As we celebrate February as Catholic Press Month, I would like to comment on the continued importance of Catholic media in today’s world.
With a plethora of communication tools today (printed materials, computers, cell phones, electronic books), we seem to be bombarded by information. How do we sort it all out? How do we separate truth from fiction? What is important for us to know and what is just garbage?
We may not always be aware of them, but they are there: people living in poverty. They are hanging on by a thread, barely making ends meet. They are often too proud to reach out for help.
Mother Teresa has been quoted as saying, “I do not pray for success; I pray for faithfulness.” Many people in the pro-life movement haven’t seen much success in the past 37 years, but they have continued to be faithful in fighting for the lives of unborn babies.
The January 22, 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade which legalized abortion set in motion a fierce debate in this country. The court decision has not been overturned, but there are signs of hope as we begin the year 2010.
Several years ago, the United States Catholic Bishops changed the observance of National Vocation Awareness Week from October to the week beginning with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This usually occurs during the second week in January.
I remember wondering why the bishops made this change. Having this week soon after Christmas and close to Catholic Schools Week didn’t seem to make sense to me. (It is also a challenge to prepare special articles and coverage of vocations for the Catholic Herald right after the holidays, but we’ve learned to adjust!)
Once again, we experienced a devastating snowstorm on December 9 that practically shut down Madison and most of southcentral Wisconsin.
The storm was followed by frigid single-digit temperatures, meaning that salt applied to the roads couldn’t work.
As the United Nations climate summit gets underway in Copenhagen this week, Pope Benedict XVI was right on target — as usual — in giving some advice to the delegates from around the world attending the summit in Denmark.
The Holy Father said he hoped the December 7 to 18 conference would identify policies that “respect creation and promote a cooperative development founded on the dignity of the human person and oriented toward the common good.”
As the United Nations climate summit gets underway in Copenhagen this week, Pope Benedict XVI was right on target — as usual — in giving some advice to the delegates from around the world attending the summit in Denmark.
The Holy Father said he hoped the December 7 to 18 conference would identify policies that “respect creation and promote a cooperative development founded on the dignity of the human person and oriented toward the common good.”
We just officially began the Christmas shopping season on “Black Friday,” the day which is supposed to help stores get out of “red” debt and into the “black” of economic survival.
While it is good to support our economy — especially in these challenging times — I think we can find additional ways to spend our money during the Advent season that reflect our religious values.
In an attempt to be “inclusive” and not to offend anyone, our society these days seems to be emphasizing the secular nature of our holidays and avoiding any mention of religion.
That’s perhaps why we often see turkeys pictured instead of Pilgrims at Thanksgiving time. That’s why, too, we see the term “holiday” trees used instead of Christmas trees.
With efforts to banish religion from the public square in this country, I’ve begun to wonder what is happening to freedom of religion in the United States.
The beginning of the first amendment to the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This means that while there should be no specific state religion, those with religious beliefs should be able to practice their faith freely.
