MADISON — The Office of Worship of the Diocese of Madison is continuing a series of popular seminars called This Sacred Council: An In-Depth Study of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.
All sessions are led by renowned liturgical scholar Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB. His informative and enjoyable presentations make these sessions appropriate for anyone who participates in the Church’s liturgies.
To the editor:
What Mr. Trump and Mr. Sessions are doing is in violation of international law, and our law, protecting asylum seekers and refugees. It is also a violation of the eighth and 14th Amendments to our Constitution. The inhumane policy of separating young children from their parents will result in irreparable psychological harm.
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) was denied access to the immigration center where children are being held. He did tour a processing center where children were being held in cages with nets over them to prevent escape.
To the editor:
Mary Uhler and Monica Simpson fail to understand that the cities today with the strictest gun control (Chicago and Washington, D.C.) have the highest rate of crime. Wyatt Earp displayed, in the city of Tombstone, Ariz., “No guns allowed within city limits”. He and his family reaped grave consequences for enforcing those restrictions.
The right to bear arms is rooted in the Constitution for a reason. We the people must be protected from government tyranny. Legal gun use has to be the peoples’ protection. Gun restriction laws are simply ignored by those who intend to break the law.
We Americans have always prided ourselves on having a democracy that operates fairly well.
Unlike some other countries, we usually settle our differences nonviolently (the Civil War being one big exception). We’ve relied on the ballot box to vote for our leaders.
But over recent years, it seems as if our peaceful way of governing has given way to nasty bickering and even violence in word and deed.
On April 28, the Supreme Court of the United States began taking up the issue of same-sex marriage.
We’ve been hearing plenty of comments from people on this issue, from those who support the marriage of one man and one woman and states’ rights to define marriage to those who want same-sex marriage approved across the country.
People often react emotionally when talking about marriage, but I think we need to take time to study the issues before the Supreme Court and what they mean.
We also should consider what the Catholic Church teaches and be able to talk about our beliefs calmly in conversations about marriage.
Statement from Bishop Robert C. Morlino, regarding a federal judge’s ruling on marriage /Article XIII, Section 13 of Wisconsin’s Constitution:
First, it bears repeating that, we must respect, love, and care for every individual we encounter, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or how they define themselves. This will never change. It is at the core of who we are as members of Christ’s Church. Christ, Himself, invites each individual to know and love Him and live a life in response to His love. His love and mercy can heal all divisions that separate us; however, we must acknowledge the divisions that exist — notably those we choose through our actions. All are invited to this love and these graces offered by Christ, through His Church. This applies to all who sincerely seek the Truth.
Last fall, a couple leaving the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Madison stopped at the driveway to tell the sidewalk counselor with Vigil for Life that they were going to keep their baby.
Vigil for Life volunteers didn’t know if this couple had come to the clinic for a pregnancy test or for an appointment for an abortion. In any case, these parents chose life for their baby.
In an email named “Baby Saved,” sent to volunteers after that incident, Bette Weisshaar, then director of Vigil for Life-Madison, said, “That’s why we’re out there — to pray for a change of heart, for God’s graces to show them a way other than abortion. Our prayers on the sidewalk are offered for parents, that they will choose life for their babies . . . and that’s exactly what happened today! Praise God!”
Many of our ancestors came to the United States to enjoy freedom of religion. They lived in countries where they were not able to worship freely and some may have been persecuted for their beliefs.
For many of the early settlers of our country, freedom of religion didn’t just mean being able to attend the church of their choice, for example, Catholics going to Mass on Sunday at a Catholic church.
It also meant being able to wear religious symbols such as crucifixes in public, praying at public gatherings, talking about one’s faith in public, sending children to Catholic schools, and receiving health care at Catholic hospitals.
Many Catholics started their lives in this country as farmers and workers in factories or other businesses. But eventually many of them became owners of farms and businesses. As owners, they wanted to put their Catholic teaching into action by providing just wages and good benefits to their employees.
The Catholic Church itself became an employer in its institutions. At first, priests and members of religious orders primarily worked for the Church. But increasingly, especially in the 20th Century, more lay people were hired by Church institutions, including schools, colleges, hospitals and other health care facilities, and social service agencies. Not all of those employees were Catholic, but they realized that they were working for the Church and would have to adhere to the Church’s policies and procedures.
To the editor:
Do you think our forefathers, who so carefully crafted our Constitution and Bill of Rights to protect our God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are happy or horrified at the turn their beloved nation has taken in these past 50 years? Their 13 colonies became One Nation under GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Three branches of government were created: Legislative [elected] by citizens to past just laws, Judicial [appointed] to interpret laws, and Administrative [also elected] to enforce the laws.
To the editor:
In response to last week’s disturbing column by Stephen Kent and the need to change the Second Amendment, it should be pointed out that all of America’s problems — slavery, the relocation of Native Americans, prohibition, concentration camps for Japanese-Americans, undeclared wars, and Roe v. Wade — occurred when we ignored or “improved” the Constitution.
Even more curious is the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ statement that guns are too easily accessible. Were it not for the Second Amendment, there would be no Catholic Herald, a Conference of Catholic Bishops, or even Catholics, for that matter, since we would long ago have been hunted down like rats, just like in the mother country of Merrie Olde England.
