From the Desk of Father Martin - January 21, 2018

Praised be Jesus Christ! The following excerpt comes from the new book we’re selling that commemorates our 150th anniversary as a Diocese: “Holy Cross, Cornell is the northern most parish of the Diocese of La Crosse. The first church was built in 1916. The priest came to Cornell once a month to say Mass because the rectory was in Jim Falls. During the 1920’s the Ku Klux Klan was formed in the area and by 1924 they were very active in Cornell, marching up Main St. with their hoods and torches whenever the priest came to town. There was a wooded area at the end of Main St. and here the Klan would burn a cross. It was during one of these fiery episodes that Fr. Minwegen decided to travel to Eau Claire and find out who owned the land. The option had expired one week earlier, so he put down $50 of parish money and the 10 acres at the end of Main St. now belonged to Holy Cross,” (pg. 297, Feed My Lambs). Pretty amazing story, don’t you think?! I share it here partially as a marketing ploy but mostly as an introduction to the sanctity of human life that we defend and promote as we remember the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade on January 22nd. For 45 years our country has legally terminated our nascent brothers and sisters and we are praying and offering sacrifices so that this will end. The blindness that led people to join the Ku Klux Klan is still operating at full tilt, but is now found in the much more refined arenas of politics and Planned Parenthood. Sins against the image and likeness of God are not new, for as Jesus pointed out, Satan “was a murderer from the beginning,” (Jn. 8:44) and he has been duping the world ever since. Whether it’s in the form of racism or sexism, assaults on human dignity are always and everywhere to be condemned with charity and courage. And while today most people would say that groups like the Ku Klux Klan were clearly an affront to human dignity, many are still blind to the reality that abortion and contraception tend to inordinately target minorities, especially African Americans and Hispanics. Suffice it to point out that a 2010 Census revealed that 79% of Planned Parenthood surgical abortion facilities are located within walking distance of African American or Hispanic/Latino neighborhoods. When I was a kid I watched the movie “Boyz in the Hood” and I’ve never forgotten the question posed by one of the characters: “Why is it that there is a gun shop on almost every corner in this community? I’ll tell you why. For the same reason that there is a liquor store on almost every corner in the black community. Why? They want us to kill ourselves.” Racism and sexism are fruits of original sin and will probably be with us until the end of the world. The problem is when they’re not challenged. Every child has a right to be born. Terminating an innocent human being is always wrong. The foundress of Planned Parenthood was Margaret Sanger and her teaching was unabashedly racist. This racism has been codified by Roe vs. Wade, a law that has been consistently used to free us of the burden of black kids, Hispanic kids, kids with special needs, and the list goes on. Now it would be inaccurate to say that all people who are in favor of abortion are racists or sexists. But I do not think you could ever say of abortion advocates that they understand Jesus Christ’s preferential love for those who are most vulnerable and marginalized in this world... Now let’s close with a happy ending, shall we? Again, from our sesquicentennial book comes the following conclusion to the story we started above: “After 100 years Holy Cross was blessed with a priest from our parish. Fr. Daniel J. Sedlacek was ordained June 25, 2016 by Bishop Callahan at St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral, La Crosse. He said his first Mass at Holy Cross on Sunday, June 26, 2016 (very near the spot where the KKK burned crosses all those years ago).” 

May God give us the grace to pray and fast for an end to abortion and all other crimes against human dignity! 

Your friend in Christ, Father Martin ​