Columns – Page 164 – Madison Catholic Herald Archive (2001-2025)

Some people have actually heard corn growing. They tell me this happens when all the conditions are just right; enough good weather and plenty of rain.

Looking around our area makes me think there must have been a lot of noise in the fields this past growing season. Corn, beans, hay, grains, you name it, they have all grown like gangbusters. What a miracle when we think how it all comes from seeds that are planted.Maybe, if you are like me, reminders help from time to time. Harvest season is upon us. Gardens and fields both are producing the fruit from all that has been growing. I am reminded that our God of all creation planted the seed of faith in my life to bear good fruit. If the conditions are just right, and with enough prayer, receiving the sacraments, striving to love God and my neighbor, this can result in a fruitful life.

Guest column

On October 23, 2008

Randy Henderson

Election is not an easy choice

As Catholics we face many complex questions and challenges in regards to being involved in public and political life. We face similar questions and challenges in selecting a candidate.

I had the pleasure of attending a Theology On Tap in which Thomas Peters, an extremely articulate and funny Internet-journalist, worked hard to sell that McCain is the best choice for Catholics. His argument was that the abortion issue encapsulates and trumps all other life issues. If you get the abortion issue wrong, how can you be an advocate for life in its later stages? This seems on the onset like a salient point.

What are these other “life issues” that might motivate a Catholic voter to either pick Barack Obama or perhaps trouble a Catholic enough not to vote for John McCain? A few mentioned but not adequately discussed were the evils of “preventive war,” the death penalty, embryonic stem cell research, and the social sins of poverty and oppression in its many forms.

Respect Life

On October 23, 2008

Susanna D. Herro, For the Catholic Herald

Conscience, Scripture, and loving life

This Sunday’s readings are so direct and to the point. They also bear directly on how we form our conscience in today’s complicated world.

What was said and written so long ago from the Book of Exodus is powerful and true. “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.”

Guest column

On October 15, 2008

Daun Maier

Charitable gifting opportunities for 2008

As we creep into the end of another year, it prompts us to consider our charitable gifting opportunities in respect to our year-end tax planning. There are many ways in which you can structure a gift to provide benefit to you personally while supporting the causes that mean the most to you. Congress has recently made it more attractive for IRA owners over 70 to do just that.

On October 3, 2008, as part of the economic recovery plan, the House joined with the Senate to approve the much awaited IRA charitable rollover plan. This allows IRA owners to make a direct gift to their parish, parish school, diocese, or other qualified diocesan institution through their required minimum distribution from an IRA. This also applies to legally binding pledges you may have made to the Church.

Guest column

On October 15, 2008

Tom Nelson

Harvesting the concerns of Catholic farmers

Our diocesan Rural Life Office serves to support communities of all sizes as consumers of a constant, safe and affordable food supply, with focused emphasis in supporting the farmers and rural communities who plant, grow, and harvest the crops that feed us.

The Rural Life Office works to connect our rural parish communities to the greater diocesan Church as well as inform non-rural parish communities of the many challenges and justice issues facing those who labor to provide “our daily bread.” The success and vitality of all our communities must be measured along-side the health and sustainability of our local farmers and rural families, rural parishes, and farming communities.

Propagation of Faith

On October 15, 2008

Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer, For the Catholic Herald

We are all missionaries

World Mission Sunday, which will celebrate its 82nd anniversary in 2008, affords the entire Church a focused opportunity to reflect on those who have not heard the Gospel — and to respond to Christ’s call to be missionary.

On that day, all parishes in every diocese of the world celebrate together our common vocation to preach and proclaim Christ throughout the world.

Respect Life

On October 15, 2008

Susanna D. Herro, For the Catholic Herald

Recognizing each person as God’s gift

People with mental, physical, or cognitive disabilities face challenges from the everyday tasks of dressing and transportation to the larger challenges of interacting in a world that is not always welcoming.

During Respect Life Month, it is particularly important to remember that each person is a gift from God, in whatever guise. It is also important to recognize that each of us is differently-abled and this infinite variety is a gift too.

Living and Learning

On October 8, 2008May 19, 2021

Msgr. Daniel Ganshert

Understanding men and abortion

Hearing that there was a wise man who knew everything, the story is told of one who was younger and wanted to prove it. Taking the smallest from a flock in a nearby tree, he approached and said, “Tell me old man, I have a bird in my hands, is it alive or is it dead?”

The wise one looked and thought, “If I say it is alive, he will close his hands and crush the life out of it. If I say it is dead, he will open his hands and let it fly in my face.” He looked once more at the young man before him and answered his question with the words, “It is in your hands.” Life or death was in his hands.

Respect Life

On October 8, 2008

Susanna D. Herro, For the Catholic Herald

Respect Life: Helping men affected by abortion

Just last fall, after 34 years of legalized abortion, the first ever conference on men and abortion was held.

Scientists are discovering men’s serious grief responses to abortions. This research is closely connected to Madison and to Wisconsin. Vicki Thorn, founder of Project Rachel in Milwaukee, helped create this conference. From Madison, both Dr. Catherine Coyle and Dr. Robert Enright are cited in the information from the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities.

These three Wisconsin people are helping men understand their sense of loss, the erosion of trust, and the “loss of spiritual connectedness to God and to one’s partner . . .” There is a distinct concern that an abortion history makes it harder for men to trust enough to fully commit to marriage and fatherhood.

Eye on the Capitol

On October 2, 2008

John Huebscher

Embryonic stem cell reasoning is wrong

Recently a pro-stem cell research group, Wisconsin Stem Cell Now, published a “primer” on the subject of stem cell research in Wisconsin. Among other things, the document seeks to dismiss moral arguments against embryonic stem cell research.

In the process, the authors misrepresent the relationship between ethics and morals, equate morality with religion, and define moral argument in a way that would have disqualified some of our nation’s most significant voices for reform from public debates.