MADISON — More than 60 men from the Diocese of Madison and surrounding areas recently gathered at the Bishop O’Connor Center (BOC) in Madison for “Fortes in Fide” (“Strong in Faith”) — the annual diocesan Lenten Men’s Retreat.
The retreat is a joint effort between the diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis and the Knights of Divine Mercy men’s apostolate.
The two-day retreat began with Mass and a pizza dinner for early arrivals.
Confession and Eucharistic Adoration
Fr. John Sasse, pastor of St. Clement Parish in Lancaster, gave an opening talk on the Sacrament of Reconciliation before that sacrament was made available to retreat attendees.
Father Sasse spoke on the importance of confessing venial, or less serious, sins, along with mortal sins.
“Venial sin blocks the action of grace in my soul,” he said. “If I’m confessing venial sins on a regular basis, I’m going to be much more open and responsive to actual graces that the Holy Spirit has given me along the way.”
He later led an examination of conscience, looking at each of the Ten Commandments, the Seven Deadly Sins, and others, along with advice on how to make a good Confession.
After Father Sasse’s talk, half a dozen priests from the diocese were on hand to hear Confessions.
During those opportunities, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for Eucharistic Adoration. The men also prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
Following Confessions, the evening concluded with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The next day began with Morning Prayer in the chapel of the BOC, followed by a light breakfast.
The morning continued with the first of three talks by Raymond de Souza — international Catholic pro-life activist, apologist, author, and broadcaster.
De Souza, who is also the president of the Sacred Heart Institute of the United States, gave three talks on devotion and consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
His first talk was on “The Sacred Heart in Church History.”
De Souza recalled how the world, especially in Europe, used to be a more Christian society before the effects of de-Christianizing and relativism — the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.
“Relativism is against every single thing we believe,” he said.
He stressed the importance of consecrating ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to combat relativism.
“God doesn’t expect us to be successful, he expects us to be faithful,” de Souza said.
After lunch, de Souza’s second talk was on “The Twelve Promises” of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
He discussed the First Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart — attending Mass and receiving Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays in reparation for those who do not receive our Lord, do not love him, and wound him by their sinful lives.
Some of the promises of the devotion include, “I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life,” “I will establish peace in their homes,” and “I will comfort them in all their afflictions.”
His third talk was on “Jesus, the Lion and the Lamb,” looking at Jesus’ “personality . . . What was he like? How did he deal with people?”
He used Gospel examples of Jesus as the “lion and the lamb . . justice and mercy.”
The “lamb” is “turning the other cheek,” while the “lion” is driving out the money changers in the temple.
De Souza said men are called to be both lion and lamb. The challenge is to discern when to be either.
Bishop speaks and concluding Mass
Following de Souza’s talks, Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison spoke to the men before Mass.
He also reflected on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, notably one of the invocations of the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus — “Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills . . . Have mercy on us.”
“Every time I see a gorgeous mountain landscape, the first thing that comes to my mind is ‘Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,’” Bishop Morlino said. “What are those everlasting hills doing? They’re desiring the heart of Jesus.”
“The truth about the human person is that God inscribed the human mind and the human heart with a desire for himself, with a desire for the heart of his son. That’s the way we’re built. That’s our DNA,” he added. “We are hard-wired, along with the rest of creation, especially her beautiful everlasting hills, to desire Jesus Christ.”
Following Bishop Morlino’s talk, he took some time to answer questions from the retreatants, some of whom were seeing him in person for the first time.
The retreat ended with Mass, which Bishop Morlino celebrated ad orientem (Latin for “to the east”) — facing the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer in the same direction as the assembly.
Wives and families were welcome at the Mass.
The Knights of Divine Mercy schola choir chanted music during the Mass.
For more information on the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis and other programs it offers, go to www.madisondiocese.org/Ministry/EvangelizationandCatechesis.aspx
For more information on the Knights of Divine Mercy, go to www.knightsofdivinemercy.com