Bishops' Schedules: Bishop Robert C. Morlino Sunday, December 12, 2004 10:30 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison Monday, December 13, 2004 4:30 p.m. -- Attend Holiday Open House with Blessing of Studios, Relevant Radio, Madison Tuesday, December 14, 2004 11:00 a.m. -- Attend Presbyteral Council Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Bishop William H. Bullock Saturday, December 11, 2004 10:00 a.m. -- Participate at Communal Penance Service, Holy Mother of Consolation Parish, Oregon Wednesday, December 15, 2004 7:00 p.m. -- Participate at Communal Penance Service, Holy Mother of Consolation Parish, Oregon Bishop George O. Wirz Saturday, December 11, 2004 11:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison

Tell truth with love:
Follow model of St. John
the Baptist

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Dear Friends,

As we move swiftly on our way through Advent (especially since Christmas Day falls on a Saturday), we encounter the two great figures of Advent, St. John the Baptist in the earlier days and our Blessed Mother in the later days. The great feast days of St. John the Baptist occur in June and August, but his figure is front and center during our Advent preparation.

"When people teach or claim what is false, the truly loving respectful thing to do is to offer them the truth."

St. John the Baptist confronts the Pharisees and the Sadducees who were misleading the Jewish people, with the strong words: "You brood of vipers!" and he proceeds to let them have it for their hypocrisy. Such an approach in our own day and age would no doubt be considered divisive and unacceptable, "hatespeak," and "mean-spirited."

John the Baptist spoke the truth fearlessly, and he never fell into the trap of accepting the falsehood taught by the Pharisees and Sadducees because he cared too much about them as persons.

St. John the Baptist is perfect model

In our day and age loving respect and reverence for persons, from which we can never be dispensed, seems to warrant acceptance of whatever they see as "true for them." It was not that way with John the Baptist - he named falsehood for what it was, and warned those who embraced it to avoid that trap. And so he is a perfect model for us in today's culture. We seem to think that loving respect for the person means acceptance of whatever they might say, at least as "true for them" if not true for ourselves. This is a mistaken notion of respect for individual conscience.

John the Baptist preached salvation. He cared about every person's salvation. I wonder sometimes if we think in terms of the twin possibilities of winning our salvation under God's grace, or losing it. It sometimes appears that even Catholics believe that nothing they say, do, or think would cause them to lose their salvation. Those who think in this way believe what is false. It is precisely the wonderful caring of John the Baptist for other people and their salvation that enables him to join, in his life and preaching, respect for the person and respect for the objective truth.

Loving thing to do is offer truth

When people teach or claim what is false, the truly loving respectful thing to do is to offer them the truth, not with any sense of arrogance but with all humility, because in fact the truth that we present is not authored by us. It is authored by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit revealing their Trinity in our Church. Thus when we offer others who are in error the truth, we are doing a most loving and respectful thing, that is we are caring for their salvation, the most important thing in their lives, whether they know it or not.

So this Advent and every day with John the Baptist, like John the Baptist, tell the truth with love. Salvation for ourselves and others depends on it, and that means everything depends on it. What a loving trust the Lord has placed in our care, at one and the same time love for the person and love for the truth because no less is at stake than salvation.

Thank you for reading this. Please continue to keep me in your prayers. God bless you and yours during these holy days of Advent. Praise be Jesus Christ!

Bishop's Letter

Dear Friends in Christ:

The collection in support of the Retirement Fund for Religious will be taken Dec. 11 and 12. It is a time to reflect on the wonderful legacy religious sisters, brothers, and priests contributed to the Church and all of us.

This year's theme is "Share in the Care." The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has helped sponsor this appeal for 17 years, and it has evoked unsurpassed generosity among Catholics, who have donated more than $400 million to date. It is humbling, then, to realize that the cost of care for our elderly religious each year exceeds $400 million and continues to escalate. Today, more than 12,000 of our sisters, brothers, and order priests require skilled care or assistance with the tasks of daily living. They need our help. And, we, who have been educated, inspired, and many times renewed by their compassionate care, can be of aid.

Over 53 percent of all religious are over the age of 69; many more are approaching retirement. Many are frail and vulnerable, and without the financial resources to provide for themselves because they served so long for meager or no salaries or benefits. More than 96 percent of the proceeds of this collection are used directly for the needs of elderly religious in 540 religious institutes in 47 states.

Pray for an increase in vocations to the religious life, and for the spiritual and physical health of the retired religious. They trusted in God's providence. Through this collection, we can be God's instruments. Please be generous in expressing your mercy for those who have served us so well.

Faithfully yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino
Bishop of Madison