Last summer, I was honored to be part of a Conference of the Napa Institute with regard to Catholic leadership. There I addressed the relationship between freedom, beauty, and feelings, in the context of the truth that democracy requires authentic freedom on the part of those who are blessed to live out that form of government. I’ve touched briefly on some of those themes here before, but would like to examine them anew.
Category: Bishop
Bless our Priests Collection
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Dear Friends in Christ,
The Year of Faith, begun in October, offers each of us a challenge to rediscover our faith and share it with others. It offers us a unique opportunity to reflect on the gift of faith we have been given and grow in that faith.
In reflecting on those who have influenced our lives in faith, most of us have our parents, grandparents, other family members, and great friends to thank. We certainly have great catechists and Catholic school teachers to thank, as well. Those of us of a certain age owe a great debt to the religious sisters who taught in our schools. But every single one of us has a number of priests to thank for the faith we have been given by God.
Give thanks to God every day
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
My granny often repeated to me, “Bobby, getting old is not for sissies.” Granny lived to 96 and I’m only 65, but I can confirm that in this (as in most everything) granny was right on the money.
Last week, I headed out to Baltimore for the annual gathering of the bishops of the United States. We were just getting started with our meetings when I took a spill and fell (with full weight) face-first into the pavement. In the process I suffered several cuts, a broken nose, and a bruised knee. Thanks be to God, it wasn’t worse!
Fortunately there was another bishop and two priests right there with me, and I was off to Mercy Hospital, where the doctors forwarded me on to the University of Maryland Medical Center. If we could choose the timing of our accidents, I would have preferred, of course, to be with my own outstanding doctors at St. Mary’s, but as it turned out, the care I had was really top notch, and I remain so very grateful to all of those excellent women and men — each and every one of them.
Decree Designating a Place of Pilgrimage for the Year of Faith and Determining Certain Days for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence
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Whereas our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in the hope of arousing in every believer the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, of intensifying the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, and of encouraging the faithful to rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived, and prayed, has proclaimed a Year of Faith from October 11, 2012, to November 24, 2013;
Whereas the Apostolic Penitentiary has opened the spiritual treasury of the Church by granting a plenary indulgence to those who make a pilgrimage during the Year of Faith to a papal basilica, a Christian catacomb, or a sacred place designated by the local ordinary and there take part in some sacred function or at least pause in recollection for a suitable length of time with devout meditation, concluding with the recitation of the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary or, depending on the case, to the Holy Apostles or Patrons;
Whereas the year of faith coincides with the sixtieth anniversary of the erection and dedication of the Schoenstatt Shrine in Madison, where the faith of countless pilgrims has been nourished and deepened;
Now, therefore, I, the undersigned Bishop of Madison, hereby designate the Schoenstatt Founder Shrine at Schoenstatt Heights in Madison (5901 Cottage Grove Road, Madison) as a place of pilgrimage for the Year of Faith, and I exhort all of the faithful to make a devout pilgrimage there and to perform the devotional acts prescribed by the Apostolic Penitentiary.
Appointment (Nov. 17, 2012)
Msgr. James Bartylla, […]
Clarification
Clarification to “Hospice Care Deals with Mind, Body, and Spirit” article in the Madison Catholic Herald, November 1, 2012, “Grief & Loss” section
I wish to clarify an important matter in the article titled “Hospice Care Deals with Mind, Body, and Spirit” in the November 1, 2012 issue of the Diocese of Madison Catholic Herald.
The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, 5th Edition (ERDs) are primarily concerned with the moral principles and ecclesial mission of health care ministry within institutionally-based Catholic health care services.
Changing hearts and minds
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
By the time you see this (I hope) our political elections will have been decided, but as I write this column we’ve not yet reached Election Day. In many ways I’m glad for this, as it allows for me to write to you without being affected by those outcomes. At the end of the day, our hope does not lay in any political candidate or party, and our ultimate destination is not even anywhere in this world. Our hope rests always in the Lord, our God, and our ultimate destination is His home, His Kingdom.
Depending on who has won or lost the elections, our work may become easier or more difficult, but regardless who wins or loses, our job is unchanged. It is our work as Catholic women and men to do all we can, to welcome ever more the gift of His Kingdom. The race for political office has ended, and we have seen just how much time and energy (not to mention money) has been expended in order to insure victory for this or that man or woman for the span of four or six years. With this perspective we must ask ourselves what we are doing in the race toward heaven? How can we do anything less than to expend similar time and energy toward victory for eternity? The Apostle Paul uses the analogy of an athletic race (1 Cor 9:23-27) to encourage us in our efforts to, “run the race so as to win!” And that analogy holds true here as well!
Changing hearts and minds
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
By the time you see this (I hope) our political elections will have been decided, but as I write this column we’ve not yet reached Election Day. In many ways I’m glad for this, as it allows for me to write to you without being affected by those outcomes. At the end of the day, our hope does not lay in any political candidate or party, and our ultimate destination is not even anywhere in this world. Our hope rests always in the Lord, our God, and our ultimate destination is His home, His Kingdom.
Depending on who has won or lost the elections, our work may become easier or more difficult, but regardless who wins or loses, our job is unchanged. It is our work as Catholic women and men to do all we can, to welcome ever more the gift of His Kingdom. The race for political office has ended, and we have seen just how much time and energy (not to mention money) has been expended in order to insure victory for this or that man or woman for the span of four or six years. With this perspective we must ask ourselves what we are doing in the race toward heaven? How can we do anything less than to expend similar time and energy toward victory for eternity? The Apostle Paul uses the analogy of an athletic race (1 Cor 9:23-27) to encourage us in our efforts to, “run the race so as to win!” And that analogy holds true here as well!
Changing hearts and minds
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
By the time you see this (I hope) our political elections will have been decided, but as I write this column we’ve not yet reached Election Day. In many ways I’m glad for this, as it allows for me to write to you without being affected by those outcomes. At the end of the day, our hope does not lay in any political candidate or party, and our ultimate destination is not even anywhere in this world. Our hope rests always in the Lord, our God, and our ultimate destination is His home, His Kingdom.
Depending on who has won or lost the elections, our work may become easier or more difficult, but regardless who wins or loses, our job is unchanged. It is our work as Catholic women and men to do all we can, to welcome ever more the gift of His Kingdom. The race for political office has ended, and we have seen just how much time and energy (not to mention money) has been expended in order to insure victory for this or that man or woman for the span of four or six years. With this perspective we must ask ourselves what we are doing in the race toward heaven? How can we do anything less than to expend similar time and energy toward victory for eternity? The Apostle Paul uses the analogy of an athletic race (1 Cor 9:23-27) to encourage us in our efforts to, “run the race so as to win!” And that analogy holds true here as well!
Papal Awards
Pope Benedict XVI, in his graciousness and upon the request of Bishop Robert C. Morlino, recently bestowed awards upon a number of the faithful in the Diocese of Madison for their meritorious service to the Church.
The honors listed below were the maximum honors allowed for a diocese in one year and thus honor more broadly the entire diocesan Church and implicitly recognize, in this Year of Faith, the ongoing service of so many local people in parishes and Catholic institutions. Besides the members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem who are nominated annually, this is the first request by Bishop Morlino for the bestowal of such awards in the Diocese of Madison, and he hopes to petition for others in the future.