Bishops' Schedules: Bishop Robert C. Morlino Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007 5:15 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Mass marking one-year anniversary of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, Holy Redeemer Church, Madison Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007 Attend Wisconsin Catholic Conference Board Meeting, Archbishop Cousins Center, Milwaukee Friday, Feb. 16, 2007 Gathering of Diocesan Catechetical Leaders, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison: 12:30 p.m. -- Lunch 1:30 p.m. -- Give talk 3:30 p.m. -- Preside and preach at Mass Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007 10:30 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Sacrament of Confirmation, Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, Beloit Thursday, Feb. 22 2007 7:00 p.m. -- Attend Bishop's WHINSEC Forum, Catholic Multicultural Center, Madison Bishop George O. Wirz Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007 10:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Luke Parish, Plain, with St. John the Evangelist Parish, Spring Green, at St. John the Evangelist, Spring Green Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007 12:00 noon -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007 12:00 noon -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Blessing of Ashes, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino There is no column by Bishop Robert C. Morlino this week.

Bishop's Letter

Dear Friends in Christ:

Pope Benedict XVI writes in his first encyclical, God Is Love (Deus Caritas Est), "Love is the light - and in the end, the only light - that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working" (no. 39).

With a love that brings radiant light, Catholics in the United States help through the Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe to build parishes in many distant, unknown places. Your generous donations support seminaries, social service programs, youth ministry, pastoral centers, schools, church construction and renovation, and the spreading of the Gospel message through the mass media.

Your compassionate concern for the universal Church brings Christ's light to people and places once covered by a pall of darkness. As we prepare to begin our Lenten journey next week, a time for penance, fasting, and almsgiving, I encourage priests to be generous with their words of encouragement from the pulpit, knowing that their parishioners' generosity will have a profound impact on so many people. Thank you so much for all that you do and know that I will pray for you.

Faithfully yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino
Bishop of Madison