Showing results by author "Norbert Bufka" in All Categories

Norbert Bufka suggests alternative mysteries based on the beatitudes and corporal and spiritual works of mercy. These are action oriented mysteries designed to motivate the person praying into a more active Christian life. Bufka says he grew up praying the rosary every night with his family. This practice continued for six years in the seminary where all gathered in the chapel every evening to pray the rosary. After Vatican II settled in, Bufka discovered different ways to pray and stopped praying the rosary entirely. In recent years, he began praying the rosary again, not so much as a ...

Cardinal Bergoglio, Pope Francis, was chosen to lead the Roman Catholic Church in March 2013. He has been capturing the attention of billions of people worldwide because of his clear and consistent concern for people, especially the poor. His leadership style contrasts sharply with his two predecessors. On May 24, 2015 Pope Francis issued his first encyclical letter. “Laudato Si” (The Care of Our Common Home) addresses the environmental degradation of our earth. Humans are clearly responsible for most of this degradation including global warming, he says. Pope Francis earned a ...

Pope Francis has captured the imagination and admiration of millions of people of all faiths. He is frank, honest, humble, and lives the Gospel in his everyday life and reflects that in his teaching. What is not well known is that the Pope has been the successor of the Roman Empire for nearly 17 centuries. Even his title, Pontiff, come from the Latin title of the Roman Emperor, Pontifex Maximus. Over the years the trappings of imperial status has overtaken the papacy but Pope Francis has rejected much of that in symbol and substance. This book shows clearly how Francis is doing that. The ...

This book is written for all people, no matter what age or religious affiliation. The author believes that the more people grow in faith, hope, and love, the more our humanity will be united in community and experience shalom.

This book explores the meaning of faith and how it is influenced by language, cosmology, and history. The author examines faith in relation to beliefs, religion, and spirituality. He then draws this all together in a history of the Catholic Church with special emphasis on Vatican II. He ends with meaningful suggestions for a new way to look and experience faith. The reader is urged to take the journey of exploration along with him in this book.

The Roman Catholic Church is in the midst of the most serious challenge since the 16th century when many protested against the teaching and practices of the Pope, bishops, and priests. Today many Catholics are angry at the leaders of the Church for the sexual abuse by priests and the coverup by bishops. People want change or are leaving. This book dissects the issue and offers a path to reform and healing.

This book explores the issues facing Americans in the 21st century from a progressive point of view. Conservatives have dominated the political dialog for most of thirty years. it is time for progressives to speak up and enter the dialog. this book helps frame the issues with facts and American values of equality, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..

Adolph and Clara Viskochil were descendants of pioneering families in Leelanau County, Michigan. Adolph’s grandfather arrived in North Unity in 1855. Clara’s great grandfather, Leaman Charter, arrived in Northport in 1860. Genealogy and stories of Viskochil and Kucera families in North Unity and the Charter, Calhoun, and John families in Northport.

This Second Edition of the Bufka family history includes 30 more pictures and more information about the Dechow Kilway, and Nemeskal cousins. It also has corrections found since the first edition was published in 2011. As before it includes a detailed account of life on the farm in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, “Memoirs” of Joseph and Agnes Bufka, “Grandma’s Memories” by Agnes Bufka about her life as a child in southern Indiana 1901-1915, charts of descendants. Check out the other books in the Leelanau series.

Pope Francis is about action, not doctrines, dogmas, or creeds. So was Jesus. Pope Francis is all about mercy and care of the poor. So was Jesus. Pope Francis has challenged political and business leaders to take better care of people. So did Jesus. We need to heal the wounds of people, Pope Francis said. That is exactly what Jesus did. Pope Francis is calling the Catholic Church to be one of compassion, not one of ideological purity. Jesus challenged the “church” of his day – the Jewish leaders - as well. Pope Francis extends the teaching of Jesus to the environment and urges us to ...

Pope Francis inspires us with his amazing gift of writing about doctrinal issues with a pastor’s love for the people of God. He combines the two with honesty and tenderness and asks the bishops and pastors of the Church to do the same. Without giving new rules or even changing the old ones he asks us to make decisions based on local situations and mitigating factors through a discernment process which includes the internal forum, a concept long held in the church but jealously guarded by those in authority, that is, the hierarchy.

This book is about all the churches in Leelanau County, Michigan with a picture, current contact information, and their history, including some which no longer exist. You will read the fascinating history of the Chapel at Old Settlers Park, The oldest church in Leelanau at Omena, how the Methodist and Congregational Churches in Northport voted to form Trinity Church of the UCC, the mysterious burning of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Leland ,and many more. The chapter about missionaries includes the unusual story of a Methodist missionary ship, the Congregational abolitionist who was ...

Good Harbor was a lumbering village in the late nineteenth century on the shore of Lake Michigan in Leelanau County Michigan. This book has original news items as they appeared in the Leelanau Enterprise from 1880 to 1931. Descriptive entries about Good Harbor from the Michigan State Gazeteer and Business Directory from 1875 to 1931 are also included..

This book includes details about villages, post offices, schools, and depots that once existed in Leelanau County Michigan It has many stories and pictures about these lost places. It is a great resource for teachers, historians, and fun for all lovers of Leelanau.

Everyday activities are holy. The author uses the beattitudes and Matthew 25 as points of reflection for one’s personal path to holiness. The book includes a study guide for Pope Francis’ letter on holiness, Rejoice and Be Glad.

This is the fourth book about Leelanau by local historian and author Norbert Bufka. The other three are “From Bohemia to Good Harbor”, “Good Harbor Michigan”, and “News from the Neighborhood”. In 1855 German and Bohemian immigrants in Chicago joined together to establish a village on the west shore of Good Harbor Bay in Leelanau County. They called the village North Unity because it was in the north and it reflected the unity of their groups. Theirs was a remarkable endeavor. Catholics and Lutherans, Germans and Bohemians (Czechs) all lived and worked together in the wilderness....

Good Harbor Michigan is about a thriving community in central Leelanau County. A lumbering town sprang up in the mid 1880’s only to die as the result of a fire. The community continued and this is their story, based on primary source material, especially the Leelanau Enterprise which began publishing its weekly paper in 1880. citations are included for the serious historian and the people data are a bonanza for the genealogist and family history buff. Fascinating accounts of travel, shipping, schools, churches and cemeteries in Good Harbor are presented. A list of names and birth and ...

Saint Joseph’s Seminary was a minor seminary owned and operated by the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Boys typically enrolled in night grade and completed six years of study at this boarding school before moving on to the major seminary with six more years of study and preparation to be a Catholic priest. Norbert Bufka graduated from St. Joe’s in 1961. This book is the story of that seminary from 1909 through its heyday in the 1950’s and its transformation and final sale in 2008. .It includes the history woven with personal accounts of the author and others who attended the ...