A Catholic physician once related to me a powerful story about one of his patients, who had just received a diagnosis of advanced, metastatic cancer and had a relatively short time left to live.
Category: Columns
Closing rural post offices makes no sense
Rural life is a daily challenge to survive on most days; we citizens blessed enough to live in the beauty of the country often are too busy trying to get by to really enjoy all the scenic views of the rural landscape.
At this very moment I am looking at the tree-line between my property and the old Gilbertson Farm west of our home and billowing out in huge clouds of white smoke are the fiery fingers of flames that are consuming my neighbor’s cow barn.
Staying young through laughter
I learned about God’s humor from Sister Gregory, a delightful Franciscan nun who was staff advisor for my high school newspaper.
As editor, I had to “put the paper to bed,” meaning write the last headlines, cross all the t’s, and dot the i’s before going to press.
One night we had to work right through dinner time and both confessed we were hungry.
Sister excused herself and returned after a moment with a heaping, fragrant bowl of popcorn.
Pope Benedict XVI on Europe’s future
World Youth Day 2011, being held in Madrid from August 16 to 21, will be an important moment in Pope Benedict XVI’s campaign to remind Europe of its Christian roots and to call Europe to a nobler understanding of democracy.
As the Holy Father demonstrated in an address in Zagreb, Croatia, in early June, the two parts of that campaign — the recovery of Christian roots and the deepening of 21st-century Europe’s idea of democracy — go together.
Mary’s Assumption inspires us to follow her example
On November 1, 1950, more than 500,000 joyful people packed St. Peter’s Square to hear Pope Pius XII proclaim the dogma of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven.
In Munificentissimus Deus, Pope Pius XII proclaimed that “the “Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into Heavenly glory.”
In no. 59 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council affirmed this dogma of the Church.
God’s children in need
Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption to counter the loss of reverence and respect for the God-given identity of every human being.
Sexual attractions and the call to chastity
People often surmise that same-sex attraction is inborn, and that homosexuals are “naturally gay” or “born that way.” They suppose that if God made them that way, then it must not be a sin to act on their sexual desires.
The possibility of a “gay gene” is sometimes offered as a further defense, suggesting that the condition, and its associated behavior, are inevitable and inescapable.
One commentator summarized it this way: “Asking someone to stop being homosexual would therefore be equivalent to asking an Asian person to stop being Asian or a left-handed person to stop being left-handed.”
Farm fresh and fabulous
Some of my fondest memories of my childhood in the ‘30s were the Sunday afternoon visits to our country cousins.
We’d all pile into Daddy’s new model Chevy, (he sold them, so we always had a new one), drive the 20 miles or more to run in the fields, jump in the hay mow, and watch the animals warily, keeping a safe distance.
One nation under God
On Independence Day we celebrate the anniversary of the day that the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. We also express our admiration and gratitude for the brave men who risked their lives and fortunes to sign this great document.
Bishop Paul Swain once wrote that in his judgment the most famous words related to the Declaration of Independence are, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”
One nation under God
The Pledge of Allegiance reinforces the Declaration’s statement that God is the source of our nation’s independence. In 1952, the Knights of Columbus urged Congress to introduce a resolution to add “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. The resolution was introduced by Congressman Louis C. Rabaut of Michigan and adopted by both Houses of Congress. It was signed by President Eisenhower on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.
Bringing Christ to the city
On June 26, the solemn feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the parishioners of St. Mary, St. John Nepomuc, and St. Lawrence O’Toole Parishes participated in the first-ever Eucharistic procession in Fennimore.
Over 165 people participated and some came from as far away as Dodgeville and Prairie du Chien.
At 1 p.m. Fr. John Sasse emerged from the parish hall carrying the monstrance with the precious body and blood of Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Once he was situated under the canopy, the procession began northward down Jefferson St.
Recall-loaded summer unlike any other
The summer of the odd-numbered year is usually quiet on the political scene. By early July the Legislature has completed its work on the state budget and goes home until autumn. Other than an occasional special election, the campaign season is more than a year away.