Msgr. James Bartylla, diocesan administrator, gave the following homily at the Rite of Election held Sunday, March 10, at St. John the Baptist Church, Waunakee.
Greetings in Jesus Christ to the catechumens and candidates gathered here today at the Rite of Election!
What is the Church doing to deal with the scandal of priests and bishops acting against their promise of celibacy and those that have covered up the scandalous actions of those involved?
A Catholic convert in her 60s made her first Confession.
As she confessed her sins, she began to weep. The priest listened and gently asked only a few questions. She exclaim-ed, “He was so understanding and non-judgmental. It was easy for me to open up and confess.”
George confided to friends at his 50th wedding anniversary that his father-in-law gave him a watch on his wedding day.
Across the watch’s face, where he could see it a dozen times a day, were written the words, “Say something nice to Mary Lou today.”
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During the course of pregnancy, receiving an adverse prenatal diagnosis can be a tremendously jolting experience for parents. In severe cases, physicians may tell them that their unborn child has a condition that is “incompatible with life.”
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During the course of pregnancy, receiving an adverse prenatal diagnosis can be a tremendously jolting experience for parents. In severe cases, physicians may tell them that their unborn child has a condition that is “incompatible with life.”
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Following is the homily Msgr. James Bartylla preached on Sunday, Feb. 24, for the Cistercian Sisters, Prairie du Sac .
The message of Christ in the Gospel for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, to love one’s enemies and bless those who curse you, is as challenging and mysterious to us today as it was in Jesus’ time. That challenge and mystery stems from both divine and human elements.
“Mom, can I get a Minecraft Lego set for my birthday?”
My son’s eyes were wide with hope and anticipation and all seriousness. But, smiling, I had to hide a laugh and shake my head.
His birthday was six months away.
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| Fr. Steve Grunow |
There is a text that has become standard for the study of religious experience and phenomena by Rudolph Otto entitled, The Idea of the Holy.
In this book, Otto uses the phrase tremendum et fascinans (roughly translated as “fear and fascination”) to indicate what it means to encounter sacred realities.
The sacred, be it a place, person, or thing, can evoke the frightening, but still remain attractive, compelling. The holy is terrifying, yet at the same time, irresistible. I have always found Padre Pio as a kind of embodiment of Otto’s principle.
On the First Sunday of Lent, in all three liturgical years of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we’re confronted with the account of Our Lord’s temptation in the desert by the devil.
This is a beautiful text, because in a way the history of the world was played out in a quiet desert, away from the busy cities, between God-made-man and the fallen angel.
