MADISON — Annually for 22 years, thousands of generous donors have searched their closets, wallets, and purses to provide the Society of St. Vincent de Paul with the resources to give gently used and new blankets to Dane County people in need.
The society’s annual “Recycle the Warmth Blanket Drive” — long held on January’s last full weekend — will once again offer the community an opportunity to share some practical comfort with local families struggling with poverty.
MADISON — The Diocese of Madison is offering two series of courses on both the liturgical year and the Social Doctrine of the Church in the coming months.
A comprehensive study on the liturgical year is being offered by Abbot Marcel Rooney through the Seat of Wisdom Diocesan Institute.
Remaining sessions are open to everyone and will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, 702 S. High Point Rd., on the following Saturday mornings.
MADISON — The city of Madison is considering a proposal to impose a buffer zone of 160 feet around abortion clinics in the city.
“This buffer zone is quite severe — over four times the size of the controversial Massachusetts buffer zone being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court — and it would effectively end all sidewalk counseling at the Planned Parenthood abortion center on Orin Rd.,” said Pro-Life Wisconsin in a statement.
MADISON — Pro-Life Wisconsin is partnering with Movie to Movement to sponsor a showing for the powerful new film, Gimme Shelter, which contains a strong pro-life message.
Gimme Shelter shares the story of a young, homeless woman in a crisis pregnancy situation who finds welcome and safety in a shelter for single mothers.
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| Patrick Delaney |
At their annual meeting in November 2012, the U.S. Catholic bishops launched a pastoral strategy addressing critical life, marriage, and religious liberty concerns. This strategy included first and foremost a call to prayer and sacrifice along with the activism of a nationwide postcard campaign.
In addition to the continued promotion of contraception and abortifacients in our schools, neighborhoods, and in international population control programs, and the resulting sadness and crime of widespread surgical abortion, two additional recent “flashpoints” elevated the urgency of our need for prayer and action.
The first is the Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandate which requires almost all employers, including Catholic employers, to pay for employees’ contraception, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs regardless of conscientious objections. Not only, therefore, are Catholics and other people of good will expected to live in a society which promotes these evils to our young people with our tax dollars, but now the government wants us to pay for and provide them ourselves within our own communities.
Each of these practices violate what Pope Benedict XVI called the “language of creation,” traditionally referred to as the Natural Moral Law, which proceeds from the Creator and is inscribed on the human heart. And attempting to force Catholic and non-Catholic citizens to violate the laws of God the Creator is a grave affront to America’s first freedom, religious liberty, as well as to the inherent dignity of every human person.
LA CROSSE — Sherry Weddell has been crisscrossing the U.S. and the globe to engage Catholics. Her main concerns are that Church attendance is on the decline, many Catholics no longer believe in a personal God, and the Church is in need of reform.
I attended a diocesan-wide training in La Crosse in 2013 where Weddell spoke.
MADISON — “All Hope Abandon, Ye Who Enter Here” is the title of a St. Ambrose Faculty Lecture to be given by Abby Nowakowski.
The Divine Comedy follows the poet-as-pilgrim, Dante Alighieri, through a salvific journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise. Written from 1308 to 1321 in northern Italy, the epic has influenced art, cultures, and faith the world over for the past seven centuries.
BELOIT — Lessons and Carols at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 2222 Shopiere Rd., has been rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. in the church.
Come and enjoy a welcome extension to the Christmas Season with proclamation of the Advent/Christmas Scriptures and musical responses by the choir and congregation. The service will last around one hour and is guaranteed to be joyful and uplifting.
MADISON — The Couple to Couple League (CCL) will offer classes on the sympto-thermal method of Natural Family Planning (NFP) at several locations this winter and spring.
Each course is taught by a married couple who are certified NFP instructors. The main NFP course is offered in a three-part series.
CCL now offers on-the-go mobile fertility tracking which allows couples to chart electronically, record fertility symptoms, and determine the fertile and infertile times of the cycle. All those who register for a CCL course will receive a free 90-day trial of fertility tracking with CycleProGo.
Schedule at Madison
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| • Saturday, Jan. 11, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — Our Lady Queen of Peace/Blessed Sacrament Parishes, at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, 401 S. Owen Dr., Madison • Sunday, Jan. 19, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 5700 Pheasant Hill Rd., Monona • Saturday, Jan. 25, 9 a.m. to 12 noon — St. Albert the Great Church, 2420 St. Albert Dr., Sun Prairie • Saturday, Feb. 1, 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon — Holy Mother of Consolation Church, 651 Main St., Oregon • Sunday, Feb. 9, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — Bethel Lutheran Church, 312 Wisconsin Ave., Madison • Saturday, Feb. 15, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ, 1501 Gilbert Rd., Madison • Saturday, Feb. 22, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Dr., Madison |
MADISON — The Churches’ Center for Land and People (CCLP) is sponsoring winter farmer’s markets in church halls featuring brunches using local food.
The “Markets and Meals for Hope” program, coordinated by the CCLP, has scheduled seven farmer’s markets and brunches in the Madison area from January 11 through February 22.
The brunches include local food prepared by people in the churches under the direction of professional chefs.
These markets provide small-scale farmers the chance to sell their products in the off-season. The farmers supply the ingredients for the brunches and are able to sell products directly to those attending the meals.
Products for sale at the markets include woolen goods, farmstead soaps, cheese, produce, preserves, honey, and meats.
Farmers help each other by donating 10 percent of the sales to the Harvest of Hope emergency fund with 100 percent of donations given to farmers in need.
