Fr. Roscioli, MACCW initiate event to promote HeraldRead Time 4 min

Why are flamingos pink?

What do men really do when they go up north hunting?

Why should you never trust a kid in a wheelchair?

And why do turtles like to eat bologna?

Fr. Domenic Roscioli will make you cry and he’ll make you laugh as he answers these questions and shares stories from his experiences in ministry on April 6 during “A Prayer, A Story and A Glass of Wine,” an evening sponsored by the Catholic Herald, Fr. Roscioli’s Holy Spirits Wine LLC and the Milwaukee Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women (MACCW).

The Catholic Herald is excited to partner with Fr. Roscioli and the MACCW to offer up to 200 people a night of prayer, Fr. Roscioli’s heartwarming and humorous stories, samples of saintly Holy Spirits wines, a complimentary Catholic Herald wine glass, rich Dove chocolates, delicious hors d’oeuvres and basket raffles, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at St. Mary Parish, 1260 Church St., Elm Grove, according to Brian Olszewski, general manager of the Catholic Herald.

“Come discover how your Catholic faith is mystery, fun, prayer and an exciting adventure with God,” said Fr. Roscioli, whose stories relate to his experiences with children with cancer, the mystery of death and resurrection and growing up Catholic in the 1950s.

The event planning began last year when Jean Kelly, co-president of the MACCW, and Fr. Roscioli, the group’s chaplain for about three years, asked for a meeting with the Catholic Herald.

They pitched ideas to the staff for a collaboration that would, in Fr. Roscioli’s words, “highlight the value and importance of getting the Catholic Herald back into all of the homes,” like it was when they were children. The Catholic Herald was eager to get involved, noted Olszewski.

“It’s always nice to hear from people who are enthused about the Catholic Herald and Fr. Dom has made no secret of the fact that he really is a fan of the Catholic Herald, and Jean Kelly from the CCW is a fan of the Catholic Herald, and you bring those two together and that kind of enthusiasm – it’s great,” said Olszewski.

He’s grateful to Fr. Roscioli and the MACCW, whose idea shows the “Spirit at work,” because it came unexpectedly to the publication, he said.

“The Catholic Herald looks for every opportunity to introduce or reintroduce people to the Herald, because we know that there were people who were reading it maybe as young adults, maybe as children they remember it and then it just kind of disappeared from their life, so we’re reintroducing it, but there are also people who have never seen our publication, and we’re introducing them to it for the first time,” he said. “So any opportunity we have to put it into people’s hands, and into their homes, we’re going to take.”

Olszewski hopes that Fr. Roscioli and the MACCW’s enthusiasm will spark future collaborations for the paper.

“Any Catholic group that we can work with, we would welcome that opportunity to, again, put the paper into its members’ hands and I would hope that other priests and deacons would see Fr. Dom’s example as well that they could emulate and help us to put the paper into people’s hands,” he said.

Fr. Roscioli said the collaboration between the MACCW and Catholic Herald was natural, and fits with his mission to get the saints back into the home – something he accomplishes by featuring saints and their stories on the labels of Holy Spirits wines and gifts.

“When I was growing up, the reason we got the Catholic Herald was because it was sponsored by the parishes, and so I would say that the other reason we’re doing this together with the Catholic Herald is to either find parishes that would welcome that back as a vital part of their mission, to get the paper back into the homes, or possibly, the other reason we’re doing it, is to look for sponsors or sponsoring religious organizations like the MACCW or the Knights of Columbus….” he said, noting that along with the statues and pictures he saw at home and at church, the Catholic Herald also introduced him to the saints and made him realize that the church was bigger than just his parish. “A Herald Citizen in the house is better than money in the bank.”

Kelly said the MACCW feels the way that Fr. Roscioli does about the importance of the paper, which is why they also wanted to collaborate for an event.

“I feel like Father did growing up; we all got it, and now it’s like OK, now how do we get it to everybody? …” Kelly said, noting that the MACCW promoted the paper at its convention last year, and wants to promote events in the paper to reach as many Catholics in the archdiocese as they can. “We feel very strongly that this paper should be in everybody’s homes. There’s a lot of other stuff that comes in everybody’s home that shouldn’t – this is one that should.”

She also hopes that people will gain awareness of the paper and of the MACCW, which has been in existence for 93 years, at the April 6 event.

“We are very active, and we’re doing all kinds of things and we want people to know that we’re out there,” Kelly said, explaining that membership, which was formerly open to only members of Christian women’s groups at parishes, is now open to individuals.

The April 6 event will be a casual and inexpensive night of fun for Catholic and non-Catholic men and women, Kelly said.

“It will be entertaining to hear Fr. Dom’s stories, and they all do sort of have a moral to them. I think his stories can make you cry and they can make you laugh and you never know what he’s going to do,” she said. “It will be a fun night.”