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Bishop’s Schedule:

  • Bishop Donald J. Hying Schedule

    Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, 6:30 a.m.: Advent prayer service and reflection, St. Joseph Church, East Bristol

    Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, 5:30 p.m.: St. Ambrose Academy Benefit Dinner, Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, Madison

    Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, 9 a.m.: Gold Mass for professionals in science, Holy Redeemer Church, Madison

    Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, 10:30 a.m.: Mass with anniversary commemoration for Deacon Norbert Brunner, St. John the Baptist Church, Waunakee; 1 p.m.: Spanish Mass with celebration for Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Bernard Church, Watertown; 6 p.m.: Parish mission, St. Isidore the Farmer Pastorate

    Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, 6 p.m.: Parish mission, St. Isidore the Farmer Pastorate

    Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024: ACA Christmas reception, Holy Name Heights, Madison

    Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, 7 p.m.: Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass in Spanish, St. Joseph Church, Madison; 10 p.m.: Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass in Spanish, Holy Redeemer Church, Madison

    Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024: Visit Shoreless Lake School, Sauk City

From the Bishop’s Desk:

  • Bringing Christ to others during Advent
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    In the annual autumn meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) this month, we bishops voted to set the national priorities for 2025-2028, as guideposts for our pastoral work.
  • Be thankful and faithful
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    Gratitude is a fundamental aspect of the Christian life. God has most generously and lovingly shared everything with us, culminating in the precious gift of salvation, offered to us through Jesus Christ.
  • Church teachings on death
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    This month, on November 2, All Souls’ Day, the bishops of Wisconsin issued the fourth edition of Now and at the Hour of our Death, a pastoral letter concerning Catholic teaching on death and dying, end-of-life issues, and the importance of funeral planning.
  • Letting go and letting God
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    Autumn is my favorite season of the year. The frosty temperatures, the blazing color of the trees, the smell of wood smoke, and the crunch of leaves underfoot are all expressions of beauty and peace.
  • Knowing the Four Last Things
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    November is the traditional month we as Catholics ponder the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. As we celebrate All Saints’ Day on November 1 and pray for all the souls in Purgatory on November 2, God draws our hearts to ponder the brevity of this life, the urgency of conversion, the beauty of eternity with God, and the possibility of losing our salvation through habitual mortal sin without repentance.
  • The Church and religious freedom
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    The United States Constitution guarantees religious freedom in the First Amendment. This fundamental right propelled many persecuted religious groups in Europe (including the Catholics who settled Maryland) to come to America in pursuit of religious liberty — the ability to practice their own faith as their conscience led them.
  • Devotion to His Sacred Heart
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    The feast day of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque is celebrated on October 16. On December 27, 1673, after another day of prayer and work was finished in the convent, St. Margaret Mary was praying alone in the chapel when the Sacred Heart appeared to her. Jesus’ body was filled with light and His Heart was on fire, bleeding and crowned with thorns.
  • The power of forgiveness
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    We all know that reconciliation and forgiveness lie at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus came to seek out and save what was lost, namely broken humanity, and to reconcile us to the Father and to one another.
  • How we can be led to Jesus
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    A recurrent debate on Catholic social media is the question of saintly intercession.
  • The mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul
    by Bishop Donald J. Hying
    The Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul falls on September 27. Born in France in 1581, Vincent was ordained a priest in 1600 and committed his life to the formation of the clergy and the service of the poor.