Witnessing to Catholic faith
in communities

Editor's note: This is the first of an anticipated bi-weekly column by the new vicar general of the Diocese of Madison, Msgr. Daniel T. Ganshert. We welcome Monsignor Dan's new column and hope our readers enjoy reading it.

		Living  and Learning  Msgr. Daniel T.  Ganshert

Pecatonica is the river, 11 and 78 are the roads, and St. Joseph is the parish that circumscribed my early experience of living and learning.

Growing up in the Diocese of Madison is a piece of all of us who call this part of God's Kingdom home. More specifically, the Catholic Church is who we are as a community of believers spread across various rivers, highways, and parishes in these 11 counties in southwestern Wisconsin.

This came to mind in the past several weeks where many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have suffered from flood waters. Just as the destruction surged through fields and farms and homes, so has the immediate and ongoing outreach of countless people rippled into the lives of those in need.

Witnessing to our faith, building up the community, serving others, and keeping our commitments are but some of the Catholic values on display these past weeks as victims of the flooding received cash cards, clothing, food, cleaning kits, a listening ear, and more at their parishes, community emergency centers, and from their families, friends, and neighbors. I have learned a lot about the gift of the Church among us these past few weeks as I watch my brothers and sisters in Christ live out their faith with generosity and compassion.

God does not allow evil in the world except where some good can result from it. Do you remember hearing this? Now, as one who is still living and learning alongside the people of God, I understand anew the meaning of these words.

So many good priests, so many good people, so many good works have produced light in the darkness, hope in despair, and joy in the sorrow of those who continue to cope with the destructive forces of nature.

All of you helpers and volunteers make us proud in the Diocese of Madison. Financial results to date have been outstanding in response to the request for contributions in our parishes for the victims of the flooding.

May God bless us and protect us from all evil as we continue to pray and work together. Information on the flood relief project is available from Catholic Charities at 608-821-3100. Thank you.

Msgr. Daniel T. Ganshert is vicar general of the Diocese of Madison.

Marital love is both unitive and creative

		Straight Answers  On Marital Love  Fr. William P.  Saunders

Reprinted from the Arlington
Catholic Herald with permission.
Second in a series of six.

Given our understanding of marriage and marital love, we can readily see that the most beautiful expression of love in marriage is marital love, or physical love, or sexual intercourse, or conjugal love - whatever term one prefers.

Granted, love in marriage encompasses much more than the act of conjugal love. Nevertheless, this action radiates a unique and special symbolism of the sacrament of marriage - the covenant shared between the two who have become one flesh.

Form and matter

Interestingly, in our sacramental theology, we hold that a sacrament has two parts: the form, or prayer part of the sacrament; and the matter, the physical and action part of the sacrament. For instance, in performing a baptism, the matter of the sacrament is the priest pouring water over the head of the person or immersing the person in water three times; at the same time, the priest prays the form of the sacrament, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

In marriage, the couple are the ministers of the sacrament; the priest is the official witness of the Church who also imparts God's blessing. The form of the Sacrament of Marriage is the exchange of vows; the matter of the sacrament is the consummation of the marriage, when the two people enact those vows in that physical expression of love.

Therefore the Church teaches, "The acts of marriage by which the intimate and chaste union of the spouses takes place are noble and honorable; the truly human performance of these acts fosters the self-giving they signify and enriches the spouses in joy and gratitude" (Gaudium et Spes, #49).

Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Humanae Vitae (#9) offered a beautiful reflection on this conjugal love of marriage. The Holy Father said that marital love is a genuinely human love, because it embraces the good of the whole person and is rooted in a free willed, giving of one spouse to the other.

This love endures through joy and pain, success and failure, happiness and sorrow, uniting the couple in both body and soul. This love is also total - free of restriction, hesitation, or condition. This love is faithful and exclusive to both partners. In all, this love must be a mutually respectful action, a genuine expression of love.

Unitive and creative

Unlike what is so often portrayed by the various media today, marital love is not some erotic action, rooted in selfishness, fleeting pleasure, or dominance. No, marital love is a sacred action which unites a couple with each other and God. The spirit of this teaching reflects what Jesus said at the Last Supper, "There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13).

Moreover, the act of marital love also participates in God's creative love. The couple who has become a new creation by becoming husband and wife, one flesh, may also bring about the creation of new life in accord with God's will.

Vatican II asserted, "By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory" (Gaudium et Spes, #48, cf. #50).

The Council acknowledged that while not diminishing the importance of sacramental union symbolized in marital love, "it must be said that true married love and the whole structure of family life which results from it is directed to disposing the spouses to cooperate valiantly with the love of the creator and Savior, who through them will increase and enrich His family from day to day" (Gaudium et Spes, #50).

Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, reflected that God's own image and likeness is transmitted through the creation of an immortal soul directly by Him. Moreover, a child is really the personification of the love of husband and wife in union with the Creator.

Therefore, "it is precisely in their role as co-workers with God who transmits His image to the new creature that we see the greatness of couples who are ready 'to cooperate with the love of the Creator and the Savior, who through them will enlarge and enrich His own family day by day'" (Evangelium Vitae, #43, quoting also Gaudium et Spes, #50).

Fertility a blessing from God

Throughout sacred Scripture, we find the birth of children as a blessing from God and a sign of the living covenant between God and husband and wife.

