Bishops' Schedules: Schedule of Bishop Robert C. Morlino Friday, January 30, 2004 10:15 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Catholic Schools' Week, Edgewood High School, Madison Saturday, January 31, 2004 11:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Winter Undergrads Retreat, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison 7:30 p.m. -- Preside at Reconciliation Service, Winter Undergrads Retreat, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Sunday, February 1, 2004 10:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison Wednesday, February 4, 2004 9:00 a.m. -- Attend Wisconsin Catholic Conference Board Meeting, Archbishop Cousins Center, Milwaukee Schedule of Bishop George O. Wirz Saturday, January 31, 2004 7:30 p.m. -- Participate at Reconciliation Service, Winter Undergrads Retreat, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Wednesday, February 4, 2004 9:00 a.m. -- Attend Wisconsin Catholic Conference Board Meeting, Archbishop Cousins Center, Milwaukee

Inspiring young people: Building Church of tomorrow

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Dear Friends,

The weekend of January 16-18, I fulfilled one of the very last commitments that I had made while still in Helena, Montana, to celebrate Mass and give several presentations for the National Meeting of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). The lay missionaries number about 90 and they serve in teams of four, two young men and two young women each, doing the "new evangelization" on almost 20 college campuses throughout the whole United States.

"So this weekend provided me with some intense moments of spiritual growth, reflection, and deep joy as I watched these marvelous young people today building the Church of tomorrow."

Last year when they gathered for the National Meeting, 700 undergraduates came from all over the country to participate - these were those who had chosen to participate in various FOCUS activities on campuses, particularly the Bible study. I had heard that this year's participation would number over 1,100 students at the National Meeting, but as it turned out over 1,400 students chose to be present. The total number of undergrads involved in the activities of the roughly 90 lay missionaries is 2,000, and it is interesting that so many of them freely chose to sacrifice the last days of their Christmas break from college and frequently to endure very lengthy bus rides in order to be present.

Youth are an inspiration

But it was clear that they wanted to be caught up in that sense of Church which is so much bigger than each of them and their own campus, and to enter with greater intensity into the presence of Jesus Christ risen from the dead. They truly are an inspiration. From Friday afternoon through the following Sunday afternoon they moved through a marathon of activities quite literally. The only activity which suffered considerable neglect almost universally was sleep.

But with loving sacrificial and enthusiastic hearts they made themselves present to the Christ who wanted to reveal Himself to them in new ways and He surely did. It was a special joy to me that Father Randy Timmerman, our Campus Pastor at UW-Madison, was able to participate in the whole program.

I had been asked to celebrate the Friday Mass in the evening and to present three sessions on Saturday, one on the new age movement, one to lead a panel discussion promoting vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life, and the third to address FOCUS benefactors from the Denver area with regard to the accomplishments of the Lord through FOCUS, and the wisdom of their investments in the apostolic service which FOCUS renders. So my days in Denver were quite busy as well.

When I was not making these presentations, I frequently was speaking one to one with college students and not surprisingly sometimes about the prospect of a priestly vocation. For me and for all it was truly a wonderful weekend. I write about it here because activities such as FOCUS should give all of us profound encouragement for the Church of the present and the future, and because of what these wonderful young people can and will accomplish through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Opportunity to view film, The Passion

An unexpected blessing for all of us came in the form of the availability of the Mel Gibson movie, The Passion, for viewing by us on Friday night. As you know, the public availability of the movie will begin around Ash Wednesday. I have been determined to see it at the earliest opportunity, and I was thrilled that the opportunity presented itself so well. The only problem was that the showing of the film began at 11:15 on Friday night which was already 12:15 a.m. Madison time and so it ended at about 1:15 a.m., that is 2:15 a.m. Madison time and there was talking with students afterwards so that the Bishop wound up going to bed, as he often had when he lived in the college residences with the students, at 4:00 a.m. It made for a tiring rest of the weekend, but viewing this magnificent film made the "jet lag," very worthwhile.

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Let me take this opportunity to urge all of you and your friends, all Catholics, all Christians, and all people of good will to view Mel Gibson's film, The Passion, at your earliest convenience. The Holy Father's reaction to this film amounted to, it is as it was. At the same time, the Holy Father should not be seen on any list of those who have publicly endorsed any given work of art.

I must admit that the film sought to make clear at several times and in several ways that Jesus suffered and died because of the sins of all, so that all might be saved through Him. I would never recommend viewing a film that I saw to be bigoted in any way, Anti-Semitic, Anti-Roman, or whatever. The violence of the sufferings of Christ as portrayed in the film is nothing other than the violence which He endured for our sins. Regrettably our violent culture and society and world have desensitized all of us to violence, and this film is a powerful antidote to any desensitizing that might have taken place within our Christian hearts to the sufferings of Jesus Christ. And there are many artistic and theological nuances in the film, which it would be inappropriate for me to mention here, which give an added depth to the reflection afterward which the film not only provokes but demands from the soul of every viewer, believer and nonbeliever alike.

It was interesting that after the screening of The Passion in front of 1,400 undergraduates plus, when the film ended, everyone stayed in place, no one moved, and no one said anything for well over five minutes. The truth of what happened to Jesus Christ pierces to the very core, as one would expect.

Building the Church of tomorrow

So this weekend provided me with some intense moments of spiritual growth, reflection, and deep joy as I watched these marvelous young people today building the Church of tomorrow. About the only thing wrong with the weekend was that I was not with all of you and in my Cathedral Church in Madison, which I always so desire to be. I guess this is the season of youth since I was with our own young people the next weekend at Chula Vista. I looked forward to that very much.

Let us keep each other in prayer during these early days of 2004 that our faith will grow deep, that the Church of today and tomorrow will flourish, that with our loved ones we will be blessed with health and safety. Thank you for reading this. God bless each one of you. Praised be Jesus Christ!