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens, which include 17 different gardens.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Voters should consider abortion issue in choosing candidates

To the editor:

As the election approaches, we must ask which party, policies, and candidate is most in line with our Catholic Church?

There are so many issues to consider . . . immigration, racial injustice, war, education, the economy, and healthcare.

However, there is one issue that is deemed an intrinsic evil by the Catholic Church: the killing of unborn innocent babies. We must never commit, promote, or enable the killing of babies, regardless of their age.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Who we are and what role we play

This is the first in a two-part series on the five “acts” in the drama of salvation history.

This fall, I am giving presentations to all of the high school teachers, staff, and administrators in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. These talks take place on an annual basis, and they are dedicated to a regular cycle of topics. This year, the theme is morality. Lucky me!

My guess is that disquisitions on doctrine or Church history or pastoral practice wouldn’t raise too many hackles, but ethics is practically guaranteed to rile people up, especially now when issues of same-sex marriage, transgenderism, and assisted suicide are so present to the public consciousness.

Who we are as Christians

I am not sure whether I’m delighting or disappointing my audiences, but I am not ordering my talks to address these hot-button questions. Indeed, it is my conviction that a good deal of mischief and confusion is caused precisely by characterizing Catholic morality primarily as a matrix for adjudicating such matters.

Read More
On
Chris Lee

Divorce, remarriage, and Communion

Veronica Arntz

Part three of a four-part series

Having established a clear understanding of the Church’s teaching on marriage and family, let us now turn to the situation of the divorced and remarried.

St. John Paul II recognized the difficult situations that arise from divorce: “Loneliness and other difficulties are often the lot of separated spouses, especially when they are innocent parties” (Familiaris Consortio, 83).

Divorced and remarried

Yet, both St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis, 29) affirm that those who have been divorced and remarried without receiving a declaration of nullity cannot receive Communion.

Read More