Bishops' Schedules: Schedule of Bishop William H. Bullock Thursday, August 29, 2002 3:00 p.m. -- Preside at Midday Prayer for Vocations, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Friday, August 30, 2002 12:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Memorial Mass for Bishop Cletus F. O'Donnell and Sister Villanova Schiller, SCMC, St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison Saturday, August 31, 2002 5:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Installation of Reverend Thomas L. Kelley as Pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish, Cross Plains Sunday, September 1, 2002 10:30 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Installation of Reverend Peter Claver Anorue as Administrator of St. Patrick Parish, Hollandale, with the link of Immaculate Conception Parish, Blanchardville, at St. Patrick Parish, Hollandale Schedule of Bishop George O. Wirz Thursday, August 29, 2002 3:00 p.m. -- Attend Midday Prayer for Vocations, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Friday, August 30, 2002 Concelebrate at Celebration of the Eucharist, Memorial Mass for Bishop Cletus F. O'Donnell and Sister Villanova Schiller, SCMC, St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison Saturday, August 31, 2002 5:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Installation of Reverend D. Stephen Smith as Pastor of Christ the King Parish, McFarland Thursday, September 5, 2002 6:30 p.m. -- Guest Speaker at Father Marquette Lecture Series, Father Marquette Spiritual Life Center of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Montello

Bishop Bullock's 2002 Labor Day statement (Sept. 2, 2002)

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

As we commemorate Labor Day this year, we live in a country and world where our climate is shaped by the terrorist attacks of less than a year ago and the ensuing military and civil responses, the revelations of corporate wrongdoing, and its effects on workers and investors - all these remain fresh before us in newspaper and television stories.

The goodness of work

At this same moment, we continue to attend to our jobs, our work, to seek employment, or we seek to improve the jobs we have.

"Locally, I join with Cardinal McCarrick in voicing the need to keep alive the connection between our faith life and our work life, and the need to protect the dignity and rights of workers, especially those workers who are most vulnerable to exploitation."

New workers arrive into our communities, often from Mexico and other Latin American countries. It seems self evident that work remains a key facet of our lives both materially and spiritually. "The Church is convinced that work is a fundamental dimension of man's existence on earth" (John Paul II, On Human Work #4).

Msgr. George Higgins

Our national Labor Day statement from all the U.S. Bishops points out that the conviction of the centrality of work has long been exemplified in the life of the late Monsignor George Higgins, one of this country's and the Church's foremost defenders of the link between faith and work and the need to safeguard the rights of workers.

Monsignor George Higgins died this past year on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the author of this year's national statement, said that Monsignor George Higgins was a person of "courage and candor, fidelity and wisdom."

Faith life, work life

Locally, I join with Cardinal McCarrick in voicing the need to keep alive the connection between our faith life and our work life, and the need to protect the dignity and rights of workers, especially those workers who are most vulnerable to exploitation.

Especially relevant today is the Vatican II teaching that "one of the gravest errors of our time is the dichotomy between the faith which many profess and their day-to-day conduct" (The Church in the Modern World #42). Do we workers and managers live and act in this dichotomy? Do those of us making decisions on accounting practices or finance schemes bring faith and integrity to board retreats, corporate strategy sessions, or staff meetings?

Collaborators with God

From the Catholic view, bringing faith and the values it promotes to our everyday work needs to be intrinsically united to how we act. For our work serves more than simply being a means to material ends, vital though material needs are.

In God's revelation work is "but rather the collaboration of man and woman with God in perfecting the visible creation" (Catechism of the Catholic Church #378). Collaborating with God strikes me as a great gift. Do our behaviors, our attitudes, our actions honor or besmirch this gift?

Catholic Multicultural Center

The growing number of workers moving into the counties of the Diocese of Madison, a majority from Latin American nations with others from Southeast Asia, gathers our attention now and will in the future. It is my plan and hope that the new Catholic Multicultural Center will be a focus for service and action to take place in solidarity with these persons.

