Bishops' Schedules: Schedule of Bishop William H. Bullock Thursday, March 7, 2002 7:00 p.m. -- Preside at Evening Prayer, St. Thérèse of Lisieux Lecture Series, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Friday, March 8, 2002 5:00 p.m. -- Preside at Evening Prayer, RCIA Team Leaders Lenten Dinner, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Saturday, March 9, 2002 5:15 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Diocesan Institute for Lay and Diaconate Formation, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Sunday, March 10, 2002 2:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Pre-World Youth Day Event, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Tuesday, March 12, 2002 9:30 a.m. -- Preside at Communal Penance Service, Program for DREs and Youth Ministers, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison 7:30 p.m. -- Preside at Lenten Parish Communal Penance Service, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Madison Wednesday, March 13, 2002 7:00 p.m. -- Preside at Evening Prayer, Madison Downtown Catholic Parishes Lenten Series, St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison Schedule of Bishop George O. Wirz Thursday, March 7, 2002 7:00 p.m. -- Attend St. Thérèse of Lisieux Lecture Series, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Sunday, March 10, 2002 2:00 p.m. -- Concelebrate at Celebration of the Eucharist, Pre-World Youth Day Event, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison 4:00 p.m. -- Guest Speaker, Pre-World Youth Day Event, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Thursday, March 14, 2002 10:30 a.m. -- Chair, Meeting of the Board, Office for Continuing Education of Priests, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

Confession: A way
to respond to God's love

		The Bishop: A Herald of Faith Bishop William H. Bullock

From the beginning of our lives in our mother's womb God called us into being out of love.

In His grace, He sustains us throughout our whole life in His love. He always wishes that which is best for our lives so that ultimately we can be part of His Kingdom. Only selfishness on our part can bar us from the fullness of life in the Kingdom.

God always acts out of love. Our lack of a loving response to God's love is at the base of our need to get our life straight before God.

The Kingdom of God is described -- "Eye has not seen nor ear heard nor has it entered into the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1Cor. 2:9). His Son Jesus, who is the Incarnation of His love, tells us, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:34). Lent offers us a time to focus on that love.

My sin is ever before me

The Psalm reminds us: "For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me" (Psalm 51:5). "My transgressions," what are they? What sin is ever before me? We often use the Gospel account of the Prodigal Son for Lenten Penance Services; that Gospel parable is now named "The Parable of the Father's Love."

"What would you rather not have on your conscience? What would you like to have truly resolved in your relationship with God? What weighs on you, makes your life heavy?"

There are three elements by which we keep our sin before us: 1) our current situation; 2) our supplication to get out from under our sins; and 3) our look at the future. These three elements may be more familiar to us as: 1) our examination of conscience; 2) our request for forgiveness and absolution; and 3) our resolution to change in the future.

God knows us and loves us

All three help us come to terms with who we are before God. God knows our transgressions; He holds the light of His truth ever before us, searches with His light into the inner recesses of our conscience. There He reveals to us how well He knows us and how much He loves us.

Name and claim our sins

Acknowledging our sinfulness and what we have become by our sins, we ask God to give us the wisdom to purge us of sin, and restore the joy of salvation to us. We ask God to help us name and claim our sins as we come before Him.

Only God can poke around in our conscience and lay bare our lives. In His grace God will lead us to a true knowledge of ourselves. The spiritual writers remind us to "know yourself." True self-knowledge is to know oneself as God knows us.

We have all sinned against heaven and before God. We have squandered God's love, have made mistakes, and have been excessive in misusing God's love by selfishness and self-indulgence. When we refuse God's love and the influence of that love in our lives, we mar the image of God in us.

We quickly remind ourselves of the words of Jesus, that by our love will the world know we are His disciples . . . namely, that we love one another. In our Act of Love we pray, "Oh my God, I love you above all things because you are all deserving of my love."

Know yourself . . .

Lent is a time of intense prayer, a time of dialogue with our God who loves us, a time to ask God to help us see what is evil in our lives. Confession is a time when God can love us out of our selfishness, a time to repent, a time to be transformed by God's love, shaping us into a true image of Christ.

While I am sure there are many good homilies given at Communal Penance Services in the Diocese, very beneficial examinations of conscience, may I suggest some questions for you as you prepare for Confession:

What would you rather not have on your conscience? What would you like to have truly resolved in your relationship with God? What weighs on you, makes your life heavy? Do you find examining your conscience a benefit or a burden? Do you really wish to know yourself as God knows you? Why? Why not?

. . . as God knows you

At the end of our lives, judgment before God will reveal to us how He knows us. Would it not be then a good idea to get a good start on that by beginning now? In God's light we become known to ourselves as God knows us. A marvelous way of returning God's love is to ask Him to show us how He knows us now.

Bishop's Letter

Dear Friends in Christ:

The annual American Bishops' Overseas Appeal special collection will be taken on March 9 and 10. This appeal supports agencies that express the social teachings of the Catholic Church throughout the world in practical and caring ways.

Pope John Paul II has reminded us that "there is a special presence of Christ in the poor, and this requires the Church to make a preferential option for them" (Novo Millennio Ineunte). This appeal endorses the truth that in the oppressed, the hungry, the migrant, and the refugee we see Jesus in disguise, which is the theme of this appeal.

Your contributions support the work of Catholic Relief Services, the Holy Father's Relief Fund, and the Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services as well as international justice and peace initiatives. These programs provide emergency aid, development programs, relief and resettlement assistance, and advocacy for the poor, needy, and neglected. They do so in pastorally sensitive ways that reflect our teaching that all persons gifted by God with life are deserving of respect and dignity. Assistance in the past year was provided to victims of earthquakes in India, those dislocated by civil war in West Africa, refugees from Afghanistan in Pakistan, and farmers in Ecuador, to name only a few worthy programs.

The tragic events of these recent months reinforced for us how interrelated we are as Catholics and as a people. When some suffer, we all do. Please be generous in support of the American Bishops' Overseas Appeal. And please pray for world peace, which would provide the greatest assistance of all.

Grace, Mercy, and Peace,

Most Reverend William H. Bullock
Bishop of Madison