Musings of a Holy Week pilgrim:

		Notes from the  Vicar General  Msgr. Paul J. Swain

Holy Week 2002 was different. At the very moment when our focus was on the land where Jesus walked, hatred, violence, and war brought sighs of sadness.

The cloud over the Church, the result of scandal of sexual abuse of minors by priests and its handling, brought sighs of pain and sorrow.

The Passion of our Lord had special meaning this year. Yet the message of Easter, Christ's triumphant victory over sadness, pain, sorrow, and death itself, lifts us beyond the moment, and gives us hope.

"Do not be afraid," the risen Lord said to the Marys who came to the tomb. It was true then; it is true today.

How quickly the liturgy of Palm Sunday turns from celebrating Jesus' ride of popularity into Jerusalem, to his suffering walk to the cross. The kudos of the moment fade into the reality of human fickleness and sinfulness. It was true then; it is true today.

"Each year at the Chrism Mass the bishop asks priests this question: 'At your ordination you accepted the responsibilities of the priesthood out of love for the Lord Jesus and his Church. Are you resolved to unite yourselves more closely to Christ and to try to become more like him by joyfully sacrificing your own pleasure and ambition to bring his peace and love to your brothers and sisters?' It is similar to that asked of Peter by the risen Lord, 'do you love me?'"

It was true then

Each year at the Chrism Mass the bishop asks priests this question: "At your ordination you accepted the responsibilities of the priesthood out of love for the Lord Jesus and his Church. Are you resolved to unite yourselves more closely to Christ and to try to become more like him by joyfully sacrificing your own pleasure and ambition to bring his peace and love to your brothers and sisters?" It is similar to that asked of Peter by the risen Lord, "do you love me?" It is a question not to be answered lightly. It was true then; it is true today.

How uplifting it was when those attending Chrism Mass offered a standing ovation for priests, and the priests rose to return the ovation for the consecrated and lay faithful. We are church together, like those gathered in the Upper Room at Pentecost, priestly people through baptism, won for us on the cross. It was true then; it is true today.

What a humbling moment when Bishop Bullock kneeled before me, and others, and washed our feet. Jesus had done so for the disciples, challenging them, "I have given you a model, so that as I have done for you, you should also do." It was true then; it is true today.

It is true today

The sincere and simple gestures when the cross was venerated one by one on Good Friday, created an aura of awe for the gift of the Savior. "We adore you O Christ, and we praise you, for by your holy cross you have redeemed the world." It was true then; it is true today.

Witnessing the commitment and joy of those entering the Church at Easter, as has been done for centuries, rekindled in me the peace I felt as an adult convert, the peace that comes from resting our burdens, our lives in Christ. It was true then; it is true today.

The truth is that without the cross, the suffering, the sacrifice, there would be no opportunity to own up to our failings. There would be no forgiveness, no healing, and so, no hope.

Despite the sighs we feel and the crosses we bear, we sing alleluia, He is risen. It was true then; it is true today.

State revenue crunch:

		Eye on the  Capitol  John Huebscher

The concept of the common good in Catholic thought is not the easiest to explain.

Some confuse it with the will of the majority. Others define it in terms of the greatest good for the greatest number.

In the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), the Second Vatican Council defines the common good as "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or individuals, to reach their fulfillment" and stated further that "every social group must take account of the needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups and even of the general welfare of the entire human family." (#26)

In its treatment of the common good, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says it is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good (#1910).

Challenging task

The task of discerning which policies best defend and promote the common good at any given time is always challenging. One such challenge is the temptation to define the common good in terms of the needs of those most able to influence the political process.

We see this very graphically in the decisions that contributed to our state's current one billion dollar shortfall in state revenue and in the public debate over how Wisconsin should deal with it.

Most nonpartisan observers of state government tie much of our revenue crunch to two significant policy decisions.

Impact of decisions

One is the bi-partisan decision to fund two-thirds of the cost of elementary and secondary education. This commitment directed significant state dollars to schools and away from other programs and also builds a healthy increase into each successive state budget. This commitment also pleases the teachers' lobby and its powerful political action committees whose spending on legislative races dwarfs all but one other group.

Which brings us to the other policy driving the deficit -- tax cuts. The resulting reduction in Wisconsin's revenue base has made it more difficult to fund current programs and meet the new commitment to fund education. Cutting taxes also happens to be the top priority of the other big player in the campaign spending "arms race," the business lobby.

To date, proposals that are unattractive to these two interest groups have been largely "off limits" in the budget discussion. The idea that Wisconsin might close part of the structural deficit by combining a freeze (as opposed to a reduction) in state aid to schools with a delay in scheduled tax cuts or the closing of certain tax loopholes (as opposed on an increase in tax rates), has yet to find bi-partisan favor.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans relish being the target of attack ads and independent expenditures funded by the two Goliaths of campaign financing.

Resisting suggestions

Consequently, other programs and government services are absorbing deeper cuts because the groups that spend the most on election campaigns are resistant to the suggestion that they ought to share in the sacrifices needed to close the structural deficit.

People of good will can disagree as to the precise blend of public policies that will best foster the common good. All of us should hope our leaders find a way to do so. But they are unlikely to succeed if they limit the definition of the common good to policies acceptable to the interests who dominate campaign spending in the closing weeks of the election season.

John Huebscher is executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.