St. Paul is one of the most significant and influential figures in the Church, so much so that his conversion to Christ has its own liturgical memorial on January 25 every year.
Tag: St. Paul
An appreciation for St. Paul
St. Paul is the only holy individual in the entire history of the Church whose conversion to the faith has its own liturgical feast, celebrated every January 25.
Rite of Election set for March 6
Facing Summit Ave. in St. Paul, Minn., the University of St. Thomas boasts these magnificent arches in the Collegiate Gothic style.
St. Paul’s welcomes students on journey of faith
MADISON — On a windy April evening, the opening prayers of the 2018 Easter Vigil were heard for the first time since 2015 from the exterior of 723 State St., home of the beautiful new St. Paul’s Church and Student Center in the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
And what an eagerly anticipated evening it was for those gathered to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection during this momentous first year in St. Paul’s new home!
New St. Paul’s makes its way skyward on UW campus
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| The new St. Paul’s Catholic Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is being built. It is expected to open its doors in October of 2017, ready to kick off a new era in Catholic campus ministry. (Contributed photo) |
MADISON — Each day, thousands of students wend their way through Library Mall, the lively hub of Madison’s University of Wisconsin campus.
They sample international cuisine from the many colorful food carts, hit the stacks at Memorial Library, take in the view of Lake Mendota at the Memorial Union Terrace, and settle in with a bag lunch to enjoy an open-air music performance or watch jugglers practicing their routine.
Smack-dab in the middle of all this bustle, a new St. Paul’s Catholic Center is making its way skyward, one steel beam at a time, aiming to open its doors in October, 2017, ready to kick off a new era in the history of Catholic campus ministry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Opening doors and building bridges
When he opened the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome at the beginning of the Year of Mercy in December of 2015, Pope Francis declared that people of faith must welcome and experience God’s love and then go out into the world to be instruments of mercy.
The pope added that Christians must be “aware that we will be judged by this.” Being a Christian calls for a lifelong journey and a “more radical commitment” to be merciful like God the Father, Pope Francis said.
St. Paul University Catholic Center kicks off new academic year
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| Students from St. Paul University Catholic Center in the Library Mall construction zone welcome students with free root beer floats. (Contributed photo) |
MADISON — St. Paul University Catholic Center welcomed University of Wisconsin (UW) students back to school with a week of free root beer floats, followed by pizza parties, dances, and spaghetti dinners.
In a warm spirit of friendship, St. Paul’s students spread themselves across campus to draw others into a discovery of the joy of the Gospel.
Twenty-two-year old Irina Olson, who is serving this year as an intern at St. Paul’s, has a special love for Welcome Week. “No matter how many root beer floats you have, Welcome Week never gets old,” she said.
“In every scoop of ice cream is an opportunity to build a friendship that could teach someone about the love of the Lord. That makes this the most exciting of all places to be at the University of Wisconsin.”
Leaders for Christ
The St. Paul’s team focuses on the life-giving mission of bringing Christ to the heart of one of the most influential university campuses in the world.
Pope’s Lenten message: Follow Jesus seeking out poor, sinners
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| Msgr. James Bartylla, vicar general of the Diocese of Madison, distributes ashes on Ash Wednesday in the chapel of the Bishop O’Connor Center, Madison. Ash Wednesday is observed on March 5 this year. (Catholic Herald file photo) | |
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Courageously follow Jesus in seeking out the poor and sinners and in making difficult sacrifices to help and heal others, Pope Francis said in his message for Lent, which begins March 5.
Christians are called to confront the material, spiritual, and moral destitution of “our brothers and sisters, to touch it, to make it our own, and to take practical steps to alleviate it,” the pope said in his Lenten message.
Saving the world will not come about “with the right kind of human resources” and token alms, but only “through the poverty of Christ,” who emptied himself of the worldly and made the world rich with God’s love and mercy, Pope Francis said.
Focus on Christ’s poverty
The pope’s message focused on the theme of Christ’s poverty, with the title: “He became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich,” from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians.
Pope Francis said he chose the passage to explore what St. Paul’s references to poverty and charity mean for Christians today.
There are many forms of poverty, he said, including the material destitution that disfigures the face of humanity and the moral destitution of being a slave to vice and sin.
Continue efforts to protect life and defend marriage
To the editor:
Sometimes it is easy to grow weary as we battle for the rights of unborn children, the elderly, the handicapped, and to defend the institution of marriage in a culture that advocates for abortion rights, euthanasia, and same sex marriage.
We need to focus on the words of St. Paul to the Christian community at Galatia, “Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6: 9).
Thanks: A word we don’t use often enough
It seems to me that our sense of gratitude has diminished in recent years. How often do we send or receive thank you cards? How often do we express our appreciation to people in our lives, let alone to God who has given us the gift of life itself?
Most of us would have to be honest and say we don’t say “thanks” often enough. We take so many things for granted.