COTTAGE GROVE — […]
Tag: Wisconsin
What kind of state do we want?
Wisconsin is a great state! I was born and raised in Wisconsin, and I enjoy living and working in our state.
Despite some very cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls, unlike some people I know, I’m not eager to spend months in other warmer states. I actually enjoy the change of seasons and the natural beauty of Wisconsin.
Best place to live
In 2014, it was no surprise that Madison was named number one out of the Top 100 Best Places to Live on Livibility’s annual ranking.
Budget hearings offer chance to make a difference
When the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) staff talks to groups around the state, we emphasize that faithful citizenship is a 12-month obligation.
During the latter part of March, Catholics and others who want to be heard on how and where the state should spend our money will have a chance to do so.
They can show up at one of four hearings on the 2015 budget bill. The hearings, conducted by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance, will take place over a two-week period beginning on Monday, March 23, and concluding on Friday, April 3.
Some laws say a lot about who we are, our values
Wisconsin’s laws make for some pretty dull reading. Most laws consist of technical prose defining eligibility for programs and drawing lines between legal and illegal conduct.
But some laws serve a different purpose. Some declare a policy vision for our state or define the scope and mission of what our government should do.
It is in these sections of the statutes that prose becomes poetry. It is there that we Wisconsinites define who we are and what we want our state to be.
Students fill St. Paul’s on Ash Wednesday
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| Frs. Eric Nielsen and Mark Miller distribute ashes at St. Paul University Catholic Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Ash Wednesday is the busiest day of the year at St. Paul’s with over 1,900 students attending Mass. (Contributed photo) |
MADISON — The marquee on Library Mall read, “Get your ash to Mass.” And get to Mass they did.
When Ash Wednesday comes around at St. Paul University Catholic Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, it’s all hands on deck.
Our liturgical rotation on Ash Wednesday included three priests, five sacristans, eight altar servers, 10 lectors, dozens of choir members, and 17 ashes-distributors for our five Masses.
Busiest day of year
We needed all the hands we could get. With students typically going back home for Christmas and Easter, Ash Wednesday is by far the busiest day of the year in the St. Paul’s chapel.
This year, over 1,900 students came through our doors to be told that they are dust and to dust they shall return. That number is about double the attendance of a typical Sunday.
Why so popular?
We’re still not sure what makes this day more popular than any Sunday or holy days of obligation.
Apparently, being repeatedly asked the question, “Excuse me, did you know you have dirt on your face?” at every class throughout the day is no deterrent to these students.
More likely, it’s an incentive. The fact that so many hundreds of students on campus would sooner claim Catholicism as an identity than to practice it by, for example, fulfilling the Sunday obligation is an indication that the Catholic brand is alive and well here.
This has major implications for the New Evangelization. It means that more people of the Millennial generation than we might think are willing to give the Catholic faith a chance, but have never discovered a reason to become fully alive in that faith and to actively seek a nearer approach to God.
Teens unite in faith and fun at Frassati Fest
“I’ve never known anyone who’s gone to Frassati Fest and hasn’t had a good time.”
That’s how youth minister Andy Schindhelm from Blessed Trinity Parish in Lodi and Dane sums up the “coolest weekend around for Catholic High School students in the Diocese of Madison.”
Issues in 2015 call us to witness to Catholic principles
Advocating for the Catholic Conference requires us to articulate the principles of Catholic social teaching in what a lawyer-friend of mine likes to call the “jury English” of everyday conversation.
Relating the Principle of Solidarity to current policy issues is one example of this.
All in this together
The Principle of Solidarity flows from the truth that human beings created in the image of a Triune God are social by nature. As a result, “we are all in this together.”
Time to de-fund Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin
To the editor:
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism recently published an excellent article about the inspector general for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services conducting a much-needed audit of the multi-million dollar family planning industry in our state.
The recent article highlighted that clinics “overbilled Medicaid by $3.5 million.”
She has goal to serve Mass in all 50 states
Her “goal is to be a saint.”
When 16-year-old Kara Jackson’s mother, Christina, helps her daughter tell her story, it all starts there — she wants to be a saint.
Be prepared for medical decisions
As we wind down the year, we seem to hear of more and more people who are dealing with illness and hospitalization.