Tag: vocation

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Bishop Donald J. Hying, Bishop of Madison

Words of Saint John Paul II lit a fire in me

Bishop Donald J. Hying's column

Forty years ago this week, Saint John Paul II energized and inspired our country during his epic first Pastoral Visit to the United States.

Saint Paul VI had visited New York City in 1965 during a visit to the United Nations, but that short encounter was the extent of any papal presence in this country. Arriving directly from his remarkable pilgrimage to Ireland, Saint John Paul landed in Boston on a Monday afternoon and electrified all of us.

Listening to the pope

I was 16 at the time, thinking of priesthood, struggling to discern the mystery of such a call. I was also working my first restaurant job; having graduated from washing dishes to frying chicken, I was making $2.32 an hour, which even then was a terrible wage.

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Fr. Greg Ihm, For the Catholic Herald

Mazzuchelli Pilgrimage 2019

Every pilgrimage is a response of the inner desire in each one of us to seek God. On this pilgrimage, we discovered a helper in Venerable Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, and in seeking we found the joy connected to the gift of self which makes us want to seek God all the more.

The Mazzuchelli Pilgrimage took 22 pilgrims across the Mississippi River, through the cow and farm- dotted canvas of rolling hills in southern Wisconsin with all of it orchestrated sounds and smells, to the quiet tomb of a missionary that laid the foundation of the faith in the Diocese of Madison.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Let’s pray for and welcome Bishop Hying

As Madison’s new bishop, Bishop Donald J. Hying says he feels “very much at home here.”

In fact, he noted that about half of his relatives live in the Diocese of Madison, most of them in the southwestern Counties of Grant and Iowa.

“It’s great to come home to the state,” he repeated in a press conference, at a meeting with diocesan staff, at a 12 noon Mass, and in an interview with this writer and Tim Hein of Relevant Radio.

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From the United States Conferece of Catholic Bishops

National Vocation Awareness Week is November 5-11

seminarian group
Seminarians from the Diocese of Madison are pictured with Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison and Fr. Gregory Ihm, vocations director for the diocese, right.
For more on discerning and answering God’s call, see the special section on vocations in this week’s paper. (Photo by Backflip)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week, November 5-11.

This annual event is a special time for parishes in the United States to actively foster and pray for a culture of vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, reminds us that each of us in the Church has a key role to play in the witness of our vocation in ordinary circumstances.

“As we go about our everyday life and most especially this week, we must keep vocations in our prayers, while, at the same time, being a mindful witness with our own vocation,” said Cardinal Tobin.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Support our local farmers

On May 15, we celebrated the feast of St. Isidore the Farmer, so this is an appropriate time to reflect on issues involving farmers and their impact on all of us.

Farmers provide much of the food we eat, so we should all be concerned about the state of agriculture.

Farm industry in crisis

Unfortunately, things do not look good for the farm industry in many parts of the United States. A Catholic News Service (CNS) backgrounder article by Mark Pattison reports that family farmers are facing the worst financial stretch since the 1980s.

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Kevin Wondrash

Sisters offer retreat for single women

PRAIRIE DU SAC — Cistercian Nuns and Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity invite single Catholic women, ages 18 to 32, to a mostly silent retreat designed for women discerning their vocation.

Franciscan Sister Jacqueline Spaniola, OSF, will teach St. Ignatius’ discernment process.

The retreat will take place Saturday, April 29, at Valley of Our Lady Cistercian Monastery in Prairie du Sac and begins with 8 a.m. Mass (optional).

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Bishop Robert Barron

What makes the Church grow?

Just recently on the website maintained by the episcopal conference of Germany, there appeared an editorial concerning Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to Africa.

As many have pointed out, the piece was breathtaking in its arrogance and cultural condescension. The author’s take on the surprisingly rapid pace of Christianity’s growth on the “dark continent” (his words)? Well, the level of education in Africa is so low that the people accept easy answers to complex questions.

His assessment of the explosion in vocations across Africa? Well, the poor things don’t have many other avenues of social advancement; so they naturally gravitate toward the priesthood.

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Fr. Gregory Ihm

The power of forgiving sins

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Fr. Gregory Ihm

In 1793 began the Reign of Terror in France known as the French Revolution when many priests, Religious, and Catholic lay faithful were murdered because of their association with the Church.

One man had a particular hatred for priests and was famous for his style of execution: slitting their throats. Several years after the Reign of Terror, this man grew old, sick, and weaker.

His wife, a hidden Catholic, called in a priest she knew to anoint her husband because she feared for his soul.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Mary is model of every vocation

This week, the Catholic Church in the United States is celebrating National Vocation Awareness Week.

It is an annual week-long observance dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and Consecrated Life through prayer and education. It is also a time to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations.

This week’s Catholic Herald includes a special section with information on Church vocations. I hope people will read this section and perhaps share it with others who might not receive the paper, especially our young people.

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