Tag: faith

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Michael Lancaster

Catholic schools serve society

This year we again celebrate our Catholic schools as “Communities of faith, knowledge, and service.”

It is always edifying to look at our Catholic schools with satisfaction and pride as we recognize the wonderful communities of faith, knowledge, and service created by each school.

During Catholic Schools Week, we acknowledge these communities, extoll their virtues, and invite others to join us as members of these communities that educate children in faith and knowledge that they might serve others and by so doing, serve God.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

People of faith can offer solutions

People of faith may provide some solutions to the unrest in our country over the deaths of civilians by police officers.

Like many others, I have been discussing these matters with people at home and work. We can understand the challenges faced by law enforcement in dealing with situations in their communities. Police officers are trying to protect citizens, but they can also find themselves in danger.

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Joan Carey, For the Catholic Herald

St. Paul University Catholic Center kicks off new academic year

Students from St. Paul University Catholic Center in the Library Mall construction zone welcome students with free root beer floats. (Contributed photo)

MADISON — St. Paul University Catholic Center welcomed University of Wisconsin (UW) students back to school with a week of free root beer floats, followed by pizza parties, dances, and spaghetti dinners.

In a warm spirit of friendship, St. Paul’s students spread themselves across campus to draw others into a discovery of the joy of the Gospel.

Twenty-two-year old Irina Olson, who is serving this year as an intern at St. Paul’s, has a special love for Welcome Week. “No matter how many root beer floats you have, Welcome Week never gets old,” she said.

“In every scoop of ice cream is an opportunity to build a friendship that could teach someone about the love of the Lord. That makes this the most exciting of all places to be at the University of Wisconsin.”

Leaders for Christ

The St. Paul’s team focuses on the life-giving mission of bringing Christ to the heart of one of the most influential university campuses in the world.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

The Cross as part of our faith

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,

This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

This Feast Day takes place each year on the 14th of September and so, while it is a major feast day for the Church, it is often missed by those who do not attend daily Mass, or at least Mass on major feasts.

This year, however, we were particularly blessed to have the feast fall on a Sunday, and so important is the feast that it actually “trumps” the typical Sunday readings.

It is indeed an important day — so much so that it used to be followed by three Ember Days of prayer and fasting.

Why is it so important? It is not the feast of the Crucifixion of our Lord; obviously we mark that on Good Friday. And, in fact, each time we approach the altar for Mass, we represent the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, we recall His suffering, death, and resurrection; why have a special day just for the exaltation of the Holy Cross?

Because, in our Catholic faith symbols matter! We are a physical people, whose very bodies are destined to be glorified, and so the physical, tangible things of this world matter.

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Fr. Robert Barron

The Gospel according to The Hobbit

Like Star Wars, The Divine Comedy, and Moby Dick, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is the story of a hero’s journey. This helps to explain, of course, why, like those other narratives, it has proved so perennially compelling.

The hero’s tale follows a classical pattern: a person is wrenched out of complacency and self-absorption and called to a great adventure, during which he (or she), through struggle, comes to maturity and vision.

Summoned to adventure

The Hobbit begins, humbly enough, with this line: “in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Tolkien is quick to clarify that this is not a nasty or unkempt hole, but rather a cozy place, filled with fine furniture, doilies, and a well-stocked kitchen. This is the homey space from which Bilbo Baggins (the hobbit) will be summoned to adventure.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Remembering the past: It is important to celebrate and to learn from history

Several articles in this week’s Catholic Herald made me think about the importance of history and why we should pay attention to it.

Many people today take life one day at a time. They don’t want to look back at the past or even think about the future. The here-and-now is all that counts.

The 18th century Anglo-Irish statesman Edmund Burke said,  “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” By learning about previous mistakes, we can try to avoid them.

However, I’m not sure I totally agree with Edmund Burke. Not all history is bad. There are many good things that happened in the past that are worth remembering and celebrating.

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