MADISON — “This is your work. We do this work in your name.”
Dr. Carolyn Woo, CEO and president of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), emphasized those words as she began her talk on Friday, April 11, at the Bishop O’Connor Center in Madison.
Her presentation was the first of 2014’s two lectures in the St. Thérèse series in the Diocese of Madison.
Dear sisters and […]
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.
On Wednesday, April 10, Catholics from around the state will meet at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison for “Catholics at the Capitol” 2013.
 |
|
| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
My granny often repeated to me, “Bobby, getting old is not for sissies.” Granny lived to 96 and I’m only 65, but I can confirm that in this (as in most everything) granny was right on the money.
Last week, I headed out to Baltimore for the annual gathering of the bishops of the United States. We were just getting started with our meetings when I took a spill and fell (with full weight) face-first into the pavement. In the process I suffered several cuts, a broken nose, and a bruised knee. Thanks be to God, it wasn’t worse!
Fortunately there was another bishop and two priests right there with me, and I was off to Mercy Hospital, where the doctors forwarded me on to the University of Maryland Medical Center. If we could choose the timing of our accidents, I would have preferred, of course, to be with my own outstanding doctors at St. Mary’s, but as it turned out, the care I had was really top notch, and I remain so very grateful to all of those excellent women and men — each and every one of them.
To the editor:
I have read letters in the Catholic Herald from the bishop and from readers concerning the upcoming elections.
As Catholics we are a diverse group of people. For each of us there are defining principles which guide our choices in the ballot booth. Being Catholic does not mean that those defining principles are the same for each of us.
Catholics and others interested in responsibly integrating their political action with their faith life are invited to attend an upcoming presentation and discussion.
A year ago, the first thing the newly elected Legislature did was to adopt its scheduling resolution for the 2011-12 legislative session.
This resolution defined the floor periods during which the Legislature would meet to debate and pass legislation. In so doing, the legislators determined that they would convene for three “general business” floor periods between January 17 and March 15 in 2012, the last day of regular business for the year.
When they adopted that resolution, our lawmakers had no way of knowing that their session schedule would mesh with Wisconsin’s first ever recall of a governor and recalls of several state senators. But that is what appears will happen and it will affect what lawmaking takes place in these final floor periods.
Aging is all about changes. Some changes are in-evitable. Some are good. And some are plain difficult.
Changing seasons is welcome. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I stood sorting through my closet before dressing for church. The time for rusts and golds was past and it was too soon for Christmas colors. I picked purple.
An hour later as I walked into church, our sacristan grabbed my arm. “You remember that you’re a lector today, right?” I hadn’t, of course.
An Advent homily that often comes back to me during this time of the Church year was delivered by a priest who shared what he was doing for Advent to help him appreciate the true meaning of the season.
For that Advent he would slow down and stop at every yellow light and wait patiently for it to turn green. This little exercise would hopefully remind him of the people of God who waited so long for the Messiah to come and save them.
