Category: Guest column

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John Bohn, M.D.

What’s POLST? Another medical decision tool . . . with big problems

John Bohn, M.D.

Medical care decisions can be difficult, emotional, and often very confusing. And adding more forms to fill out can make it seem overwhelming. This is especially true for serious medical decisions involving end-of-life issues or other situations that may call for life- sustaining treatments.

In recent years, a new form has been heavily promoted as a “tool” to deal with such matters in hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics across the country. It is called the POLST form. POLST stands for “Physician’s Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment.”

Think twice about POLST

But should you have a POLST form on file? Promotors see it as a tool to effectively translate patient wishes about life-sustaining treatment into medical orders that is easily accessed from their medical record.

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Morgan Smith

The beauty of striving

Morgan Smith

On a recent trip to Florida, I went kayaking in a nature preserve. I started in the Gulf of Mexico and followed the shoreline into a creek that wove and curved through a forest of banyan trees.

Banyan trees are so mysterious. Their roots rise up out of the ground and intertwine to make the trunk and roots shoot out of the branches and reach toward the ground­­ — actually, I cannot tell exactly where the roots are originating from as they flow together in a beautiful and tangled mess.

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Fr. Greg Ihm

Who will fill these shoes?

Fr. Greg Ihm

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

There is a story that comes out of the Archdiocese of Chicago that asks a profound question. It is a story of a monsignor.

At his last weekend before retirement, he placed his shoes at the foot of the altar and after a long pause looked out and asked: “Who is going to fill these shoes now?”

This is a question that has been placed before us as a diocese as we have lost both Msgr. Monte Robinson and Fr. Larry Bowens within a week of each other.

In the past three years, we have also lost Fr. John Auby, Fr. Michael Richel, and Msgr. Felix Oehrlein, who were pastors at the time of their death.

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Veronica Arntz, For the Catholic Herald

Theme nine: Mother, Teacher, Family — The Nature and Role of the Church

Guest Column

In response to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this past September, the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Madison is providing a monthly series on a particular theme on marriage and family. Each theme is a chapter in the preparatory catechesis developed for the event entitled Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive, available in paperback from www.osvparish.com or for free online at www.worldmeeting2015.org This is the ninth of 10 themes that will be explored.

Understanding the nature and mission of the Church is intrinsic to understanding the family, and specifically, the family as the domestic Church.

On the night before His passion and death, Christ prays for those who will believe in Him through the words of His disciples, “that they may all be one; even as you Father, are in me, and I in you” (John 17:21).

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Morgan Smith

The harmony of belonging

Morgan Smith

The other day, I was watching an orchestra concert. I was moved by the beauty of the music­­, but even more struck by the intricate harmony of the instruments as the musicians played them in communion with one another.

I reflected upon the unity it takes to play in an orchestra. Every instrument is essential — individually beautiful — ­­but essential to the sound and wholeness of a piece of music. Each instrument is different. Even among a group of the same instruments, say the violins, there are variations in the sounds and colors of each individual. (Marks of their creator.)

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Ask IPS

Reaching out to the homeless and those in need

Ask IPS

QUESTION: “Especially as the cold settles in this winter, I want to reach out to the homeless in my community. At the same time, this is outside of my comfort zone and I’m afraid of being asked to take on burdens that I’m not ready for. What is a good balance to strike?”

RESPONSE: Sarah Lowrey, M.S. Student at the IPS Center for the Psychological Services

How beautiful that you want to serve and make a difference in your community!

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Beth Ulaszek

Theme eight: A Home for the Wounded Heart

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Beth Ulaszek

In conjunction with the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this past September, the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Madison is providing a monthly series on a particular theme on marriage and family. Each theme is a chapter in the preparatory catechesis developed for the event entitled Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive, available in paperback from www.osvparish.com or for free online at www.worldmeeting2015.org

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Andy Galvin

Theme seven: Light in a Dark World

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Andy Galvin

In conjunction with the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this past September, the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Madison is providing a monthly series on a particular theme on marriage and family. Each theme is a chapter in the preparatory catechesis developed for the event entitled Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive, available in paperback from www.osvparish.com or for free online at www.worldmeeting2015.org

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Morgan Smith

Finding my dignity in self-giving love

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Morgan Smith

I am reflecting now about how I felt on a weekend when I was facilitating a retreat that I had crafted from scratch (if you could imagine the stress this might cause). I feel like what happened to me sounds a bit crazy, the opposite of what “should” have happened.

I left the weekend at a physical deficit after ­­I put in countless hours of work. What’s crazy is that I am more spiritually fulfilled than ever before­­. I left the weekend a changed person.

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