Columns – Page 92 – Madison Catholic Herald Archive (2001-2025)

Patrick Gorman

Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the sixth in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.

When I was studying liturgy, there was a running joke with both teachers and students — “If you don’t know the answer to a question, write down that it is a mystery” (because so much of our faith is a mystery — something which we will never understand completely in this life).

The mysteries of our faith are not like the mysteries we read. They are not a puzzle to be figured out if offered enough clues but rather realities that need to be lived and that each of us reflect upon.

Be compassionate

We have a loving and compassionate God, and Jesus calls us to practice these virtues in our lives. This is our mission as Christians.

When I was growing up, we learned the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. They are tools for living a good Christian life, showing us how to be compassionate.

Corporal Works of Mercy

Jesus tells us about the Corporal Works of Mercy in Chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew. He challenges us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, and bury the dead. We will be judged by how we do these things.

At first glance, we might think that we are rarely presented with opportunities to exercise many of these good works. But, if we look a little closer, we might be surprised at how often we are presented with ways to do some of them.

Word on Fire

On March 19, 2015

Fr. Robert Barron

Strategy for the New Evangelization

I once gave a sermon in which I mentioned Keith Richards, the lead guitarist for the Rolling Stones.

I recounted how struck I was by a passage from Richards’ autobiography in which the guitarist described the almost maniacal dedication with which he and his bandmates set out to learn Chicago blues.

“Benedictines,” he said, “had nothing on us.” I urged my listeners to approach their spiritual lives with the same “Benedictine” focus and fervor that the young Rolling Stones had in regard to the blues.

Guest column

On March 12, 2015

Patrick Gorman

Baptism: What really happens

Patrick Gorman

The last four articles have reflected upon the elements of the Baptismal ritual leading up to the actual Baptism.

Some of these elements are the welcoming of the candidate for Baptism, the sign of the cross, the blessing of the water, and the renunciation of sin and profession of faith.

The actual Baptism is really quite simple. The Baptism takes place with water which is either poured over the head of the person being baptized or in which he/she is immersed (standing or kneeling in the water), while the baptizer invokes the Trinity:

“I baptize you in the name of the Father (water), and of the Son (water), and of the Holy Spirit (water).”

Budget hearings offer chance to make a difference

When the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) staff talks to groups around the state, we emphasize that faithful citizenship is a 12-month obligation.

During the latter part of March, Catholics and others who want to be heard on how and where the state should spend our money will have a chance to do so.

They can show up at one of four hearings on the 2015 budget bill. The hearings, conducted by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance, will take place over a two-week period beginning on Monday, March 23, and concluding on Friday, April 3.

Putting God first in our lives

Artistic representations of the Ten Commandments often depict two stone tablets on which there are two tables of inscriptions.

This portrayal follows from a classical division of the commandments in which there are two specific categories: those that order humanity’s relationship with God and those that order human relationships with one another.

If we consider the Bible as a totality, it becomes apparent that the Scriptures give priority to the first table, those commands dealing with God.

Baptism: Renounce sin and proclaim Christ

Patrick Gorman

Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the fourth in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.

Imagine yourself in darkness with only a few candles providing light. You are standing in a secret location in the middle of the night, shivering from the cold and damp.

You have been “apprenticing” as a Christian for some time and at last you are about to join this small sect. You have no idea what will happen next and you don’t understand some of the things that already have been done.

Suddenly, your companion (godparent) turns you around, you are told to reach out and imagine standing face-to-face with the devil. Finally a booming voice from out of the darkness asks, “Do you renounce Satan?”

Dealing with guilt and shame

Ask IPS

Question: “During Lent, I feel like there is a large emphasis on sinfulness. I find myself feeling constantly ashamed of my past sins. Is this healthy?”

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

Eye on the Capitol

On March 4, 2015

John Huebscher

Some laws say a lot about who we are, our values

Wisconsin’s laws make for some pretty dull reading. Most laws consist of technical prose defining eligibility for programs and drawing lines between legal and illegal conduct.

But some laws serve a different purpose. Some declare a policy vision for our state or define the scope and mission of what our government should do.

It is in these sections of the statutes that prose becomes poetry. It is there that we Wisconsinites define who we are and what we want our state to be.

Word on Fire

On March 4, 2015

Fr. Robert Barron

A message written in blood

Recently, the attention of the world was riveted to a deserted beach in northern Libya, where a group of 21 Coptic Christians were brutally beheaded by masked operatives of the ISIS movement.

In the wake of the executions, ISIS released a gruesome video entitled A Message in Blood to the Nation of the Cross. I suppose that for the ISIS murderers, the reference to “the Nation of the Cross” had little sense beyond a generic designation for Christianity.

Sadly for most Christians, too, the cross has become little more than a harmless symbol. I would like to take the awful event on that Libyan beach, as well as the ISIS message, as an occasion to reflect on the still startling distinctiveness of the cross.