In his apostolic Letter Patris Corde, (“With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis recalls the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church.
Tag: witness
Rwanda genocide witness to speak
MADISON — The […]
Witnessing on behalf of those who have no voice
To the editor:
Every hour of the day and of the night in our Perpetual Adoration Chapel at St. Rose Convent in La Crosse, we pray to our “ever faithful God . . . to empower us to witness to the Gospel with courage.”
Since Ash Wednesday, 2014, persons have been praying and witnessing on the sidewalks by Mayo/ Franciscan Medical Center in La Crosse.
Easter and evangelism: learning from St. Paul
 |
|
Galatians 1:15-18 is not your basic witness-to-the-Resurrection text.
Yet St. Paul’s mini-spiritual autobiography helps us understand just how radically the experience of the Risen Lord changed the first disciples’ religious worldview, and why an evangelical imperative was built into that experience.
St. Paul’s story
Here’s the Pauline text:
Witness of Faith: Bonnie Miller
COLUMBUS — “I’m kind of like a go-to person for the liturgy. I’m not listed on the bulletin or anything, but if Father’s got any questions it’s, ‘talk to Bonnie, call Bonnie.'”
If you’ve attended a Mass at St. Jerome Parish in Columbus any time in the past 30 years, you’ve seen the results of Bonnie Miller’s work.
In addition to her day job in which she puts in 30 hours a week, Miller serves as the parish’s unofficial “liturgist.”
Parish duties
If you ask her what that all entails, she’ll say, with humility, preparing a liturgical outline for the cantor, lector, organist, and celebrating priest for each Sunday’s Mass; selecting the music; preparing the church for Holy Week and other liturgical seasons; training new cantors and lectors — and that’s just a small summary. She also participates as a lector and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion herself.
Pentecost reminds us to use gifts of Holy Spirit received at Confirmation
I was confirmed in seventh grade. In religion class, I learned that in the Sacrament of Confirmation we receive the Holy Spirit who strengthens us to be Christian witnesses. I worried whether I could witness to Christ by dying for him as a martyr. I took Confirmation seriously.
The Church received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. To prepare to receive the Spirit, for nine days key followers of Jesus gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. These included the apostles, together with Mary, some other women, and disciples. They were united in intense prayer.
In Acts 2:2-4, it says, “Suddenly there came from the sky, a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Tongues as of fire appeared to them, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”
Encountering the risen Lord
Cecil DeMille, the famous movie director, was enjoying an overdue vacation at a Maine lake resort.
He was reading a book in a canoe, when he noticed a water beetle crawling up the boat’s side. When the beetle got halfway up, it stuck the talons of its legs to the canoe’s wood and died.
DeMille resumed reading. Three hours later he glanced again at the water beetle. What he saw amazed him. The beetle had dried up and its back began to crack open. First, a moist head, then wings, and finally a tail emerged. Out of apparent death, new life emerged in the form of a magnificent dragonfly.
As the dragonfly dazzled his eyes with its acrobatic flight, Cecil De Mille nudged the dried out beetle shell with his finger. It looked like a tomb.
From Good Friday to Easter
The water beetle’s amazing transformation reminds us of what happened to Jesus on Good Friday when he truly died on the cross and rose from the dead.
Jesus’ body that rose on Easter was different from the body buried on Good Friday. It was not a resuscitated body, restored to its original life like that of Lazarus or Jairus’ daughter. It was a risen glorified body.
Christ gives the grace of the sacrament
A small church once had an inspiring wedding tradition. After the wedding, the pastor would invite the newly married couple to pull on the rope that rang the church bells and share the good news of their wedding with the town.
First the bride pulled on the rope with her beautiful hands, but the bell did not ring. Next the muscular groom tugged mightily, but the bell did not ring. Then the bride and groom pulled together and, lo and behold, the bells rang out the good news of their marriage.
Initiative, Stations of the Cross create powerful witness
MADISON — As the snow falls around her, a young woman walks from her car to the abortion clinic. No one came with her, and no doubt she will leave the same way. But she’s not alone.