Bishops' Schedules: Bishop Robert C. Morlino Thursday, April 28, 2005 5:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Eucharist, Red Mass, St. Patrick Parish, Madison Friday, April 29, 2005 10:30 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Eucharist, Inauguration of New President of Edgewood College, Madison Saturday, April 30, 2005 5:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Jude Parish, Beloit Sunday, May 1, 2005 6:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Paul University Catholic Center, Madison Tuesday, May 3, 2005 11:00 a.m. -- Attend Presbyteral Council Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Wednesday, May 4, 2005 7:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish, Sun Prairie Thursday, May 5, 2005 6:30 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at the Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Madison Bishop George O. Wirz Sunday, May 1, 2005 2:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Mass of Thanksgiving, Robert and Isabel Bezerra Agasie, St. Patrick Parish, Madison

Pope Benedict XVI: Calls us to friendship with Christ

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Dear Friends,

Let me begin by quoting the biographer of Pope John Paul the Great, George Weigel: "He (Pope Benedict) once called himself a 'donkey,' a 'draft animal' who had been called to a work not of his own choosing. Yet when Joseph Ratzinger stepped out onto the loggia of St. Peter's to begin a work he never sought, I couldn't help think of the conclusion of Alasdair MacIntyre's penetrating study of the moral confusions of the West, After Virtue. In a time when willfulness and relativism had led to a frigid and joyless cultural climate, MacIntyre wrote, the world was not waiting for Godot, 'but for another doubtless very different - Saint Benedict.' The world now has a new Benedict. We can be sure that he will challenge us all to the noble human adventure that has no better name than sanctity."

A new Benedict indeed! The election of Pope Benedict XVI came as no surprise whatever to myself, especially after the homily that Cardinal Ratzinger gave at the Mass for the beginning of the conclave. Therein he gave us himself - a most gifted and brilliant theological mind, and consummately priestly heart.

"Benedict the XVI will make it clear again and again by word, by deed, by his personal humility, warmth, and love that friendship with Jesus Christ is the destiny willed by Christ for every single human being."

Be in communion
with truth

He is no doubt correct in analyzing the fundamental problem of our day and age as "a dictatorship of relativism," meaning that our country and our culture exalt our freedoms to believe anything we'd like to believe, except that objective truth is real and apart from concoction by self.

Indeed the fullness of truth is Jesus Christ Himself. The mind is created to know this truth, the mouth is created to speak this truth, and the heart is created to love this truth. In communion with the truth, our humanity thus becomes fully alive, and freedom finds it home as we exercise our ability to do as we ought and not merely as we wish, such familiar themes from the thought and from the heart of Pope John Paul the Great.

To be humanly fully alive is to be in communion with the fullness of the truth, that is, to be in communion with Jesus Christ, the final Word of truth spoken by His Father, risen from the dead. And so Cardinal Ratzinger's motto as Bishop over these years, "co-workers for the sake of truth" continues to be a guiding sentiment for his heart and mind.

Instructing us in the truth of Christ has for so many years been his greatest strength and no doubt this gift will continue as Pope Benedict XVI guides us for the sake of our salvation. But this truth in which we need to be instructed and nourished is ultimately the fullness of the truth who is Jesus Christ the real person, risen from the dead, who changes our lives.

Called to friendship with Jesus

Cardinal Ratzinger in his homily before the conclave of election so beautifully invited his brother cardinals to remember that Jesus had called each of them into a special friendship with Him because of their priesthood - "I no longer call you servants but friends because a servant does not know what his master is doing. Rather I have called you friends because I have given over to you everything that I have from the Father."

Cardinal Ratzinger then invited his brother cardinals to take very seriously the responsibilities of their special friendship with Jesus as the conclave was about to begin. And then with his voice cracking, he proclaimed, "Jesus, thank you for being our friend."

At that moment I believe that the hearts of his brother cardinals were deeply touched and that his election was determined in the thoughts of their hearts, all of this the work of the Holy Spirit. I believe this because Cardinal Ratzinger brought his brothers back to what truth and faith are all about, namely Jesus Christ who had chosen them to be His special friends. Jesus Christ who is always the best friend of all, knowing our strengths, knowing our weaknesses and sins, and loving us unconditionally as we really are, yet inviting us always to take more seriously the responsibilities that accompany our receiving that love.

Benedict the XVI will make it clear again and again by word, by deed, by his personal humility, warmth, and love that friendship with Jesus Christ is the destiny willed by Christ for every single human being. Accepting Christ's call to friendship is the source of the joy that radiates from the almost constant smile of Pope Benedict XVI. It is a smile to which we will become very accustomed, and it certainly reveals a different person than the one whom some have chosen to reduce to a "conservative, doctrinal hardliner."

Give new pope 'a chance to shine'

Let us together thank God for the gift of our new Pope Benedict XVI, let us thank the Lord for his acceptance of this special gift of friendship with Christ that was given to St. Peter, and let us, as the Wisconsin State Journal indicated we should, give our new pope a chance to shine and to show us who he is. Those words could not have been better chosen. But let us do more than that, as the family of the Diocese of Madison. Let us allow Pope Benedict to lead us into that ever-deeper level of friendship with Jesus Christ to which we are called, and let us allow ourselves to be changed by Him who is the very best of friends.

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