Dear Friends,
This past Sunday — our Second Sunday of Advent — we continued to read from the Prophet Isaiah as he foretold Jesus’s coming. We heard of the coming Messiah and how “the Spirit of the Lord will come upon him (Is 11:2)” in the First Reading. …
STOUGHTON — St. Ann Parish will hold a Holiday Gift Fair at St. Ann School, 324 N. Harrison St., on Saturday, Nov. 9, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 10, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Proceeds will help defray expenses for parish youth events.
Over 30 vendors will be present at the Gift Fair, including local artists with African straw baskets, honey and related products, dream catchers, wine bottle decorations, evergreen wreaths and ropes, rolled paper art, wooden Christian trivets, birdhouse gourds, jewelry, quilted/knit/crochet and sewn items, jar mixes and gift baskets, homemade pet treats and dog collars, and more.
MADISON — When the longtime church supply store and Christian retailer Madison Church Supply went out of business in 2011, a void was left in the local community.
Into that breach stepped Kevin Niles, the owner of By The Cross Church Supply and Catholic Gift and Bookstore in Stevens Point. Originally from Texas and a transplant to Wisconsin by virtue of his wife, with whom he has six children, Niles has owned and operated the store in Stevens Point for three years.
Some mothers claim that they would do anything for their children. Stephanie Decker, a 37-year-old Indiana mother, demonstrated this in a heroic way.
On March 2, as a tornado crushed her family home, Stephanie covered her children with her body to protect them. Debris from the tornado caused her to lose part of both legs while saving her children from the deadly 175 mph tornado.
Someone wrote that a mother carries her child in her womb for nine months and in her heart for the rest of her life. Conceiving, carrying, and giving birth to a human being is as close as any person can come to the act of creation. After birth, motherhood continues through nurturing, sacrificing, loving, and ultimately letting go.
One morning as I walked to the Mound cafeteria for breakfast, I saw the rising sun, like a bright orange-red host, rise slowly from the chalice of the good earth. It was beautiful!
In the cafeteria, two Sisters were also deeply moved by its beauty. One of them exclaimed, “This is my morning prayer!”
Sharing a beautiful sunrise or sunset can bond us with others and open us to God’s presence. It can invite us to respect God’s gift of earth. It can help prepare us for Earth Day.
We celebrate Earth Day on April 22. Earth Day was started by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin to teach and to inspire the public to take better care of the environment.
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The warmer than usual early spring weather has unleashed a flurry of activity and interest in gardening projects (urban and rural), farmers’ markets, and local farm produce available from our area farmers.
The Rural Life Office of Catholic Charities receives calls from those seeking local, fresh produce grower information so, in this section of the Catholic Herald, we will provide some basics for understanding different models of Wisconsin farming production and the communities they serve.
Wisconsin has a long and esteemed position in providing for our nation’s food system. Our dairy herds are of all sizes and produce dairy products for direct sale through grocery businesses as well as providing the major ingredients for world renowned, artisan-crafted cheeses throughout our state.
A few years ago, I spoke with a young man preparing to get married. His aunt told him that she thought he and his fiancée were too financially-strapped to have a child, and that it wouldn’t be fair to bring up a baby in poverty. Keenly aware of his joblessness and his minuscule bank account, he concluded she was probably right.
The young man and his fiancée were ready to tie the knot in a few months and they expected that she would be at the infertile phase of her cycle around the time of their honeymoon, so they would be able to consummate the marriage while avoiding bringing a child into the world.
They agreed they would use Natural Family Planning (NFP) after that to avoid a pregnancy. A few years later when they felt financially secure, he told me, they would have their first child.
Once I met a woman who had worked for years in fashion and modeling. Unsurprisingly, she was strikingly attractive.
She was accompanied by her teenage daughter who, by contrast, was rather unremarkable to look at, maybe even a plain-Jane.
After spending time with them, I began to sense that the mother, whose life had largely revolved around her appearance, seemed to look down on her daughter, perhaps unconsciously, because of her average appearance.
In John 3:16 it says, “For God so loved the world that God gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but might have eternal life.”
Gilbert Keith Chesterton wrote that out of love for us, “The hands that made the sun and stars were too small to reach the huge heads of the cattle and too tiny to change his own clothes or put food in his mouth. To share God’s love, Jesus experienced infant helplessness.”
Scripture tells us that God created us in his image. Since God is love, we image God best when we love. But sin keeps us from loving.
The present economic crisis can provide us with an opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, rather than on the materialistic spirit that often permeates our Western culture.
Since so many people are unemployed or under-employed and many family incomes are shrinking, a lot people will have to limit the type and number of gifts they give. This might be a blessing in disguise. It can provide us a chance to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
Gift giving is a wonderful tradition but too many of us tend to go overboard and often measure another’s love and care by the gifts they give and receive. And some people give gifts out of a feeling of obligation or just because someone gives them one. Many feel embarrassed if a person gives them a gift and they have nothing to give in return.
