The Rite of Election of Catechumens and Call to Continuing Conversion for Candidates for Full Communion in the Catholic Church will be celebrated by the parishes of the Diocese of Madison on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 3 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee.
Tag: conversion
Fatima at 100: Story of apparitions continues to attract attention
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| This postcard, set for release by the Vatican May 4, marks the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Mary to the three shepherd children in Fatima May 13, 1917. (CNS photo/courtesy of Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office) |
While conversion and prayer are at the heart of Mary’s messages at Fatima, Portugal, the miracles and unexplained phenomenon that accompanied the events 100 years ago continue to intrigue believers and nonbelievers alike.
The apparitions of Mary at Fatima in 1917 were not the first supernatural events reported there.
Two years before Mary appeared to the three shepherd children — Lucia dos Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto — they saw a strange sight while praying the Rosary in the field, according to the memoirs of Sister Lucia, who had become a Carmelite nun.
“We had hardly begun when, there before our eyes, we saw a figure poised in the air above the trees; it looked like a statue made of snow, rendered almost transparent by the rays of the sun,” she wrote, describing what they saw in 1915.
The next year, Francisco and Jacinta received permission to tend their family’s flocks and Lucia decided to join her cousins in a field owned by their families.
It was 1916 when the mysterious figure appeared again, this time approaching close enough “to distinguish its features.”
Renewing our invitation to conversion
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| 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,
I’m not certain how it accomplishes this each year, but Lent seems always to surprise me.
I just looked at the calendar and saw that Ash Wednesday is only two weeks away! It seems as though we’ve just finished marking the season of Christmas — with all of the joy and exuberance that that brings.
On the other hand, there’s a part of me that has the sense that we just completed a Lent not so long ago.
And yet, I can recall some of the resolutions that came from my prayer, fasting, and almsgiving last Lent, and I cannot say that I’ve perfected them — or rather that they’ve been made perfect in me — over the past year.
And so it is, this cycle of conversion and reversion continues, and thanks be to God, it comes each year.
Why Christmas should bother everybody
Just a few weeks ago, at a ceremony for the lighting of the national Christmas tree, President Obama remarked on the meaning of the season. Here are some of the things he said:
“Over these next few weeks, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, as we retell the story of weary travelers, a star, shepherds, Magi, I hope that we also focus ourselves on the message that this child brought to this Earth some 2,000 years ago — a message that says we have to be our brother’s keepers, our sister’s keepers; that we have to reach out to each other, to forgive each other.
Jubilee Year of Mercy approaches its end
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| A Holy Door is located at St. Patrick Church, 404 E. Main St., Madison. Another Holy Door is located at Holy Redeemer Church, 120 W. Johnson St., Madison. Both churches are part of the Cathedral Parish. For more information on Mass and Confession schedule, go to www.isthmuscatholic.org A Holy Door is also found at the Schoenstatt Founder Shrine, 5901 Cottage Grove Rd. in Madison, which is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
MADISON — Led by our Holy Father, Pope Francis, Catholics around the world have had a great opportunity to make contemplating and celebrating the Mercy of God a daily part of our lives through our observance of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Here in the Diocese of Madison, we adopted the theme, “Contemplating the Face of God’s Mercy.”
Many of us may read this and wonder, “What does this mean for me and what does this mean for my church/our diocese?”
These are good questions to be asking, especially as we consider how to continue to respond to God’s mercy once the Jubilee Year concludes on November 20.
We should keep asking ourselves those questions, and now is the perfect time to reflect on our own, as well as our collective, participation in this Jubilee Year.
Where we’ve been
Whether alone, with our families, or with the larger community, we always start every faithful effort with sincere prayer — through study, meditation, and more formal worship — especially in placing ourselves in our Lord’s very presence at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and in Eucharistic Adoration.
Sincere and humble contemplation upon the face of God’s mercy will always lead us to the continual conversion we each need, and this conversion leads us to seek God’s mercy eagerly through the Sacrament of Penance and through living out the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy more frequently and more perfectly.
No one is beyond conversion
These days it seems as if people fall into opposing camps on many issues. Abortion is certainly one of the most divisive issues in our society.
But people can change their minds on issues, even polarizing ones like abortion.
Someone who exemplifies the possibility of change is Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood Clinic director. Johnson — whom I’ve heard speak — is now a powerful advocate for the pro-life side of the spectrum.
Rite of Election, Call to Continuing Conversion, to be held Sunday, Feb. 14
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| A catechumen signs the Book of the Elect at the Rite of Election in 2015. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
WAUNAKEE — The Rite of Election of Catechumens and Call to Continuing Conversion for Candidates for Full Communion in the Catholic Church will be celebrated by the parishes of the Diocese of Madison on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 3 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee.
Parishes from throughout the diocese will send those who will celebrate the sacraments of initiation this Easter, as well as their sponsors, family, and friends. About 800 people are expected to attend, with Bishop Robert C. Morlino presiding.
‘Election’ means ‘chosen’
The word “election” is used in this liturgy to mean “chosen.”
In this liturgy, we acknowledge those who seek to be part of the Church have been chosen by God. The celebration comes from an ancient Christian practice of asking those who were to celebrate the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) to come forward at the beginning of Lent to show their intent.
The people of the Church, in turn, promise their support, guidance, and prayers. The celebration is one part of a long process that is called The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).
The RCIA encompasses many facets of initiation, from the time a person first experiences the call of Christ or wishes to know about the Church, to the celebration of the sacraments of initiation and continued growth as a Christian.
It also includes adaptations for those who were baptized in another Christian denomination and seek to become members of the Catholic Church through the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist.
Baptism: Reforms of the Second Vatican Council
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| Patrick Gorman |
Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the seventh and final article in a series of articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.
Our Lord’s parting words to his disciples were, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:19-20).
Ever since that day, that is what the Church has done.
Strategy for the New Evangelization
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I once gave a sermon in which I mentioned Keith Richards, the lead guitarist for the Rolling Stones.
I recounted how struck I was by a passage from Richards’ autobiography in which the guitarist described the almost maniacal dedication with which he and his bandmates set out to learn Chicago blues.
“Benedictines,” he said, “had nothing on us.” I urged my listeners to approach their spiritual lives with the same “Benedictine” focus and fervor that the young Rolling Stones had in regard to the blues.
Baptism: Renounce sin and proclaim Christ
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| Patrick Gorman |
Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the fourth in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.
Imagine yourself in darkness with only a few candles providing light. You are standing in a secret location in the middle of the night, shivering from the cold and damp.
You have been “apprenticing” as a Christian for some time and at last you are about to join this small sect. You have no idea what will happen next and you don’t understand some of the things that already have been done.
Suddenly, your companion (godparent) turns you around, you are told to reach out and imagine standing face-to-face with the devil. Finally a booming voice from out of the darkness asks, “Do you renounce Satan?”