One New Year’s resolution often heard is: “I will cultivate a sense of humor.” Maybe we say this because we feel we’re too serious much of the time.
Category: Opinion
Why play on Sundays? Because we have to
To the editor:
Why does the Madison Area Independent Sports League (MAISL) play on Sundays? First and foremost it is due to Diocese of Madison Policy: DBA 6420 (the A in DBA stands for “All” so it governs school and religious education programs): Section I. Travel to games must be kept to a reasonable distance especially on days preceding a school day. Therefore, games after supper are discouraged prior to school days. The player’s education and health must be safeguarded by the coach.
This means we can’t play on weeknights after approximately 5:30 p.m. unless it is a reschedule, and most of our coaches can’t make games prior to that time due to work schedules.
Follow pope’s example in caring for creation
To the editor:
Pope Francis was prophetic when he wrote his encyclical on climate change and care of creation, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Pope Francis released the encyclical on June 18, 2015.
This encyclical cannot be summarized in a letter, so I urge you to read it, but here is Pope Francis’ appeal: “I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.”[14]
People gave warmth to St. Paul’s building
To the editor:
The December 3 story on the forthcoming new facility for St. Paul’s University Catholic Center is bittersweet. Though perennially cramped and austere, St. Paul’s was a beacon for thousands of UW Catholics and our ecumenical friends.
I was struck by the comments about how “dark” the present building seemed. The first time I walked in 37 years ago, the stark structure seemed so cold, but it was the people who made it warm, inviting, inclusive, and relevant.
Ted Kennedy should not be held up as example
To the editor:
In regard to the article by Father Pacholczyk in the December 17 Catholic Herald: “A Higher Standard than for cats and dogs”:
In his article, Father P. writes about the challenges of suffering for humans.I am absolutely aghast that he cites Victoria Kennedy, widow of Ted Kennedy, and devotes no less than six column inches to her quoted words about her husband’s final months.
Preaching about sin can be loving and kind
To the editor:
Every so often the Catholic Herald has a letter to the editor which suggests priests preach on sin and what sin is. In my parish I can recall MANY such homilies!
The beautiful sermon on how loving God fills one with love and joy. I am sure there were people listening who wondered “how do I get that?” An invitation to a deeper study of one’s faith.
Blessed Teresa inspires us to live the Beatitudes
One of my favorite books is Blessed Are You: Mother Teresa and the Beatitudes, by Eileen Egan and Kathleen Egan, OSB (1992). When Pope Francis announced that Blessed Teresa would be canonized in 2016, I took the book out again.
Each chapter of the book offers a short meditation on one of the Beatitudes, Blessed Teresa’s own reflections on that Beatitude, and how she and her order – the Missionaries of Charity — lived that Beatitude.
Priests should preach about sin, Confession
To the editor:
As we enter into this extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, it is good to see the extra times set aside by our priests for the Sacrament of Confession. I am concerned that most priests will have a lot of reading time or time to visit with Our Lord as they wait for people to come to this sacrament of mercy.
We must not judge another person, but our priests need to teach from the pulpit what sin is. Today’s Church has forgotten to lead people, to be a teacher to us, more on dogma on the faith and not just love your neighbor.
Most traumatic event was birth control pill
To the editor:
The most traumatic event in the 20th Century was not the Second World War or the atomic bomb. It was the birth control pill!
Before the pill, family life was strong with eight to 10 children. Now the basis of society is obliterated, and the world is falling apart.
Is there still no room at the inn?
We know the familiar story of Jesus’ birth. Mary and Joseph could find no room at an inn in Bethlehem, so Jesus — the son of God — was born in a humble stable.
We realize that the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, had decreed that a census should be taken, so that’s perhaps why the inns were full.
But the apparent lack of hospitality shown to a pregnant mother and father still should bother us. Why didn’t someone else give up their room for this expectant mother?