It will not be the only place, of course, as each of our 11 counties sees such new arrivals. For example, 10 of the 11 counties that make up the Diocese of Madison have migrant camps, of one size or another, within their borders.

Respect work and workers

Workers who are recent arrivals or those who migrate for seasonal jobs often are most vulnerable to exploitation. Their "immigration status" before the law means many live within a shadow of deportation while at the same time paying taxes, adding needed labor to our communities, and contributing to the common good.

Along with the bishops of the United States, I continue to "support laws that respect the human rights of immigrants and preserve the unity of the immigrant family . . . " and "join with others of good will in a call for legalization opportunities for the maximum number of undocumented persons, particularly those who have built equities and otherwise contributed to their communities" (USCCB, Strangers Among Us: Unity in Diversity).

The men and women who work in the 11 counties of the Diocese of Madison mirror the diversity of work places across the United States. Farming, government, service industry, teaching, manufacturing, and more all have found a place somewhere in southwest and central Wisconsin.

Like Cardinal McCarrick, I urge that "as we approach Labor Day, we should reflect on how we bring holiness and wholeness to the work we do." I ask your united prayers that God give us the grace to accomplish this task.

As you rest from your labors and enjoy the end of summer in Wisconsin, thank God for the ability and opportunity to work.

Official Appointment:

Most Reverend William H. Bullock, Bishop of Madison, wishes to announce the following appointment:

Rev. Msgr. Paul J. Swain, as Chaplain of the Monsignor Lederer Knights of Columbus Council #4549, effective September 1, 2002, through August 31, 2003.

Msgr. Paul J. Swain
Vicar General

Remembering Bishop O'Donnell,
Sr. Villanova Schiller

By Bishop William H. Bullock
CATHOLIC HERALD PUBLISHER

This year as I celebrate for the 10th time the anniversary of the death of my predecessor, Bishop Cletus F. O'Donnell (died August 31, 1992), I recall his great legacy to our Diocese of Madison and his impressive mind and heart, given so generously for the people of the Diocese.

We acclaim him in life and in death as the Bishop who ushered in Vatican II and implemented the documents of the Council. He did it admirably and heroically.

We pray he is in the fullness of the Kingdom of heaven and interceding in our behalf for the challenges of the Church today.

Bishop O'Donnell spent his 25 years as Bishop of Madison on the campus of the former Holy Name Seminary, now the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center. Bishop Wirz, Auxiliary Bishop, happily occupies his rooms.

There was, however, a Sister named Sister Villanova Schiller, Sisters of Charity of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, who was assigned to care for Bishop O'Donnell in both his dietary needs and the cleaning care of his suite of rooms in the northwest corner of the building, third floor.

Sister was meticulous about his diabetic diet. She was equally so in washing and cleaning the windows in his rooms, so much so that the seminarians would see her work on these third floor windows seated in the window hanging out in precarious positions as she would scrub away.

Bishop O'Donnell was known on occasion to skip the diabetic dinner prepared for him by Sister and indulge fully in the regular food fare set before the faculty. I asked Sister Villanova a few years back if she was aware of this occasional practice. Her response was in a heavy German accent, "Ya, is true, but I always did my part - what was his, was his."

Both, we trust, are eating and drinking in the fullness of God's love and reward for being faithful here on earth. The Diocese, with its many priests, sisters, and lay people will gather for Mass at 12:00 noon on Friday, August 30, 2002, at St. Raphael Cathedral.

Father John Stillmank was able to gather an impressive photo of Sister Villanova which will be on display as we offer a memorial Mass for her. The Sisters of Charity of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, of St. Elizabeth's Home in Janesville, Wisconsin, and formerly of Watertown, Wisconsin, will join in the celebration.

Such is our rich history and following the old "dictum," "you are not dead until you are forgotten," Bishop O'Donnell and Sister Villanova are very much alive.