The holiest week of the year — the days from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday — are quickly approaching.
Last year our churches were closed. These liturgies were celebrated with a priest and a handful of ministers.
This year congregations will be present, but certain parts of the Holy Week liturgies may look differently because of the pandemic.BARABOO — During this Year of St. Joseph, a week dedicated to St. Joseph will be celebrated at St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo concluding with a Holy Hour on Friday, March 19, the feast day of its patron saint.
Following is the schedule for the week:
Friday, March 12 — St. Joseph Pastor Fr. Jay Poster will present and bless a statue of St. Joseph to each of the school classrooms.
Saturday, March 13, and Sunday, March 14 — Steve Angrisano, will be introducing himself as the Lenten parish mission speaker at all the Masses. |
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As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week, I offer profound gratitude and praise to Michael Lancaster and our diocesan Office of Schools staff, our pastors and principals, our teachers and school staff, our parents, benefactors, religious education directors and catechists, and ultimately the students who offer the best of themselves to create Catholic communities of learning and formation, so that our precious young people grow to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ as disciples of the Gospel and as practicing Catholics in love with the Lord.
This year especially, in light of the enormous challenges of COVID, I especially applaud our school and parish leaders who have had to plan, implement, adjust, sacrifice, and give the best they have, in order to continue the formation of our young people.
Combining in-person and virtual learning as needed and possible, our teachers and catechists have striven to keep teaching Christ to our students.
I applaud the generosity, flexibility, and commitment required of all in this enormous effort.
Perhaps these increased difficulties shine a needed spotlight on the absolute importance of Catholic education; everyone could have easily given up this year or at least have put in just a minimum of effort, given all of the roadblocks, but, in nobly rising to the occasion, the Catholic community has generously demonstrated the high priority we place on the formation of the next generation.
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“Not all heroes wear capes.” I’m sure that you’ve heard that saying before.
Well, it’s true, and you don’t have to go to your local hospital, fire, or police station to find them. All you have to do is look as far as your local Catholic school.
Take a look at the teachers, principals, secretaries, aides, administrative assistants, custodians, cooks, and counselors.
In Catholic schools, the heroes are everywhere. |
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In June, it’ll mark 23 years since I graduated from a Catholic school (sorry, Mom and Dad, if that makes you feel old).
I attended Two Rivers (Wis.) Catholic Central School (TRCCS), in the Diocese of Green Bay, from 1989 to 1998, from kindergarten to eighth grade. Like some students in the Diocese of Madison, I attended school in two buildings throughout those nine years — St. Mark for grades K to four and St. Luke for grades five to eight.
Unfortunately, the school, later known as St. Peter the Fisherman, is no longer open.
Name changes and school closings are also known to some people in this diocese, so my experience was somewhat “universal” with what other Catholic school students go through all over. |
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| Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison speaks to diocesan seminarians during this year’s Seminarian Gathering held at Camp Gray in Reedsburg. (Contributed photo) |
WASHINGTON — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week on November 1-7.
This annual weeklong celebration is an opportunity for dioceses and parishes in the United States to uphold and promote vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and Consecrated Life and encourage the faithful to renew their prayerful support for those currently discerning one of these calls.
This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unforeseen challenges in the lives of many throughout the country.
Bishop James F. Checchio of Metuchen, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, offered that these current challenges provide an opportunity for genuine discernment fully rooted and dependent upon Christ.
“These unusual and difficult times have brought much uncertainty and fear into our lives, but we know in faith that Christ’s powerful hand extends over all of us in mercy. I invite those discerning a vocation to use this time to prayerfully renew your love for Christ and recognize your complete dependence upon Him who loves and calls you uniquely,” he said.Dear Editor:
September 13 to 19 is National Assisted Living Week.
This annual observance was established by The National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) as a way to celebrate those who choose this type of living option and the caring, dedicated staff members who serve them; and to educate the general public about the importance and benefits of this type of long term care.
This year’s theme is “Caring is Essential.”In the Diocese of Madison, the Chrism Mass is typically celebrated on the Tuesday before Easter.
The Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa invite the public to worship with them virtually as they pray and celebrate the Paschal Feast by livestreaming the following services:
• Palm Sunday, April 5, 11 a.m.
• Holy Thursday, April 9, 6:15 p.m.
• Good Friday, April 10, 2 p.m.
• Easter Vigil, April 11, 7 p.m.
With the coronavirus, this year’s Holy Week will be strange and different.
We will not be gathering in churches in large numbers. We will not receive the Eucharist. We will not be joining family and friends for Easter.
We all feel the vulnerability and struggle of this painful moment, wondering what the future holds for us, especially the elderly, ill, and unemployed.
But even in a normal year, Holy Week is the strangest thing.
