Category: Bishop Hying’s Columns

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

The fourth movement of the kerygma

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The essence of evangelization is the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

In these past weeks, we have reflected on the fundamental components of the kerygma, the basic “elevator speech” that every Catholic should be able to share with both competence and confidence.

Why are you Catholic? How have you experienced God? What does faith in Jesus accomplish?

In an increasingly secular culture, fewer people grasp the meaning and purpose of Christian faith. How imperative that we be willing to give the reason for our hope.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

The third movement of the kerygma

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In this column, I have been reflecting on the kerygma, the essential Gospel message of salvation, love, and mercy which is the heart of our faith.

To be effective evangelizers, each of us baptized into Christ needs to effectively communicate what our Christian faith means, how we have experienced the Lord, and why everyone is invited to the abundance of Jesus’ life and grace, freely offered to all.

The ‘whole Christ event’

The third movement of the kerygma is the whole Christ event, as God’s gracious response to our existential predicament of condemnation to the power of sin and death.

Compassion is love’s response to misery and suffering, and so the Father could not bear to leave us lost in the darkness of eternal estrangement from Him.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

The second movement of the kerygma

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What a difference a year makes! Who could have imagined last Advent the place we would find ourselves in at this moment?

The COVID pandemic, the presidential election, and the ongoing violence in our cities have completely changed and challenged us in unimaginable ways. The entire human race is hurting. We can see the power of sin and death all around us.

This Advent, I have never felt the need for prayer more profoundly or heard the longings of the Old Testament prophets more keenly.

We seek liberation. We desire a savior. We need Jesus Christ and all that He has to give us.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

Understanding the kerygma

In the initial efforts to launch our Go Make Disciples evangelizing initiative, the word, “kerygma” comes up often.

Meaning “proclamation” in the original Greek, the kerygma is the essence of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ distilled to its shining essence.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Simon Peter stands up on Pentecost morning, addresses the assembled crowd, and proclaims that this Jesus, whom they crucified, God has made both Lord and Savior.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

Always be thankful

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I speak often of gratitude as a foundation of the spiritual life; giving thanks to God and others for the remarkable gifts we receive is a hallmark of our fundamental posture of humility before the Lord.

When we acknowledge everything as a gracious gift, an undeserved grace, we can live in wonder, awe, and generosity as we contemplate the astonishing miracle of our existence.

For many, this Thanksgiving will be difficult because of COVID.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

An autumn reflection

The bare tree outside my office, which only days ago was laden with fiery red leaves, reminds me that autumn is rapidly moving us towards the snow and cold of winter, as nature falls asleep.

This fallow period of dormancy, rest, and apparent lifelessness we know well, both because we live in Wisconsin, where our trees are leafless six months out of the year and because we have tasted the cycles of the Paschal Mystery, the dying and rising of Christ.

The poignancy of these colder and darker November days speaks of the golden summer now past, the brevity of life as we pray for the dead and the cycle of the seasons of the heart.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison

Making Mary a bigger part of our lives

In this month of October, we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Rosary; we celebrated this feast on October 7.

All of the saints and indeed the Church herself encourage us to pray the Rosary on a daily basis.

We find in this simple and repetitive prayer a profound meditation on the Gospel, as we ponder the mystery of the Incarnation in the Joyful Mysteries, the revealed grace of the Lord’s ministry in the Luminous Mysteries, the overwhelming suffering of Christ’s Passion in the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the triumph of the Resurrection in the Glorious Mysteries.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

‘Christianity is for losers!’

Ted Turner, the famous media mogul, once memorably said that Christianity is for losers.

In his opinion, religious faith is a crutch for those who are too weak to stand on their own two feet and simply acknowledge that we are alone in the universe.

What he hurls at us as an insult, we should actually wear as an epithet of honor. Christianity is for losers!

Our faith is custom-designed by God for those who are humble enough to acknowledge that they are sinners in need of a savior, those who do not have it all put together, those who need Christ’s help.

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