In a “back to school” spirit, I would like to invite all of you to go back to school this academic year to learn more about and integrate into your life even further a very important part of our Catholic faith, our Catholic Social Teaching.
Tag: social
We don’t need social media
Quote me: Social media is making this world a worse place and bringing out the worst in us.
Follow Bishop Hying on social media
MADISON — In late June, Bishop Hying waded back into the Twitterverse, and started tweeting brief personal messages and reflections for the first time since coming to Madison last year.
His messages are clearly designed to inspire and invite us all into closer relationship with Christ, and therefore with one another.
So, here in print, and online, is your invitation to “follow” Bishop Hying on social media (@bishophying on both Twitter and Facebook) and invite your friends, children, and grandchildren to do the same.Trusting in Our Father’s promises during uncertain times
 |
|
“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.”One, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church
 |
|
One silver lining for me during this weird coronavirus shutdown has been the opportunity to return to some writing projects that I had left on the back-burner.
One of these is a book on the Nicene Creed, which I had commenced many months ago and on which I was making only very slow progress, given my various pastoral and administrative responsibilities.
The last several weeks, I have been working in a rather concentrated way on the Creed book, and I find myself currently in the midst of the section on the Church: “I believe in one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.”Staying connected in a time of ‘social distancing’
 |
|
| Sr. Constance Veit, LSP |
Several years ago, a summer heat wave of historic proportions settled over Europe, leading to the death of over 14,000 people in France alone.
Many of the victims were elderly citizens who were left behind in major cities as their families and neighbors enjoyed their summer holidays far from the country’s urban areas.
The memory of this tragedy has been very present to me as we hunker down, close our doors and try our best to isolate our elderly residents from the coronavirus for as long as it takes to protect them from danger.Church ministers to body, mind, and soul
|
|
One of the greatest heroes of the social justice wing of the Church is, quite rightly, the 17th century “slave of the slaves,” St. Peter Claver.
Born in Barcelona, Claver joined the Society of Jesus and was known, even as a young man, as a person of deep intelligence and piety.
Spurred by what he took to be the direct prompting of the Holy Spirit, the young Spaniard volunteered to work among the poor in what was then known as “New Spain.” Arriving in Cartagena, he saw the unspeakable degradation of the captives brought in chains by ship from Africa, and he resolved to dedicate his life to serving them.
Letter tells of Claver’s work
We have a wonderful letter that Peter Claver wrote to his Jesuit superior in which he vividly describes apostolic work that he did among the slaves, just after they came ashore in Cartagena. He speaks of hopeless people staggering off the ships, stark naked, starving, and disoriented.
Pride, humility, and social media
|
|
On a recent trip to Sacramento, from my home base in the LA area, I flew Southwest Airlines. In an idle moment, I reached for the magazine in the seatback pocket and commenced to leaf through it.
I came across an article by a woman named Sarah Menkedick entitled “Unfiltered: How Motherhood Interrupted My Relationship with Social Media.” The piece was not only wittily and engagingly written; it also spoke to some pretty profound truths about our cultural situation today and the generation that has come of age under the influence of the Internet.
She argues that to have swum in the sea of Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube from the time that one was a child was to live one’s life perpetually in front of an audience. Most millenials never simply had experiences; they were conditioned to record, preserve, and present those experiences to a following who were invited to like what they saw, to comment on it, to respond to it.
St. Joe’s 55-PLUS Group potluck social
FORT ATKINSON — St. Joe’s 55-PLUS Group will have their next potluck social on Wednesday, April 19, at St. Joseph Parish Hall.
The potluck will begin at 1 p.m. Beef Brisket, coffee, lemonade, and tableware will be provided. Those attending are asked to bring a dish to pass.
After the potluck luncheon, Joel Winn will present “Discovering Indian Artifacts”, noting that “History began here long before 1832.”
Keeping elders socially connected is a Work of Mercy
During a recent family reunion, my elderly mother and I were the only ones at the table without smartphones. We felt left out.
A few days later I read that Pope Francis advised parents to ban mobile devices from the dinner table to help restore the quality of family relationships.
These two occurrences reminded me of the life of our foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan.