Evangelization

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wisconsin Personhood Amendment: Front page news, along with Ryan Braun

Need I say more about the watershed moments of both Braun's achievement and the introduction of personhood legislation...

Today's Wisconsin State Journal:

Many Wisconsin abortion foes are cheering the introduction of legislation that would amend the state constitution to extend personhood to the moment an egg is fertilized, although the state's two largest anti-abortion groups are at odds over the approach.

The legislation is patterned after a similar measure that Mississippi voters rejected earlier this month.

Critics say such measures would outlaw all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest, and ban all forms of hormonal contraception, including birth control pills and intrauterine devices (IUDs).

Wisconsin's "personhood" amendment, introduced last week by Rep. Andre Jacque, R-Bellevue, would define the terms "people" and "person" in the constitution to include "every human being at any stage of development."

Matt Sande, lobbyist for Pro-Life Wisconsin, which backs the legislation and is working closely with Jacque, said the amendment "undoubtedly" would outlaw all forms of surgical and chemical abortion. On other issues, "we don't know exactly what it would mean, but our intent is to protect the preborn child at any stage of development from any violent attack, whether chemical, surgical or experimental," he said.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has concluded the proposed language would ban hormonal contraception, said Nicole Safar, public policy director. "This is way out of touch with Wisconsin values," she said.

In a twist, Wisconsin Right to Life, the largest anti-abortion group in the state, has come out forcefully against the personhood amendment strategy, calling it "just plain wrong for Wisconsin."

Read the rest here.

Telling how PPWI acknowledges the abortion-causing effect of hormonal contraceptives, no? And yet certain pro-lifers refuse to address the issue. Cardinal Burke has something to say about that.

Geron bails on embryonic stem cell research

Reposting this from Jill Stanek's blog because of the implications and ties to UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, etc.

Out of nowhere Geron Corporation announced last week it was not only halting the first clinical trial of embryonic stem cell treatment on humans but getting out of the embryonic stem cell business altogether.

To understand how big a blow to the embryonic stem cell industry this was, you first must know it was Geron that funded the University of Wisconsin Madison’s original research back in 1995, which resulted in the first cultures of embryonic stem cells. It was Geron that started this whole mess.

Geron went on to comprise one-third of the triune that controlled which company or university got access to embryonic stem cell lines, along with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Read the rest here.

STL Catholic: This Year, Why Not Celebrate Tradsgiving?

It's that time of year again, as we approach that unique mix of secular and religious occasions that are amorphously called the Holiday Season. First we have Thanksgiving, the closest that a secular holiday gets to decent religion. We are informed that this holiday was first celebrated by the pilgrims (though the Spanish claim it was celebrated earlier in St. Augustine, FL; trot out this little gem at Thanksgiving and you will deservedly be ridiculed for the Cliff Clavin that you are), but it was officially installed as a national holiday on a set date by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, who saw fit to mandate thankfulness for the Northern victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. FDR, another wallflower reluctant to impose national solutions, later changed the date to the fourth Thursday in November.

Next, we have the annual mass-worship of the god Retail, known by its remarkably descriptive name of Black Friday. The portents of this holy day are scanned, analyzed and reverently feared, as the blessings or curses of Retail are made known. It is a most amusing mix of Baal worship, Aztec heart surgery, and Groundhog Day-- only six more shopping weeks until Christmas Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or some other nondescript Winter celebratory event!

continue at Saint Louis Catholic

A must read. 

Photo: Canterbury Tales

PLW: School children surprise Bp. Hying with collection for pregnancy centers

About two months ago, we received a phone call from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Hales Corners. Bishop Hying was going to be saying Mass for the school at the parish, and the school children wanted to surprise Bishop Hying with a gift to thank him.

Bishop Hying’s pro-life convictions are well-known in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. When he was still rector of the St. Francis de Sales Seminary, Bishop Hying and several seminarians could often be found praying at Affiliated Medical Services on Saturdays. One Saturday at AMS inspired Bishop Hying to write this.

continue at Pro-Life Wisconsin

Arch. Milwaukee to begin $300k victim therapy fund if judge approves

As part of the Plan of Reorganization, we will ask the bankruptcy judge to allow us to establish a fund dedicated to providing therapy and counseling to abuse victims of diocesan clergy. Currently, the archdiocese spends approximately $70,000 each year for therapy and counseling for abuse survivors who come forward for this assistance. This fund will be launched with an initial contribution of $300,000. The therapy fund will be “evergreen,” meaning that it will be established in a way that allows it to be replenished, so that payments for therapy will continue for as long as abuse victims come forward for such assistance. We are establishing it, not because we are required to, but because our commitment in faith calls us to do so. Let me explain.

As you know, the bankruptcy process is a financial proceeding designed to compensate those making claims. I have stated previously, and want to emphasize again, that beyond financial settlements, outreach and assistance to abuse survivors is an ongoing and permanent ministry of the Church. The most important thing we as a Church can and must do, is to continue to provide therapy assistance to those who have been harmed, even if their claims are not recognized under civil law, which may be the case for certain of the claims filed against the archdiocese in the Chapter 11 proceeding.

In order to prepare the Plan of Reorganization, it is important to know how many claims will qualify for compensation and which claims cannot be honored. Soon, attorneys for the archdiocese will be filing motions to ask the judge to decide which claims against the archdiocese will be allowed under bankruptcy law. If the court is not going to allow a particular type of claim (for example, a claim that is past the statute of limitations; a claim brought by an individual who previously reached a legal settlement with the archdiocese; or a claim against a person who was never an employee of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee), then people need to know this so they have a realistic expectation as they proceed with the claims

-Abp. Listecki

Sorry, couldn't find the online version of the newsletter online. 

St. Peter's Church, Ashton, WI - celebrates 150th anniversary

St. Peter Parish is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and held a Mass and dinner November 5 to mark the occasion.

Bishop Robert C. Morlino came to the parish, located in rural Dane County about 10 miles outside Madison, to celebrate Mass. Concelebrants included Fr. Brian Dulli, pastor of the parish, Fr. Laverne Meier, Fr. John Meinholz, and Fr. Henry Kalscheuer.

The parish has grown considerably since it was founded by 20 families as a mission church of Cross Plains and Martinsville. It currently has over 300 registered families.

“Many other people have been positively impacted by the Holy Spirit’s generous outpouring in Ashton,” said Father Dulli in his homily during the Saturday evening Mass which packed the church’s pews.

continue at MadCatHerald

more photos at madisoncatholicherald.smugmug.com

Won't you be my neighbor?

Wisconsin Historical Society

St. Cecilia, ora pro nobis!

Stefano Moderno, "Saint Cecilia," 1599, church of St. Cecilia, Trastevere, Rome

Cecilia, in the meantime, continued to make many conversions, and prepared to have her home preserved as a church at her death.

Finally, she too was arrested and brought before the prefect. He ruled that she should die by suffocation in the baths. Saint Cecilia was locked into the bathhouse and the fires vigorously stoked. She remained there for a day and a night but was still alive when the soldiers opened the doors. She was then ordered beheaded, but the executioner, after striking three times without severing St Cecilia's head, ran away, leaving her badly wounded.

St. Cecilia hung onto life for three days after the mortal blows, preaching all the while. She made many more conversions and people came to soak up her flowing blood with sponges and cloths. There exists in Rome a church in St. Cecilia's honor that dates from about the fifth century. Her relics were believed to have been found by Pope Paschal I in 821 A.D., in the cemetery of St. Celestas. These remains were exhumed in 1599, when Cardinal Paul Emilius Sfondrati rebuilt the church of St. Cecilia, and said to be incorrupt.

more at saintcecilia.us

I believe she was the first recorded case of the phenomenon of incorruptibility.  The above statue is said to be what she looked like when the grave was exhumed some 1,200 years after her death.  I couldn't find the quote, but I read somewhere those exhuming the body said she looked alive like a young girl sleeping. 

Avett Brothers: Where did all the hairy men go

This past Friday, I went to my very first-ever Avett Brothers concert, at the Pabst Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee. The Riverside is an amazing place for a concert; it is definitely not a generic sports auditorium, and the atmosphere really adds to the experience.



The Avett Brothers played a show on Friday night and Saturday night; both shows sold out. The Avett Brothers describe themselves as a "folk rock band." I heard the Avett Brothers were one of the best live bands around, and I wasn't disappointed! I highly recommend seeing them live if you have the opportunity.

But I have to say... what is it with hairy men at indie concerts like this? It was like every single guy took "No Shave November" to an extreme.

Considering Matt's post last week on charismatics and how our sins affect more than just our relationship with God, I found this reflection from the Avett Brothers to be particularly insightful, as we are all searching for purpose:

The Avett brothers' grandfather, Clegg Avett (1917–1976), was a Methodist minister. After reading his grandfather's sermons, Scott Avett says that he began to think seriously about matters of faith and spirituality. “Our hands and minds, legs and mouths, eyes and ears, arms and feet were all made with purpose, and though you may never find that exact purpose, it is your obligation to yourself and God to search for it ...”

Upcoming events at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

First I'd like to mention the first event which does not even require you to leave your home.  You may know the United States primary patron(ess) is the Immaculate Conception(hence the whole Holy Day of Obligation thing).  Fr. John Hardon highly recommended making the novena and now you can do it with reflections from one of today's best Mariologists.   I will be posting 'em on this blog starting next Tuesday as well. 

Please join Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner of the Franciscans of the Immaculate and Rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in a virtual Novena in honor of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary at www.airmaria.com . Each day, from the 29th of November up to the 7th of December, Fr. Peter gives a short meditation on the Immaculate Conception followed by a prayer. Perhaps you can suggest some intentions (for family, for loved ones, for end to abortion, contraception, etc.).

The Cardinal will be comin' town.  .... great now I have Christmas carols stuck in my head.  No!  Waaaait for it.... 

December 3 - Saint Nicholas of Myra: A Celebration for Children – starting at 1:30 p.m.

Meet and take pictures with St. Nicholas and hear the story of Christmas and the life of this beloved saint and wonderworker. Afterwards enjoy hot cocoa and cookies, coloring and a movie about his life. Children of all ages are welcome.

December 9 - Feast of St. Juan Diego – Celebrate with His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

The Feast of Saint Juan Diego begins will Holy Mass at 12:15 p.m. celebrated by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. After Mass there will be an induction ceremony for the Saint Juan Diego Guild for Children followed by a reception with refreshments and dessert in the crypt.

December 12 – Patronal Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – Celebrate with the Founder of the Shrine, His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

Celebrate the patronal feast of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe with His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. The Shrine opens at 8:00 a.m. Mañanitas, or traditional Mexican songs sung in the morning on special days, begin at 8:45 a.m. Sweet breads and refreshments will follow in the crypt. Cardinal Burke will be the main celebrant at Holy Mass at 11:00 a.m.

December 8 – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – feast day gourmet dinner at the Culina Mariana! 

Please join Shrine’s own Executive Chef Douglas and his staff for the first feast day celebration at the Culina Mariana! A three-course gourmet dinner is served on December 8th from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. in honor or Our Lady’s feast. Reservations Only. Call 788-8400 to make your reservations now. $35 for dinner + $12 for wine flight. This is a feast you will not want to miss.

FSSP Superior General to offer Mass at St. Augustine Church in St. Paul

Father John Echert, Pastor of Holy Trinity and St. Augustine churches in So. St. Paul, has invited The Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), the Very Rev. John Berg to offer the 11:30 Traditional Latin Mass at the Church of St. Augustine (408 3rd St. N. in So. St. Paul) on the 27th of November. The Fraternity of St. Peter is an international priestly fraternity established by Pope John Paul II to provide the traditional Mass and Sacraments to Catholics around the world under the provisions established by the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei.

There will be a reception for Father Berg in the church hall immediately after Mass, at which time he will also offer a brief presentation on the general mission of the Fraternity of St. Peter. So please--tell your friends and family members, forward this email to your Catholic contacts, pray for the success of this event, and mark your calendars for the 27th of November.

St Augustine also is the place where that potential Eucharistic miracle occurred a while back.

HT Verso

Wisconsin Personhood Amendment introduced

Legislation that would amend the Wisconsin Constitution to apply personhood rights to preborn children at all stages of development was introduced on Thursday. Assembly Joint Resolution (AJR) 77, authored by Representative Andre Jacque (R-Green Bay), extends the inalienable right to life found in the Wisconsin Constitution to all preborn children from the beginning of their lives. Senator Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) is the lead author in the State Senate. An amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution requires passage in two successive legislatures followed by a simple majority vote of the people. Click here to read the amendment language, and click here to view PLW's legislative memo. Click here for a national story on the opposition’s reaction.

From a pro-life perspective, the Wisconsin Constitution contains a glaring error at its outset. In specifying the beneficiaries of its human rights, our state constitution leaves out the preborn. It applies rights to only those people who are "born." Representative Jacque is proposing a minimal but absolutely essential correction, a personhood amendment, to make the Wisconsin Constitution cover all people, every person, at any stage of development.

Assembly Joint Resolution 77 tracks the original constitutional language as closely as grammatically possible, only substituting the inclusive personhood definition for the word "born." That definition is as follows: As applied to the right to life, the terms "people" and "person” shall apply to every human being at any stage of development. Such a definition is indispensable to spreading the protective cover of Wisconsin’s constitution over all its citizens.

The amendment language reads as follows:

Article 1. Declaration of Rights. Equality; inherent rights. SECTION 1. All people are equally free and independet, and have certain inherent rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; to secure these rights, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. As applied to the right to life, the terms "people" and "person" shall apply to every human being at any stage of development.

Should Roe v. Wade be overturned someday and the abortion issue remanded to the states, an activist Wisconsin Supreme Court could (and very likely would) use the word “born” in our current state constitution to deny the right to life of the preborn by interpreting an independent right to abortion in that document. In so doing, the court could nullify any present or future pro-life laws in our state. The changing makeup of the Wisconsin Legislature could also jeopardize any pro-life laws in our state. Every two years our state election process determines the majority party in Madison. Legal protection of the preborn should not (and must not) be contingent upon which party controls the state legislature. The right to life should not be subject to the whims of a politicized supreme court or an ever-changing legislature. Only by enshrining the right to life in our state constitution will preborn children be afforded full and lasting legal protection. 

The introduction of the Wisconsin Personhood Amendment is a watershed moment in the history of the pro-life movement in our state. It seeks to end abortion in Wisconsin, not to regulate or restrict it. It seeks to end all violence toward preborn children in Wisconsin – surgical, chemical, experimental, etc. – at all stages of development. We have been working toward the introduction of such an amendment for the last five years, and we thank Representative Jacque for demonstrating the courage of his convictions in finally making it a reality.

We also thank the co-sponsors of the bill for their principled stand in supporting the amendment: Senator Grothman and Representatives Dan LeMahieu, Don Pridemore, David Craig, Jeremy Thiesfeldt, Evan Wynn, and Tom Larson.

The Wisconsin Personhood Amendment is not intended, or worded, as a challenge to Roe, or as an attempt to define personhood under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. It seeks only to bring into the Wisconsin Constitution a true definition of human life as endorsed by Wisconsin citizens speaking through the amendment process, thus making the highest law in our state cover all people, every person, at any stage of development. We recognize that its protections cannot be fully effective as long as Roe remains law, but we believe a proper definition of personhood should be in place should Wisconsin be freed from the effects of that noxious decision.

The Wisconsin Personhood Amendment has been endorsed by Wisconsin Family Action, Personhood USA, Pastor Walter Hoye of the Issues4Life Foundation, American Life League, and Charles E. Rice, Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Notre Dame. For more information on the Wisconsin Personhood Amendment, check out www.personhoodwisconsin.com.

Take Action!

Please CALL or EMAIL your state representative and state senator now and urge him or her to support AJR 77, the “Wisconsin Personhood Amendment.” 

Tell your legislators to extend the inalienable right to life found in the Wisconsin Constitution to all preborn children at all stages of development.

If your legislator is a co-sponsor of AJR 77, please thank him!

To find out who your state legislators are, click here for PLW's website and scroll over the Legislative Affairs menu item at the top of the page. A drop down menu will appear. Click on the Speak Up icon and then scroll down the page and click on Who Are My Wisconsin Lawmakers? Type in your street address, city and zip code. The names and contact information of your state senator and state representative will appear.

Once you know who your state legislators are, go back to the Speak Up page and use the links listed under Email Your Government Officials to send your email to your state senator and state representative. That way PLW will receive a copy of your email which will enable us to monitor the activity of our grassroots advocacy campaigns.

If you prefer to leave a telephone message with your state legislator, call the toll-free State Legislative Hotline at (800) 362-9472. Or call the legislator’s office directly. Thank you!

Pro-Life Wisconsin

Texting God

"The only text sent in this class would be to God, alerting him you'll be meeting him soon."

--Br. Stephen at my little Catholic university

The Ironic Catholic

Check out Abbey Roads to see the old fashioned way to text God.

MJS: How are Wisconsin faith communities confronting the issue of pornography?

I am writing a story on how Wisconsin faith communities are confronting the issue of pornography. If you wish to contribute, please contact me at anjohnson@jrn.com. Please leave a daytime telephone number.

Remember, you can follow the Journal Sentinel's FaithWatch feature at:

www.twitter.com/jsfaithwatch
www.facebook.com/jsfaithwatch

MJS Faith Watch

Great question!  I don't know of any effort of Catholics in Wisconsin.  Anyone know of one? 

You might remember Green Bay Packer defensive end Ryan Pickett supported the cause leading up to last year's Super Bowl victory.

Fanatic Fridays

I decree that Polka Fridays will hitherto be known as Fanatic Fridays, so let it be written.

I ran out of polka music... Don't fret, I'll still bring you the best that the internet has to offer.

Old School Bucky

Bill Sagal '51 tries on his mascot head with designer Connie Conrad and Homecoming chair Bill Sachse '50. Photo Courtesy UW-Madison Archives

Reminder, it's not too late to sponsor “Mary’s Ultrasound” billboards

Last year’s “Mary’s Ultrasound” billboards were a huge success, in communities across Wisconsin. Viewers in Milwaukee, Green Bay, La Crosse and beyond were touched by a simple image of the preborn Christ Child. The pro-life effort raised the ire of the former president of Catholics for Choice, Frances Kissling, who wrote about the billboards in the Washington Post.

Kissling even referred to Pro-Life Wisconsin as the “grinches that stole Christmas!”

But in order to touch hearts across Wisconsin – and the United States, even! – we need your help.

True to Life funds are dangerously low, and without your help, we won’t be able to undertake the “Mary’s Ultrasound” billboard effort this year.

A $500 donation will pay for a billboard in La Crosse. A $500 donation will pay for a billboard in Milwaukee.

Please help us today! Click here to donate online, or call our office at (262) 796-1111 ext. 10.

Healing of the family tree

Every family and ancestry – save for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph -- has tendencies that were or are negative and need to be purged. It could be a family inclination to selfishness, division, pride, or argumentation. It could be occultism. It could be a preoccupation with materialism. It could be lying. These characteristics need to be cast out as “spirits” – blotches of darkness -- or they will repeat themselves like a broken record in our lives and then in the lives of those who come after us. “Loving families lay the foundation for our eternal progress,” writes another who had a near-death episode.

“They help us build strengths, identify and overcome weaknesses, and bring challenges of their own for us to overcome. They significantly influence us in our earthly missions and affect how we influence others in their missions. Every family bond – with spouse, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, uncles, cousins, etcetera – can play a crucial role in teaching us how to love and be loved.”

When the sin is intense, claims Father John Hampsch, who wrote a seminal book called Healing the Family Tree, the effects may go beyond the three or four generations so commonly mentioned. The greater the sin, the more darkness we attract. We also may draw demonic spirits of a higher level. As the Bible tells us, there are powers and principalities. They mimic the hierarchy of angels (seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, virtues, powers, principalities, archangels, and angels).

There are also earthbound or departed “familial” spirits – those who have not “gone on.” These are spirits that have attached themselves to a person, family, things, or locations. If someone commits a murder, this is a strong force that attracts the demonic. If there is a spirit that was addicted to sex, drugs, or alcohol, it may seek to draw from or enter a living person who is indulging in excessive alcohol or illicit sex (in order to re-experience it). An involvement in the occult is a transgression known to greatly enhance spiritual infestation.

continue at Spirit Daily 

I've read other articles on this topic and have found it to be very insightful.  I think it comes from a the charismatic movement, but I know I have a prayer to Divine Mercy for healing of a family tree.  I can't find anything on it now, maybe some of you have also prayed this prayer?  If so, please share where we can find it.  For some time I was very interested in the charismatic movement, as I had never heard a priest talk about evil spirits or any spiritual realities of this world.  I do not think it is a fascination; in fact, knowing we can help bring my family to faith is something that continues to motivate me to keep fighting; and particularly that my personal sin affects more than just my relationship with God.

From Orthodoxy - GK Chesterton

Certain new theologians dispute original sin which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.

Some followers of the Reverend R. J. Campbell, in their almost too fastidious spirituality, admit divine sinlessness, which they cannot see even in their dreams. But they essentially deny human sin, which they can see in the street. The strongest saints and the strongest skeptics alike took positive evil as the starting-point of their argument. If it be true (as it certainly is) that a man can feel exquisite happiness in skinning a cat then the religious philosopher can only draw one of two deductions.

He must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and man as all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly rationalistic solution to deny the cat.

Photo

HT JB