The following article is the next installment in a series that will appear in the Catholic Herald to offer catechesis and formation concerning end of life decisions, dying, death, funerals, and burial of the dead from the Catholic perspective.
Tag: birth
Let us sing as we prepare for Jesus’ birth
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Years ago, Sister Victricia chose seventh and eighth graders for the Kieler Immaculate Conception grade school choir. Miraculously, I was chosen. At rehearsals, however, whenever I sang, Sister stopped playing the piano and stared at me. My voice was changing. To survive her stares, I began to lip-sync long before I ever heard of it.
A positive thinking friend told me, “Maybe Sister was admiring your singing.” If so, why did she quit staring after I stopped singing? Dad often said that the Louisburg Langes can’t sing. Fr. Ron Lange, my missionary first cousin, agrees.
Perhaps this is a senile illusion, but now I think I can sing a little better at Mass. Because of old age, however, when celebrating Mass I often refrain from singing hymns that I don’t know to conserve my limited energy for parts that I proclaim and for the Gospel reading and homily.How marvelous is the miracle of life
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I experienced a miracle! A few days ago, I held in my arms my first grandbaby — newly born Faith Annmarie.
Thank God she’s healthy and perfectly formed. And as I was looking at her, I reflected how wonderfully she is made: arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes, eyes, mouth, nose, ears, as well as what I couldn’t see but was just as real — hundreds of different tissues, dozens of organs including the remarkable brain, and trillions of cells.
And then I reflected on her divinely infused eternal soul.
Stories about the birth of Jesus
The second grade class at St. John the Baptist School in Waunakee wrote stories about the birth of Jesus. Here are a few selections sent by Principal Conni Stark.
Thomas Merton’s influence
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I write these words on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Merton, one of the greatest spiritual writers of the 20th century and a man who had a decisive influence on me and my vocation to the priesthood.
I first encountered Merton’s writing in a peculiar way. My brother and I were both working at a bookstore in the Chicago suburbs. One afternoon, he tossed me a tattered paperback with a torn cover that the manager had decided to discard.
Birth parent support group starting
MADISON — Catholic Charities’ Post Adoption Resource Center will be sponsoring a birth parent support group for parents who have voluntarily placed their child up for adoption. The adoption did not have to occur through Catholic Charities in order to attend.
The support group will take place on Mondays from Dec. 1 through Dec. 22 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at 1810 S Park St. Suite 200 in Madison. The support group is free, safe, and confidential.
Prayer vigil/event
MADISON — The […]
Observing Lent with Mary
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Lent invites us to seek and find God. In this regard, our earthly pilgrimage continues, fixing our eyes on God.
It is our delight to take short-cuts, especially when our way is long and hard. Indeed, our way to God looks enormously long and tedious. God knew our problem and came to our rescue.
Seeking and finding
God in his infinite love created in his children a heart that longs for him. God, from his part, loved to be with us. Salvation history illustrates beautifully this mutual seeking and finding of God and his children. God was the first one to seek.
Following the recipe for a good life
During the holidays I love hearing from old friends, voices from my past; Charlotte, a “mother’s helper” who lived with us for her senior year of high school and now has grandchildren of her own; Tom and Betty, who taught with Bob in the ’50’s and shared our laughter and tears.
They were the short term relationships, the layers of love that add flavor and richness to our lives. The long term relationships were the foundation.
I thought of the analogy as I was making my seven layer taco dip for a New Year’s Eve party.
A special day honoring mothers
Mother’s Day offers us opportunities to show that we are as proud of our mother as she is of us.
Mother’s Day history
Anna Jarvis, (1864-1948) was so proud of her mother that she worked to establish a day on which she and others could honor their mother and all mothers. She is known as the mother of Mother’s Day.