MIDDLETON — The Health Commission, Knights of Columbus, and St. Vincent de Paul Society are sponsoring an evening of fun for St. Bernard Parish and its cluster parishes.
The Happy Hearts Hoedown will be held on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 7 to 10 p.m. in the parish center.
MADISON — The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) is supporting two bills that would strengthen Wisconsin’s human trafficking laws.
The proposals — Senate Bill 492 and Assembly Bill 620 — were considered in separate legislative hearings.
WCC Associate Director Barbara Sella offered written testimony in support of SB 492 to the Senate Committee on Transportation, Public Safety, and Veterans and Military Affairs on January 21 and to the Assembly Committee on Corrections on January 23.
MADISON — “Be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith [fortes in fide]” (1 Peter 5: 8-9).
Join other men from the Diocese of Madison and around the region for this special Lenten retreat.
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.
