Bishops' Schedules: Schedule of Bishop Robert C. Morlino Thursday, August 28, 2003 3:00 p.m. -- Preside at Midday Prayer for Vocations, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Wednesday, September 3, 2003 12:00 p.m. -- Host Luncheon and Meeting with Members of Junior Clergy, Bishop's Residence Thursday, September 4, 2003 12:45 p.m. -- Host Luncheon and Meeting with Senior Priests, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Schedule of Bishop George O. Wirz Thursday, August 28, 2003 3:00 p.m. -- Attend Midday Prayer for Vocations, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

Two special gifts among many bishop has received

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Dear Friends,

Last week there were two special moments among the many gifts which the Lord continues to give me as your new Bishop. On Friday, I offered Mass at our Cathedral Church at noon, celebrating the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, having invited, the previous week, the faithful people who might be interested to pray the rosary with me after the Mass, at the site of the abortion clinic immediately across the street from the Cathedral rectory.

"If Jesus truly calls a young man, it seems unthinkable that the gift would not be accepted."

Praying rosary at abortion clinic

The Cathedral was absolutely full, I must admit to my surprise, and hundreds of people accompanied me to pray the rosary afterwards. I spoke of course of loving concern for preborn babies, loving concern for women who fall victim to the tragedy of abortion, and for those who perform this procedure or assist in its performance.

Abortion is without question an abominable crime as indicated by the Second Vatican Council. Those who promote abortions or perform them or assist in the procedure are human persons for whom Jesus Christ died, and as persons they are worthy of our love and respect. Our challenge is to seek to correct the horrendous error of abortion while remaining loving and respectful toward those persons who are in fact in error.

I believe we made a good beginning. The best thing that we can do for our neighbors who reject the moral truth that we hold dear, the best way to show our love and respect is to pray for them, and we did precisely that in an environment of great peace and communion in the Lord Jesus. What a spectacular gift this was, and I look forward to the next opportunity. It strikes me that maybe we can arrange to do this with myself leading the rosary on a monthly basis.

Reception of seminarians into Candidacy for Holy Orders

The second special gift was the reception of two of our seminarians, Michael Radowicz and Eric Sternberg, into Candidacy for Holy Orders - this means their final public declaration of their acceptance of the call of Christ to be priests and deacons. This vocation of theirs is a great gift from Christ to our diocese and as we pray for them and for our other four seminarians, Brian Dulli, Greg Ihm, Ben Kessler and Lance Schneider, let us take some time to reflect on this matter of priestly vocation.

Miracle of the Eucharistic presence

All of us are called, the Holy Father teaches us, to be amazed at the miracle of the Eucharistic celebration and presence. The Eucharist contains the most powerful mystical experience possible for a human person - not only do we not have to escape from our body to enjoy this mystical experience, but in fact our body is necessary as we share the nourishment of the Body and Blood of Christ.

The mysticism of the Eucharist embraces the whole person, moving us backward in time to Mount Calvary, making us present to the one eternal sacrifice of Christ, and moving us forward to the great eternal heavenly worship of the Father led by Christ in the Holy Spirit. The Eucharistic celebration lifts us outside of time and allows us to be mystically present both to the past and to the future. Wow! That is our expression of amazement.

Mysticism of Eucharist tied to priesthood

The mysticism of the Eucharist is tied to the mysticism of the priesthood, for it is only through the ordained priest, who is in the person of Christ himself, that the Eucharistic sacrifice and celebration might be offered. To be in the person of Christ! Wow!

It is this mysticism that by the power of grace can motivate a young man to sacrifice the loving companionship of marriage and family so that he might respond completely to this call - as Archbishop Dolan has said so well, "dedicating every brain cell and every sperm cell" to the unselfish service of the Lord and his people.

If Jesus truly calls a young man, it seems unthinkable that the gift would not be accepted. And yet our culture has made it so hard for the gift to be accepted. The gift of the celibate priesthood is seen no longer as gift but as burden. The priesthood itself becomes rather than a mystical vocation, just another job usually without good pay and with long hours of work.

Encourage and invite young men

You and I in the Diocese of Madison need to encourage and invite young men to consider whether Jesus might be calling them to ordained priesthood. We need to pray for them. Most young men are not called to be priests, but enough are called so that the Eucharistic sacrifice and celebration is worthily offered as needed and our people are well-served.

I'm convinced that there are many young men in our diocese who are being called, but who are also unable to hear that call because the culture somehow drowns it out. You and I, particularly parents and grandparents of young men, and in a very special way his mother are the needed instruments for growing awareness of this possible call from the Lord.

Promoting vocations highest priority

The promotion of vocations is and will remain one of my highest priorities - in fact I have appointed myself the temporary Director of Vocations and I intend to be a very active recruiter, assisted hopefully by a small team of some of our priests.

But all of us have to pray for vocations and then bring up the subject, inviting and encouraging young men seriously to pray themselves about this possibility. And please do not hesitate to direct any young man who might express an interest to me or to indicate to my office the names of those who might be approached. I can assure you that in conversation with young men, I use gentleness, good humor, and avoid the hard sell - it is only Christ who can give the call, and if Christ is not calling, the last thing I would want to do is to exert pressure or to force the issue.

But in order for our young men to hear this call we must create an environment of greater prayer and awareness and I will hope that you will join with me in doing so.

Importance of consecrated women

As I say this I do not mean to neglect the importance of the vocation of young women to the consecrated life so that they can give witness to us of the holiness to which the Church is called, the holiness of Mary itself. We must remember that the perfect disciple and greatest Christian is the woman, Mary our Mother. And I will be looking in the days ahead for ways in which to raise the awareness of the possible call from the Lord to our young women to live the consecrated life as well.

My own immediate responsibilities to the Church in Madison make the issue of priestly vocations one of special urgency for me and for you. In your family lives you are called to create the setting where young men might become amazed at the possibility of being mystically in the person of Christ. In your family lives you are called to create the environment where young men can speak forth and experience that wow. Please give it your best shot and let us pray for one another as we make this special effort.

Praised be Jesus Christ! Thank you for reading this and God bless each one of you.

Official Appointments:

Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, announces the following appointments:

Rev. David W. Timmerman, from Administrator to Pastor, St. Andrew Parish, Verona, linked with St. William Parish, Paoli, for a term of six years, effective August 21, 2003.

Reverend Francis J. Steffen, confirmation of appointment as Administrator, Immaculate Conception Parish, Kieler, linked with St. Joseph Parish, Sinsinawa, in addition to Pastor, Holy Ghost Parish, Dickeyville.

Rev. Francis Xavier Ekwugha, confirmation of appointment as Parochial Vicar, Holy Ghost Parish, Dickeyville, and Immaculate Conception Parish, Kieler, linked with St. Joseph Parish, Sinsinawa.