Tag: Pope Francis

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Brent King, For the Catholic Herald

Jubilee Year of Mercy approaches its end

holy door
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.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Continuing the Year of Mercy

We are approaching the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis, which began on December 8, 2015, and will conclude on November 20.

This year has been an invitation for all of us to rediscover and encounter the incredible mercy of God. It has been an invitation to love, kindness, and generosity — things that we all need more than ever in our world today.

And just because the Year of Mercy ends on November 20, it doesn’t mean we have to stop learning more about mercy and incorporating it into our daily lives.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Schoenstatt Shrine has busy Year of Mercy

The Schoenstatt Founder Shrine in Madison has one of three Doors of Mercy in the Diocese of Madison during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which continues until November 20. (Photo (c) by Robert J. Arntz)

MADISON — It has been a busy year at the Schoenstatt Founder Shrine in Madison, primarily because the shrine was designated as a Door of Mercy during the Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy.

During the Year of Mercy, the Diocese of Madison designated three Holy Doors. The other two sites are at the Cathedral Parish: St. Patrick Church and Holy Redeemer Church in Madison.

Place of pilgrimage

The doors provide a place of pilgrimage and they bear with them a plenary indulgence granted by Pope Francis.

The possibility for an indulgence comes under the usual conditions: a person must be in the state of grace, make a sacramental Confession, receive the Holy Eucharist, pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, and have the interior disposition of being detached from sin, including venial sin.

People have until November 20 to take advantage of this opportunity to pass through a Door of Mercy.

Busy year

According to Sr. M. Catherine Ditto, Schoenstatt Movement coordinator in the Diocese of Madison, “It has been a busy year at our shrine. About 550 people each month have visited the shrine from different parishes, schools, and organizations.”

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Nick and Kay Ringelstetter

Voters should consider abortion issue in choosing candidates

To the editor:

As the election approaches, we must ask which party, policies, and candidate is most in line with our Catholic Church?

There are so many issues to consider . . . immigration, racial injustice, war, education, the economy, and healthcare.

However, there is one issue that is deemed an intrinsic evil by the Catholic Church: the killing of unborn innocent babies. We must never commit, promote, or enable the killing of babies, regardless of their age.

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Veronica Arntz

How the family is a ‘domestic church’

Veronica Arntz

In this four-part series discussing Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (AL), I hope to establish a clear understanding of marriage and family in the first and second parts.

In the third and fourth parts, I will clarify some confusion over the nature of the divorced and remarried and the reception of Communion, looking at the document itself.

Our next step shall be to link what we previously said about marriage to what the Church says about family.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Join in praying for the care of creation

Sometimes when I’m driving home in the evening, I am treated to a panoramic view of the sunset on the west side of Madison.

The vibrant colors of red and gold in the sky are amazing. It prompts me to say a quick prayer of thanksgiving to God for the beauty of our world.

Unfortunately, it’s a world we often take for granted. And if we don’t start paying more attention, we might not be able to enjoy this beautiful world as much in the future.

World Day of Prayer

To remind us to pay attention, Pope Francis in 2015 declared September 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. He joined the Orthodox Church in this practice, something that Church has done since 1989.

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