Rev. Msgr. James Bartylla, Vicar General, announces the following appointments made by Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison:
Category: Bishop
Working with and trusting in the Holy Spirit
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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,
We live in a time of great hope for our diocese. This week we will see two men ordained to the transitional diaconate, next month two will be ordained to the ministerial priesthood, and we have the Holy Spirit to thank for His continued guidance of our diocese and answered prayers, through rather difficult times.
As each of you has experienced first hand, the Diocese of Madison has been undertaking the very serious, difficult, and much needed task of diocesan, parish, and school planning for the past four (plus) years. It began with the Guided by the Spirit process, gathering input from everyone in the diocese who wished to participate. An overall plan was adopted by the diocese, and specific plans were developed by parishes and parish clusters throughout the diocese, affecting every parish and each one of us in some way.
Appointments (May 20, 2010 edition)
Rev. Msgr. James Bartylla, Vicar General, announces the following appointments made by Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, effective Saturday, July 10, 2010, and announced at weekend Masses Sunday, May 16:
We find Jesus in a concrete way in the Church
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I hope each of you enjoyed a very blessed Feast of the Ascension this past weekend, and with you I continue to look forward to the Feast of Pentecost! I noted last week that we, as a Church, are already turned in our hearts and in our minds toward Pentecost and, certainly, with the Ascension of the Lord, we become even more alert in our anticipation of the descent of the Holy Spirit.
As we look at St. Luke’s description of the Ascension, we notice that, interestingly, the “two men clothed in white” who appeared to the apostles after Jesus ascended say to them, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here, staring up into the heavens? This Jesus, whom you see, going up into heaven will return the same way as you just saw Him go into the heavens.” What does it mean that Jesus will return “in the same way?”
Preview of Pentecost and Mary’s special role
As we work our way through May, through this Month of Mary, our hearts, with Mary, continue to rejoice at the Resurrection of Jesus and our eyes look to Pentecost. In as much as we are always looking forward to Pentecost, to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon us, we are with Mary and so, too, with the Church.
Appointments (May 6, 2010 edition)
Bishop Robert C. Morlino has announced the following appointments:
Verbal victims of the Dictatorship of Relativism
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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. |
We live in a world where many, many people have either made themselves into “God” or they’ve been tricked into thinking that they are “God” by others. The impact of this reality touches each and every aspect of our lives and shakes the foundations of our society and certainly of our Church.
Our Holy Father has spoken several times of what he has called the “Dictatorship of Relativism” — that is, there is no objective truth. To say there is no objective truth is to say there is no God. These are the same statement, for when one says there is no objective truth, they are, in effect, saying, “I’m God,” and therefore, “I create the world in which I live.” If there is no objective truth or objective way that things are, then things are the way that one thinks they are. It allows one to say, “I create my own world, my own bubble, which is different from everybody else’s bubble.”
Priests: Chosen by Holy Spirit, working with Christ
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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,
Despite the continued focus on the horrendous crimes of a relatively few priests within the Church, we move forward, a people of faith, cognizant of the fact that our Church is made up of sinners — our priests and bishops included — but that each of us has faith that it is Jesus Christ Himself who founded this Church, for our Salvation, and that He has sent the Holy Spirit to protect His Church from “the gates of hell.”
No matter the sins of Her members, even the terrible sins of a few of Her ministers, the Holy Spirit remains with the Bride of Christ, to care for Her, to reconcile all Her members to Christ, and to grant us everlasting life.
As one Body, each member of the Church is affected when another causes injury. We all feel profoundly the wounds inflicted by a few, and we must do all that we can to bring healing to those wounded. I don’t know that I’ve experienced that empathetic pain in anyone more than in our good priests and bishops. And that brings me to the point of this column.
Bishop’s letter regarding St. Paul’s University Catholic Center
Dear Friends,
Last week I was quite surprised to learn that the Wisconsin State Journal would be running a major, front-page article on the future of St. Paul’s University Catholic Center and their facilities. I had already scheduled a meeting with my brother priests from the Madison area, to take place this Thursday, April 15, for a discussion about the future of campus ministry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Finding hope, healing in the Resurrection
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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. |
On behalf of all the priests of the Diocese of Madison, and behalf of all my staff, I want to promise our sincere and continued Easter prayers, in this Resurrection season. Each one of you has our prayers for health, safety, and above all, deeper union with Christ. I beg you, too, to offer your Easter prayers for us, because each of us and our Church certainly always stand in need of prayer. I wanted to share with you here a few of the thoughts I offered at the Easter Vigil this year.
We celebrated Easter Sunday this year on April 4th — that day on which Christ was raised from the dead, the day which changed history forever. In some ways I had hoped to see some large signs and advertisements on Easter Sunday about how the Resurrection of Jesus Christ had happened and how we celebrated our new life on April 4. Instead, all the signs told me that April 3 was the launch of iPad! That tells me — and it should tell you — something significant about the mission that Jesus Christ places in our hands this Easter and everyday.