Bishops' Schedules: Bishop Robert C. Morlino Saturday, June 9, 2007 4:00 p.m. -- Celebrant at closing Mass for the Diocesan Lay Institute, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Sunday, June 10, 2007 11:00 a.m. -- Preside and preach, celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi Eucharist, St. Patrick Church, Madison. Eucharistic procession to follow from St. Patrick Church, to the State Capitol, concluding with Benediction on the grounds adjacent to the ruins of St. Raphael Cathedral. Monday to Thursday, June 11 to 14, 2007 Attend WHINSEC Board of Visitors Meeting, Washington, D.C. Bishop William H. Bullock Sunday, June 10, 2007 2:00 p.m. -- Celebration of Holy Mass 50th Anniversary of the Diocese of Gary, Gary, Ind. Monday, June 11, 2007 12:00 noon -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Bishop George O. Wirz Sunday, June 10, 2007 11:00 a.m. -- Concelebrate celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi Eucharist, St. Patrick Church, Madison. Tuesday, June 12, 2007 12:00 noon -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

New deacons: Witnesses of hope, truth, celibacy

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

(en Español)

The following are highlights of Bishop Robert C. Morlino's homily at the Ordination of Transitional Deacons on June 1.

Now, there is a homily written out proscribed by the church for the bishop to give and I have to take that text of the church very seriously but I don't have to just read it.

I taught for too many years and I know that if I just read stuff I couldn't keep my eyes on the students and sometimes the students would get sleepy, at best, or worse.

So what I did was I prayed carefully over the homily the church proscribed and I picked out a few sentences that I thought would be worthy of our reflection.

Hope in the Gospel

The first one: never allow yourselves to be turned away from the hope of the Gospel. As deacons, you are called to the ministry of charity and the altar.

And the ministry of charity is your primary responsibility. And in the first place, the ministry of charity is a ministry of hope. John Paul the Great thought that it was important to think not only of the deacon, not only the priest, but also the bishop as a minister of hope, as a witness of hope to the world.

Never allow yourselves to be turned away from the hope offered in the Gospel. That's the hope offered in Jesus Christ, the only hope that will never disappoint.

We're going to hear the beautiful prayer of consecration for you as deacons, asking the Lord to renew the seven-fold gift of the Spirit in you that you received at confirmation that includes the gift of courage.

That gift of courage is going to be strengthened in you so that you become discouragement-proof. And you become an absolute witness to hope. And isn't there a lot of hopelessness in the world and in our society?

And when we want to talk about your being ministers of charity, what better gift could you give in charity to the world than the gift of hope to those in danger of losing hope and those who have already lost it?

Witness to truth

Now you are not only hearers of the Gospel, but also its ministers. The ministry of charity, which is your primary responsibility, is a ministry of hope and it's also a ministry of truth. And that means you speak the truth of Jesus Christ with authority and without fear.

You speak it with love, in an inviting way, with a smile, never harsh, but without fear. Now, when you do that, we don't expect always a positive response. We do our best to smile and to love, but we're not only hearers of the Gospel but its ministers, so we have to tell it the way it is with love and with a smile.

If we do that and we don't win a popularity contest that's okay. The salvation of the world depends on it.

And when you propose that truth you're never being arrogant, you're never being intolerant - don't let anybody get away with that. You're being humble. You're offering something that's not yours at all, but that you yourself receive. And that's why you propose it without fear.

Vow to celibacy

Then on the last day, the church says to you, when you go out to meet the Lord, you will be able to hear him say, "well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord."

You're very young to be thinking of that day when you go out to meet the Lord. And yet tonight you're making the perpetual promise of celibacy. And that public witness that you will give vow of celibacy has everything to do with your belief that there will come a time to go out and meet the Lord.

The ordinary human way of being deeply rooted in this world is the beautiful gift of marriage in Christ, which is very sacrificial and very unselfish, and it's the place from which God calls good priests.

Nothing is more important than the gift of marriage. But marriage doesn't continue after death, and there is no giving of marriage in heaven. And so when you promise perpetual celibacy tonight, you're saying that even my life in the body is completely for the Lord and his people. And when we live out our celibacy faithfully, we're saying to people, "We are married to the bride of Christ, the church, and that wedding feast is prepared in heaven."

Take the book

It's interesting. The first text tells us about the text of the Gospel. The second text tells us about the truth of the Gospel. And the third text tells us about the fulfillment of the Gospel in the heavenly kingdom.

We're going to have the invocation of the Holy Spirit to renew those seven gifts in you, especially courage, very shortly. And then we're going to have that gift of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.

And then we're going to give you the Gospel book, and that's a symbol. The prayer for the Holy Spirit and the laying on of hands are reality, not a symbol.

But when we give you the book of the Gospels, that's a symbol. Take the book. Take the hope of the Gospel that Jesus gives you in this sacrament.

Take the truth of the Gospel to which you'll shortly become heralds. And most importantly take the fulfillment of the Gospel in heaven through your witness of celibate love.

Take the whole Gospel. Don't just take the book.