Bishops' Schedules: Bishop Robert C. Morlino Friday, May 23, 2008, 7:30 p.m. Preside and preach at Ordination to the Priesthood, St. Maria Goretti Church, Madison Saturday, May 24, 2008 6:00 p.m. Preside and preach at Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Joseph Church, Edgerton Sunday, May 25, 2008, 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 at Holy Redeemer Church, Madison. Monday, May 26, 2008, 10:00 a.m. Preside and preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Memorial Day Mass, Resurrection Cemetery, Madison Tuesday, May 27, and Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Attend and Speak at National Association of College Seminaries Conference, Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary, Winona, Minn. Bishop William H. Bullock Friday, May 23, 2008, 7:30 p.m. Concelebrate the Ordination to the Priesthood, St. Maria Goretti Parish, Madison Saturday, May 24, 2008, 10:00 a.m. Attend the Celebration of First Mass, Rev. Patrick Joseph Wendler, Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish, Sun Prairie Sunday, May 25, 2008, 10:30 a.m. Preside and Preach at Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Francis Xavier Church, Cross Plains Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 7:00 p.m. Preside and Preach at Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Ann Church, Stoughton Thursday, May 29, 2008, 2:00 p.m. Mass of Installation of The Most Reverend Richard E. Pates, Ninth Bishop of Des Moines, Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, Iowa

Spiritual motherhood: Loving support
for priests

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

(printable version)
(en Español)

Dear friends,

In the glow of the beautiful Feasts of Pentecost, the Holy Trinity, and Corpus Christi, this Friday I will have the great privilege and joy - unworthy though I am - of ordaining four men to the priesthood: Patrick Wendler, David Greenfield, Brian Dulli, and Lance Schneider. Each is a very unique gift of God to me and to the people of our diocese, and each one is called to be in the person of Christ, who teaches, sanctifies, and shepherds His people, through them. They have all been well prepared to accept this vocation and to carry out this call. Thanks be to God!

	Related articles this week: • Ordination to Priesthood May 23 • Editorial -- Ordination to the priesthood

The joy which all of us as the Church of Madison experience at this time should be unique and irrepressible. The Church has been through difficult times universally, and, sometimes with reason, we do not appear a joy-filled people. But no matter what, Christ is Risen and we are called to sing a joy-filled Alleluia! This joy among those who belong to Christ's Body, the Church, is a very powerful support to all priests, but especially to our new priests.

Spiritual motherhood for priests

In a recent document from the Vatican, our Holy Father, through the Congregation for the Clergy, has called the Church to Her proper role of spiritual motherhood for priests. Remembering that Mary's "yes" was essential for the fulfillment of our redemption, remembering her time of contemplation and adoration of her Son, at the foot of the cross, all of us together as a Church, with Mary and like Mary, need to be and are called to be the spiritual mother of our priests. Mary's support of and love for her Son were untiring and unfailing. So, too, we should love our priests with a love that is untiring and unfailing.

Jesus, of course, was like us in all things but sin. And we know, all too well, that there is sin in the Church and sin in the priesthood. But, knowing well our weakness, Jesus Christ still calls some to share His Sacred Mystery, through the laying-on of hands. The truth of the conformity of the priest into Christ, by the Sacrament of Holy Orders, can never be cancelled out because of the weakness or sinfulness of the one called.

Priests through God's mercy

The recent Vatican document indicates "we are priests through the Sacrament of Orders, the highest act of God's mercy and, at the same time, of His special preference." Jesus knew well the sinfulness of Saint Peter when he called him to be the head of the Apostles and ultimately, the first Bishop of Rome. With all of our weakness, we priests have not been in a position like Saint Peter to deny Christ three times within his gaze, as he walked the face of the earth.

But because of this, the call to priesthood of Saint Peter was at the same time a great act of mercy and a great act of preference. In the same way, if we priests were not weak and sinful, Holy Orders would not be called properly an act of mercy, because we would not be in need of that mercy. But, like Jesus in his human nature, we do need the support and love of our mother and our mother is truly, with Mary and like her, the Church, the Body of Christ, all of you.

As we prepare for the conferral and the reception of Holy Orders, I want to ask all of you, in the strongest possible terms, to rededicate yourself to loving support for all of us, your priests. We priests cannot avoid the temptation to see the priesthood as some kind of burden without the support and love of our mother, the Church. The new priests, who will be ordained this week, will see their priesthood as a Sacramental gift of the highest order, to be received with joy, by a heart, selfless in dedication to you. But, as the years wear on, priests are tempted to see their vocation from a very human point of view, as a burden. Your spiritual motherhood, your untiring commitment, with Mary and like Mary, of loving support for all priests is indispensable to all, for our continued reception of the gift of ordination with joy.

When a priest starts to experience the call to priesthood as a burden, more and more his work of teaching, sanctifying, and shepherding becomes like a job. And the more our sacred call starts to feel like a job, the more we as priests, in our humanity, are less happy, or unhappy. The joy and the zeal with which we undertake our priestly service depends on your spiritual motherhood, perhaps far more than you would ever imagine.

Pray for priesthood to be a joy and not a burden

As we call our four new priests to Holy Orders, let us all be renewed in that spiritual motherhood, in offering that untiring love and support to every last priest of this diocese, especially those who, for one reason or other, may feel undeserving. The love of a mother provides the greatest support and strength when the son knows that he doesn't deserve it. Thank you so much for the prayer, the support, and the love that you so regularly offer us. Our fidelity depends very much on your never running out of the energy to keep up that love and support. Where it is possible, I would ask all to make a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament to express, prayerfully, your love and support for our four new priests and for all of our priests, who bear their burdens and serve so well.

Thanks for reading this. God bless you and yours.

Praised be Jesus Christ!