There are few things that are guaranteed in life. Most things and experiences come and go. One guarantee in human life is the experience of suffering.
Tag: suffering
Coach Gard: Step up to help those in need
MADISON — Using a baseball analogy, University of Wisconsin Head Basketball Coach Greg Gard said, “We need to step up to the plate and help those around us.”
He gave this advice during a talk at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s Care Café, a community fundraising breakfast held May 5 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.
Patient befriending and advocacy
Third in a series on the recent conference on “Dignity at the End of Life, from Suffering to Hope,” held in Fitchburg.
“Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” St. Teresa of Calcutta
An opportunity presents itself
We are frequently given opportunities to do “small things with great love” for others. Unfortunately, we often pass many of these up due to simple lack of awareness.
Lessons of suffering at Lough Derg
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A few years ago, our Catholicism series film crew arrived at the shores of a large lake in far northwest Ireland, in the county of Donegal. We stepped onto a ferry and were taken to an island in the middle of the lake.
On the island was a collection of buildings, which in both architecture and color reminded me vividly of Alcatraz prison. The weather that day was horrific: temperature around 50, heavy winds, and a steady cold rainfall. Our hosts offered us tea and scones and then we made our way onto the island to begin our work.
From grief and disability emerge hope and meaning
Second in a series on the recent conference on “Dignity at the End of Life, from Suffering to Hope,” held in Fitchburg.
Did God vanish?
Imagine this: You are a healthy, 30-year-old husband, father, and accomplished musician — active, repeatedly successful, and comfortably employed.
Suddenly, you wake up one day to find you are numb to all sensation below your waist. More symptoms follow, resulting in weeks of tests and still more tests.
Bishop Morlino to celebrate Solemn Pontifical Mass on July 1
MADISON — Bishop Robert C. Morlino will celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass on Friday, July 1, Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord, at 7 p.m., in the chapel of Holy Name Heights located in the Bishop O’Connor Center, 702 S. High Point Rd.
This Mass will be offered for the intention of suffering and persecuted Christians around the globe.
Miracles from Heaven and suffering
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As any apologist worth his/her salt will tell you, the great objection to the proposition that God exists is the fact of innocent suffering.
If you want a particularly vivid presentation of this complaint, go on YouTube and look up Stephen Fry’s disquisition on why he doesn’t believe in God. (Then right afterward, please, do look at my answer to Fry).
How can God allow suffering?
But the anguished question of an army of non-believers remains: how could an all-loving and all-powerful God possibly allow the horrific suffering endured by those who simply don’t deserve it? Say all you want, these critics hold, about God’s plan and good coming from evil, but the disproportion between evil and the benefits that might flow from it simply rules out the plausibility of religious faith.
The skilled and experienced apologist will also tell you that, in the face of this problem, there is no single, unequivocal “answer,” no clinching argument that will leave the doubter stunned into acquiescence. The best approach is to walk slowly around the issue, in the manner of the phenomenologists, illuminating now this aspect, now that.
Recognizing the ‘glance’ of Jesus
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
As I write down a few thoughts here, we are entering — with heavy hearts — into the great and holy week during which we accompany Jesus in His terrible suffering and death.
As we go through Holy Week we shall hear a great many words — from the beautiful language of the sacred liturgies, to the readings themselves — including the telling of the Passion story, and of course, the many readings of the Easter Vigil.
From “Hosanna” to “Alleluia,” we will hear told, and even witness represented, the story of our own salvation.
The Way of the Cross continues to this day
In his strong […]
Ted Kennedy should not be held up as example
To the editor:
In regard to the article by Father Pacholczyk in the December 17 Catholic Herald: “A Higher Standard than for cats and dogs”:
In his article, Father P. writes about the challenges of suffering for humans.I am absolutely aghast that he cites Victoria Kennedy, widow of Ted Kennedy, and devotes no less than six column inches to her quoted words about her husband’s final months.