Therefore, we must not separate the unitive dimension of marital love from the procreative. Both dimensions are intrinsically good. Both dimensions are inherent in the act of marriage. Even if a couple is infertile, the act of marriage still retains the character of being a communion of life and love. We must constantly keep in focus the covenant of life and love a couple shares with each other in union with God.

Fr. William P. Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Potomac Falls, Va. His columns from the Arlington Catholic Herald have been compiled in two books called Straight Answers. Call 703-256-5994 for more information.

Sharing in the mission of the Church

		Our Catholic Schools  Michael Lancaster  Superintendent of Catholic Schools

As we move toward both the beginning of a new school year and the initial phase of the comprehensive schools plan, it is important that we understand the purpose of Catholic schools, their reason for being, and their role in the mission and life of the Church.

Catholic schools serve primarily to aid in the evangelical mission of the Church, to teach of Christ's love and salvation.

According to the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, "The Catholic school forms part of the saving mission of the Church, especially for education in the faith . . . It is precisely in the Gospel of Christ, taking root in the minds and lives of the faithful, that the Catholic school finds its definition . . . "

Thus, in its very essence the Catholic school is an extension of the mission of the Church, the very mission with which Christ charged the apostles when He said, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt. 28:19-20).

Today, this remains the primary mission of the Church: to evangelize, spreading the Good News that is Christ. Catholic schools share in this mission and exist as a vital tool by which the Church evangelizes and forms students in the Catholic faith.

While there are many means by which to evangelize, from preaching on a street corner much as Paul preached at the Aereopagus in Athens, to formal religious education classes (formerly CCD/Sunday School), the Catholic school is a "privileged means" of carrying out the mission of evangelization. It is privileged in the sense that evangelization occurs within the context of a school which is charged with the task of developing all of our God given gifts, intellectual, social, physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Developing the whole person

This is done within a cultural context. In other words, it is within the context of the school that we are developed more fully as human beings, ready and able to participate in our own culture and society.

Thus, whereas other means of evangelization occur apart from our personal development in these other areas, a Catholic school enjoys the privileged position of integrating faith formation, evangelization and catechesis, with the growth of every other aspect of human development. Intellectual inquiry, questions of philosophy, mathematics, science, and history, all may be taught and understood in the light of faith.

Thus, it is only within a Catholic school that the education of the "whole" person, body, mind, and spirit, may truly occur.

This indeed is the goal of all Catholic schools; to educate the whole person, to seek the truth of history, science, mathematics, and language, and in so doing, to discover and proclaim the One who is Truth, Jesus Christ.

Central to the philosophy of Catholic education is the inherent dignity of each and every person. All people were created in the image and likeness of God and endowed by the Father with various gifts and talents. As children of God, all human life carries great dignity.

Recognizing this dignity, we recognize our duty to learn, to develop our talents, knowledge, and abilities, and in so doing, reaffirm our human dignity.

Academic excellence

It is for this reason that academics are important in Catholic schools.

Not only do the various academic subjects serve as opportunities to seek and know the Truth, but they affirm the inherent dignity of the human person. The belief that every child is special and capable of learning and achieving lies at the heart of Catholic education.

Academic excellence is not pursued simply in order to post the highest scores on standardized tests, or to have the highest number of students on the honor roll.

Rather, academic excellence is pursued in an attempt to develop the full, God given potential of each and every student so that all students may become aware of their gifts, develop those gifts and then use those gifts in the service of others, giving glory to God through their efforts and becoming the young men and women He truly desires them to be.

Thus, in the Catholic school, faith and academics are intrinsically integrated to nurture the development of the whole person, in all aspects of our being: mind, body, and spirit.

Comprehensive Schools Study

As we move forward with our Comprehensive Schools Study, we will be examining four specific areas of Catholic schools: Catholic Leadership, Academic Curriculum, Enrollment Management, and Fiscal Stewardship.

The area of Catholic Leadership relates precisely to the Catholic mission of our schools, while Academic Curriculum relates to the content, or curriculum, of our academic program. These two issues are those that address the very core and mission of Catholic schools, while the other two areas of Enrollment Management and Fiscal Stewardship address the management and operational aspects of the schools.

As we study these issues, we will be asking hard questions: How well do our Catholic schools integrate faith and academics? How well do they fulfill their mission? Are our graduates Christ centered? Have they developed their talents and gifts to their fullest potential by the time that they leave us? Are our schools financially sound? Do we provide financial aid so everyone who wishes to attend may do so? Do we have plans in place to increase enrollment and attract high quality teachers and principals? Are Catholic schools available to all people of the diocese?

These are just some of the crucial questions we must ask if we are to ensure strong, vibrant Catholic schools for years to come. There will be many chances and opportunities for anyone who cares about Catholic schools (pastors, parents, faculty, parishioners, etc.) to become involved in this critical work.

As we begin the study in earnest this fall, watch for more articles in the Catholic Herald as well as your local parish bulletin and school newsletters for information regarding how to be involved.

This study presents an exciting opportunity for our Catholic schools. Just as the new school year always begins with great anticipation and hope, so too do we begin this study with great anticipation of the opportunities that lie before us and great hope for the future.

I have firm faith that with the grace and guidance of the Spirit and the good work and aid of so many of you, our good people, we will together strengthen our Catholic schools so that they will continue in their mission, serving to build the Kingdom of God on earth for generations to come.

As always, thank you for reading and God bless you and your families.

Michael Lancaster is the superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Madison.