Tag: Church

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Patrick Gorman

Baptism: Claimed for Christ

Patrick Gorman

Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the second in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.

One of the first things that we do when we meet someone is learn their name. It’s so basic, yet so important.

In Baptism, the Church does the same thing.

The Rite of Baptism of Infants calls for the priest to welcome the child, parents, and godparents at the doors of the church (he does the same with adults when he welcomes catechumens). (1)

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Fr. Robert Barron

Saying ‘yes’ to sex as path of love

One of the commonest complaints against Catholicism is that it is the religion of “no,” especially in regard to the sexual dimension of life.

As the rest of the culture is moving in a progressively more permissive direction, the Church seems to represent a crabbed, puritanical negativity toward sexuality.

Different kinds of ‘no’

I think it is important, first, to make a distinction between two modalities of “no.” On the one hand, there is “no” pure and simple — a denial, a negation of something good.

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Kevin Wondrash

Winter market and brunch

MADISON — Connect with local farmers and stock up your winter pantry at the Winter Market & Meals for Hope on Sunday, Feb. 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Blessed Sacrament Church, 2121 Rowley Ave. in Madison.

This family-friendly market showcases the growing number of area farmers championing sustainable and organic agriculture and connecting the community with locally grown food.

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Kevin Wondrash

St. Peter Catholic School plans Christmas program

MIDDLETON — St. Peter Catholic School’s Christmas Program will take place on Monday, Dec. 15, at 6:30 pm.

This year’s program will feature the musical Miracle at Midnight performed by pre-K to fifth grade students. The moving story includes Bethlehem’s mayor preparing for a decree by Caesar Augustus, angels in heaven anticipating an important announcement, and a young couple from Nazareth getting ready for the birth of their first child.

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Fr. Robert Barron

‘It doesn’t matter what you believe . . .’

A team of sociologists, led by Catholic University professor William D’Antonio, published a survey a few years ago that received quite a bit of media attention, for it showed that many Catholics disagree with core doctrines of the Church and still consider themselves “good Catholics.”

Forty percent of the respondents said that belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is not essential to being a faithful Catholic. Perhaps the most startling statistic is this: 88 percent of those surveyed said “how a person lives is more important than whether he or she is a Catholic.”

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Kevin Wondrash

Variety of Rosaries for sale in McFarland

MCFARLAND — Rosaries will be on sale the weekends of December 6 and 7 and December 13 and 14 after the Saturday 5 p.m. and Sunday 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Masses at Christ the King Church, 5306 Main St., McFarland.

There will be a wide variety of types and materials such as: gem stones, crystal, lava chain, wrist, pocket, and wall.

All Rosaries are made by Mary’s Rosary Assemblers of Christ the King.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Praying for, focusing on unity in the Church

Dear Friends,

This past Sunday we had the opportunity to celebrate a Feast Day which can often pass by unnoticed and under-appreciated by many Catholics.

November 9 is always the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, but for those Catholics who do not attend Mass on a daily basis, the opportunity to hear about this feast only comes about when November 9 is a Sunday.

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Fr. Robert Barron

Have patience for ‘sausage-making’ synod

The midterm report on the deliberations of the Synod on the Family has appeared, and there is a fair amount of hysteria all around.

John Thavis, a veteran Vatican reporter who should know better, has declared this statement “an earthquake, the big one that hit after months of smaller tremors.”

Certain commentators on the right have been wringing their hands and bewailing a deep betrayal of the Church’s teaching. One even opined that this report is the “silliest document ever issued by the Catholic Church,” and some have said that the interim document flaunts the teaching of St. John Paul II.

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