MADISON — Due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Catholic Charities of Madison created a virtual event to celebrate faith in action across the diocese.
Several organizations came together to make a memorable evening on December 1.
SSM Health, the Catholic Multicultural Center, the Apostolate for Persons with Disabilities, Edgewood High School, St. Peter School in Ashton, and Catholic Charities programs all pitched in to spread a message of hope this Advent season. |
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All masked up, my family and I sat 12 feet away from my elderly parents outside their apartment. Sitting side by side, my parents looked out at us from behind the screened porch.
They clasped hands, as always, embracing the odd state of the world — not knowing what the future would hold — but content to be facing it together, just as they had faced all things in their 63 years of married life.The 2020 Catholic Charities of Madison Faith in Action Celebration will look different than it has for the past 25 years, but the goal of the event remains the same — to celebrate the Corporal Works of Mercy across the Diocese of Madison and raise vital funds for Catholic Charities’ social services programs.
Stress seems a unique modern problem; but, it is not. In Mark 6:31, Jesus said to the apostles,”Come away to a deserted place by yourselves and rest a while. For many were coming and going in such great numbers that it was impossible for Jesus and his apostles to even eat.”
One of the most powerful gifts of the Mass and other Sacramental celebrations is that we encounter Christ face-to-face.
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God gave me a gift today.
It was subtle, yet unmistaken, and came in the sound of my daughter’s laughter as we played chess on our back patio in the shade of the silver maple tree.
What was the aim of the resurrection experience? The entire book of the Acts of the Apostles gives us the aim of the resurrection experience.
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“I don’t like Brussels sprouts,” complained my son one night at supper long ago.
“If you finish your Brussels sprouts, I’ll give you a noogie,” said Daddy, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“What’s a noogie?”
“If you finish your Brussels sprouts, then you’ll find out.”The coronavirus is not a punishment from God. It is not a severe chastisement dealt to a world that in so many ways sins against the Almighty — by ignoring his commandments and teachings.
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Sometimes God must drive us to our knees before we look up to Him, helpless as small children.
It was several days since the worldwide coronavirus pandemic had been announced.
Schools had closed and we were dutifully isolating our whole family in our home.
