people – Page 2 – Madison Catholic Herald Archive (2001-2025)

November always brings several things to mind. It has traditionally been a time when we pray for those who have gone before us and give thanks for the ordinary saints, living and deceased, who have touched our lives. We also celebrate Thanksgiving, which is supposed to be the favorite holiday of most Americans.

Every time I go to a wake or funeral — and I have been to many lately — and hear the beautiful comments made about the persons who died, I cannot help but wonder how many of those things were said to that person when he or she was alive?

Guest column

On September 15, 2011

Sr. M. Marcia Vinje

Reflections on 9/11 and life in NYC

Editor’s note: Sr. M. Marcia Vinje, a Schoenstatt Sister of Mary, recently moved from Madison to work at Our Lady of Pity Parish in Staten Island, N.Y. Following are her reflections on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and other experiences.

The 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, are very much in the awareness of everyone in New York.

Everyone has a story about who they knew that died that day, or why their relative should have been at the World Trade Center but for various reasons they were not there that day or came later. The stories of God’s providence are phenomenal.

Cutting Edge

On April 21, 2011

Sr. Margie Lavonis

Redemptive suffering is part of being a Christian

It is not easy to block out the multiple cries of pain and suffering that permeate the world. It is almost deafening.

All one has to do is turn on the radio, read the newspaper, watch television, or go online. We are bombarded with news of pain and suffering, almost to the saturation point. I think of the people in Libya, Haiti, Japan, and others affected by war and natural disasters. It gives me an overwhelming feeling.

Good people suffer

A couple of years ago I attended several lectures on the martyrs of El Salvador who were killed during a civil war that took place there in the 1970’s and ’80s. Archbishop Oscar Romero, four women missionaries, and several Jesuits — only to name a few of hundreds of people — were brutally murdered because they spoke out against the intense suffering of the Salvadoran people and a system of government that perpetuated it.

Guest column

On February 10, 2011

Lisa M. Petsche

Attitude is everything as we age

There is no shortage of information in the media about how to improve your life through instrumental changes such as eating more nutritiously, exercising and not smoking.

Did you know, though, that nurturing a positive mental attitude can also go a long way toward maximizing your physical, mental and spiritual well-being?

Even if you don’t consider yourself a naysayer, make it a point over the next few days to scrutinize everything you think and say; you might be surprised.

Eye on the Capitol

On February 3, 2011

John Huebscher

WCC positions bring a nonpartisan view of hope

For those who engage the policies by which we govern ourselves, the beginning of an odd-numbered year is a time for defining a vision.

Governors set their vision with their state of the state message and their budget address. Legislators do it by their “priority bills.” The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) does so by sharing its Policy Positions for the new session.