As we conclude the month of October — designated as Respect Life Month — it seems appropriate to reflect on end-of-life issues.
Doesn’t it seem that our society today pays much more attention to the beginning of life than the end of it? We get excited about the birth of a baby. We have baby showers, spend time getting the nursery decorated, and send out birth announcements when the baby is born. We buy cards and gifts for the new child.
There is more to Russell Wilson than his life as the star quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. Wisconsin Badger football fans got glimpses of Wilson’s character when he played quarterback in Madison.
When Fr. Bruce Hennington attended St. Lawrence Seminary — a high school seminary located in Mt. Calvary, Wis. — he got interested in history, especially in the Civil War.
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At this year’s annual Catholic Media Conference held in Charlotte, N.C., those of us attending were given the opportunity to watch a new movie called When the Game Stands Tall. After viewing the movie, we also had the privilege of talking with the film’s star, Jim Caviezel, and producer, David Zelon.
The program at our conference told us a little bit about the movie. The reason it was shown at a Catholic Media Conference — besides being a great film — is that the movie tells the remarkable real-life journey of a football coach at a Catholic high school in California.
Coach Bob Ladouceur (played by Caviezel) took the De La Salle High School Spartans from obscurity to a 151-game winning streak that shattered all records for any sport. Ladouceur retired in January of 2013 after winning his last state championship in December of 2012.
The movie is based on a book of the same name by Neil Hayes, a former Chicago Sun-Times and Contra Costa Times sportswriter. The movie is scheduled to be released in theaters on August 22. I encourage everyone to see this movie.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Catholic Herald-Diocese of Madison won three awards in the 2014 Catholic Press Awards competition sponsored by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada.
The awards were announced during the Catholic Media Conference held in Charlotte, N.C., June 17 to 20.
On February 25 of this year, the Madison city council passed a new ordinance requiring a 160-foot “buffer zone” around any healthcare clinic in the city.
A modified version of the ordinance was passed in March, narrowing the zone to 100 feet from a medical facility’s entrance and 30 feet from its driveway.
This ordinance was proposed primarily in response to the presence of pro-life “sidewalk counselors” who have kept up a regular presence outside the Planned Parenthood Clinic on Madison’s east side for 10 years.
The Madison ordinance could now be in jeopardy after the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling on June 26 that struck down buffer zones at abortion clinics. The Supreme Court decision reversed an appellate court decision upholding a 2007 Massachusetts law that made it a crime for anyone other than clinic workers to stand within 35 feet from the entrances of Planned Parenthood clinics in Boston, Springfield, and Worcester, Mass.
Pope Francis has again surprised the world by inviting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres to join him at the Vatican to pray together for peace. The event has been scheduled for Sunday, June 8.
The pope announced his invitation to Abbas on May 25 at the end of the Mass that Abbas attended in Manger Square in Bethlehem. Later the same day, Pope Francis repeated his invitation — using the same words — to Peres after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.
Pope Francis has urged the two leaders to stay on the path of dialogue, reconciliation, and peace. There is “simply no other way,” the Holy Father said.
Pope Francis has again surprised the world by inviting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres to join him at the Vatican to pray together for peace. The event has been scheduled for Sunday, June 8.
The pope announced his invitation to Abbas on May 25 at the end of the Mass that Abbas attended in Manger Square in Bethlehem. Later the same day, Pope Francis repeated his invitation — using the same words — to Peres after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.
Pope Francis has urged the two leaders to stay on the path of dialogue, reconciliation, and peace. There is “simply no other way,” the Holy Father said.
Maybe I’m a little strange, but I have always enjoyed visiting cemeteries. I still have memories from my childhood of walking around the small country cemetery when we visited my grandmother’s home not too far away.
It was interesting to see the names of our relatives on the tombstones. Some of the monuments even had pictures of the deceased and information about them. Rather then being scary, the cemetery gave me a sense of peace and connection with those who lived before me.
My father died when I was 16 years old as a result of a heart attack. We didn’t have a family plot in La Crosse, where I was born (my parents both came from other parts of the state). I recall helping my mother select a plot and a tombstone for the grave. Since my father loved praying the Rosary, we had a Rosary engraved on his monument.
In the years since, I have been doing genealogy research on both sides of my family. During that research, I have visited cemeteries where my ancestors are buried. It has been such a joy to be able to pray at the graves of my grandparents and great-grandparents. Fortunately parishes have been kind enough to let me search through their records, some of which are in Latin (I’m thankful for my high school Latin classes).
Maybe I’m a little strange, but I have always enjoyed visiting cemeteries. I still have memories from my childhood of walking around the small country cemetery when we visited my grandmother’s home not too far away.
It was interesting to see the names of our relatives on the tombstones. Some of the monuments even had pictures of the deceased and information about them. Rather then being scary, the cemetery gave me a sense of peace and connection with those who lived before me.
My father died when I was 16 years old as a result of a heart attack. We didn’t have a family plot in La Crosse, where I was born (my parents both came from other parts of the state). I recall helping my mother select a plot and a tombstone for the grave. Since my father loved praying the Rosary, we had a Rosary engraved on his monument.
In the years since, I have been doing genealogy research on both sides of my family. During that research, I have visited cemeteries where my ancestors are buried. It has been such a joy to be able to pray at the graves of my grandparents and great-grandparents. Fortunately parishes have been kind enough to let me search through their records, some of which are in Latin (I’m thankful for my high school Latin classes).
