Columns – Page 84 – Madison Catholic Herald Archive (2001-2025)

As the first pope in history to address a joint session of Congress, Pope Francis defended the human right of masses of oppressed and poor people to immigrate.

He said “We must not be taken aback by their number, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation.”

Living by the Golden Rule

The pope said, “We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'” (Mt 7:12).

Guest column

On October 1, 2015

Ask IPS

Giving a child their own ‘space’ as they grow


	Ask IPS

QUESTION: “My daughter has just started her first year of college. I want to give her space, but also to be supportive if she needs me. What’s the best way for a parent to strike that balance with a young adult?”

RESPONSE: William McKenna, M.S., Clinical Extern at the IPS Center for Psychological Services

Transition within our lives can be difficult, and when those transitions involve our children, it can become even more demanding.

Guest column

On October 1, 2015

Ronald Faust

Wisconsin KC’s support bishops in taking action against sale, use of fetal body parts


	Ronald Faust

In support of the bishops of Wisconsin: As Knights of Columbus we cannot be part of what Pope Francis has called the “complicit silence” of many who hear of atrocities and do nothing. We must act.

I invite you to consider that those same words apply completely and directly to the brutalization of women and children by Planned Parenthood. The intentional, vicious murder of innocents in the womb is an atrocity. That it is followed by the callous selling of their body parts should shock our culture into action.

Word on Fire

On October 1, 2015

Bishop Robert Barron

‘Mad Men’ and the depression of Don Draper

About four years ago, I had to take the long flight to New Zealand to give a retreat to the priests of the Diocese of Christchurch.

In order to pass the time, I brought along an iPad with the entire first season of Mad Men on it. So in one very intense period, I got immersed in the world of Don Draper, a world that I vaguely remember from my own childhood — not the booze and the affairs, of course, but the look, the feel, the colors, the way people moved and talked.

Guest column

On September 24, 2015

Andy Galvin

Theme five: Creating the Future


	Andy Galvin

To prepare for the upcoming World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this 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

Word on Fire

On September 24, 2015

Bishop Robert Barron

Your life does not belong to you

It was revealed recently that, for the first time in its history, Harvard University, which had been founded for religious purposes and named for a minister of the Gospel, has admitted a freshman class in which atheists and agnostics outnumber professed Christians and Jews.

Also recently, the House and the Senate of California passed a provision that allows for physician-assisted suicide in the Golden State. As I write these words, the governor of California is deliberating whether to sign the bill into law.

Though it might seem strange to suggest as much, I believe that the make-up of the Harvard freshman class and the passing of the suicide law are very really related.

Guest column

On September 17, 2015

Morgan Smith

Encountering Christ and radiating Him to others


	Morgan Smith

As I go through each day, often monotony sets in, and I try to remember my conversion. I try to keep the memory of what happened to me — the event of meeting Christ and falling in love with Him — alive to let it permeate my being through the drudgery of everyday things.

This is so difficult for me! Why is it so easy to forget what has happened to us? Why do we allow the distractions of life to take hold of our hearts and minds until we forget the reason for life itself?

Reflections on Religious Life

On September 17, 2015

Abbot Marcel Rooney

Adaptation and renewal of Religious Life: Role of ‘active,’ apostolic Religious

Editor’s note: During this Year of Consecrated Life, this is the seventh in a series based on the Second Vatican Council’s document, Perfectae Caritatis (Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life) written by Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB, former abbot primate of the Benedictine order who now resides in Madison.

In this commentary on the decree of the Second Vatican Council Decree On the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, we have reflected upon the meaning of Religious Life expressed by the council fathers.

The fathers gave special attention to the two main expressions of Religious Life in the Western Church: 1) the contemplative and/or monastic life; 2) the active and/or missionary life.

In the previous installment, we reflected upon the contemplative expression of Religious Life. This seventh reflection will consider the council’s teaching on the “active” or apostolic expression of the special call to Religious Life.

Word on Fire

On September 17, 2015

Bishop Robert Barron

Why Serra matters today

The upcoming canonization of Blessed Junípero Serra in Washington, D.C. — the first ever to take place on American soil — has generated, as I’m sure you know, a good deal of controversy.

For his defenders, Padre Serra was an intrepid evangelist and a model of Gospel living, while for his detractors, he was a shameless advocate of an oppressive colonial system that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Indians.

Even many who typically back Pope Francis see this canonization as a rare faux pas for the Argentine pontiff. What should we make of all this?

Ask Jean

On September 17, 2015

Jean Mueller

Distinguishing between fact and fiction

Q My mother just moved into a lovely condominium. It is not designated as an “over 55 community,” however many older adults live there.

Lately, my mother has been telling me about some instances when she hears the doorbell ring very late at night or very early in the morning.

She is careful not to get up, is vigilant about making sure the door is locked, and has a home security system sign posted by the front door. There is no evidence that someone is trying to break in or that anything is disturbed.

She has not notified anyone and insists she is fine. I don’t want to doubt her, but is this a cry for attention? I find it difficult to believe that anyone would just ring someone’s doorbell and take off.