Journey is a poor word to describe our pilgrimage to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for World Youth Day. The better way to describe it would be to call it a quest. A quest in which the forces of light battle the hordes of darkness. However, in this case the darkness is inside of us. This darkness is the thought that we are alone in our fight against evil, that Church is weak, diminishing, powerless against the aggressive advances of the devil in our world.
Tag: World
Dodgeville students advance to ‘Odyssey’ world finals
DODGEVILLE — Two teams of students in grades three through five from St. Joseph School in Dodgeville will be competing in the World Finals of the Odyssey of the Mind. The competition is set for May 22-25 on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing, Mich.
The Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.
“Our school became involved in it just last year because some parents asked about it, and I had always wanted to get it going,” said Principal Sharon Wimer. “It seemed like a great opportunity to promote creative thinking and originality, and showcase some of our talented students.”
World Youth Day in Rio de Janiero
MADISON — The […]
Making a world of difference
Mukuru, a slum in the Kenyan capital city of Nairobi, is home to some 10,000 people living in wood and corrugated metal shacks, crowded together, with no running water, electricity, or sewage systems.
Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Mukuru is packed. At the Offertory procession, with the gifts of bread and wine are baskets of vegetables, flour, rice, bread, and other necessities for the less fortunate members of the parish.
Spreading the Good News
Then, at the end of Mass, the new words of dismissal — “go and announce the Gospel of the Lord” — come to life immediately as the missionary priest and others navigate narrow dirt paths, spreading the Good News of God’s love to the sick and those suffering in any way.
Consecrated women bring the love and mercy of God
 |
|
Each February, the Church celebrates two events of special significance to Little Sisters of the Poor.
On February 5, the Church celebrates the World Day of Consecrated Life, a day important to all men and women religious. On February 11, the World Day of the Sick is observed.
Each of these special days offers an opportunity for us to affirm our vocation as consecrated women devoted to the Church’s mission of compassion through the ministry of healthcare.
God’s greatest gift
The present economic crisis can provide us with an opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, rather than on the materialistic spirit that often permeates our Western culture.
Since so many people are unemployed or under-employed and many family incomes are shrinking, a lot people will have to limit the type and number of gifts they give. This might be a blessing in disguise. It can provide us a chance to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
Sign of God’s great love
Gift giving is a wonderful tradition but too many of us tend to go overboard and often measure another’s love and care by the gifts they give and receive. And some people give gifts out of a feeling of obligation or just because someone gives them one. Many feel embarrassed if a person gives them a gift and they have nothing to give in return.
God’s greatest gift
The present economic crisis can provide us with an opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, rather than on the materialistic spirit that often permeates our Western culture.
Since so many people are unemployed or under-employed and many family incomes are shrinking, a lot people will have to limit the type and number of gifts they give. This might be a blessing in disguise. It can provide us a chance to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
Sign of God’s great love
Gift giving is a wonderful tradition but too many of us tend to go overboard and often measure another’s love and care by the gifts they give and receive. And some people give gifts out of a feeling of obligation or just because someone gives them one. Many feel embarrassed if a person gives them a gift and they have nothing to give in return.
Christmas peace: A gift for Jesus and the world
A few years ago playwright/director Peter Rothstein created a theatrical concert and musical radio drama entitled, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. This theatrical concert dramatizes a remarkable incident of peace that happened during an unplanned truce during World War I, which some called the war to end all wars.
A Christmas truce
On Christmas Eve, at certain places along the front, German and British soldiers spontaneously sang Christmas carols. On Christmas day unarmed enemy soldiers met in no man’s land, and exchanged gifts of tobacco, rum, chocolate, and even family photographs. In one section they buried each other’s dead and played soccer.
Ten new seminarians point to Church’s hopeful future
As the fall season rolls in and many students are headed back to school, the seminarians for the diocese are all heading back to school to continue with their seminary formation after a much deserved summer break.
Starting this fall, we will have seminarians in seminaries in Detroit, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; Winona and St. Paul, Minn.; Seward,
Neb.; South Orange, N.J.; and Rome, Italy. Their years of seminary formation range from freshmen in college to the final year of theology.
Remembering Pope John Paul II
Strange as it may seem, I’ve been vaguely worried about the beatification on May 1 of a man with whom I was in close conversation for over a decade and to the writing of whose biography I dedicated 15 years of my own life.
My worries don’t have to do with allegations of a “rushed” beatification process; the process has been a thorough one, and the official judgment is the same as the judgment of the people of the Church.
I’m also unconcerned about the fretting of ultra-traditionalists for whom John Paul II was a failure because he didn’t restore the French monarchy, impose the Tridentine Mass on the entire Church, and issue thundering anathemas against theologians and wayward politicians.