Dear Friends,
Gaudete Sunday this year was truly a Sunday of rejoicing for me. I thank God for that, and I pray that it was a great day of rejoicing for all of you, as well. It would have been enough had I simply been given the gift of our liturgy in anticipation of our celebration of Christ’s coming, but there were some additional gifts to be experienced.
Dear Friends,
With the coming of Labor Day and the start of so many school years, we’ve come upon the unofficial end of summer. I pray that this summer was somewhat restful and restorative for you and yours, and I thank God that mine was indeed.
Dear Friends,
For this week’s column, allow me to pose the question, “Does any civil government have the authority to change the definition of marriage, either directly or indirectly?”
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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. |
Editor’s note: The following is a transcription of Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s homily for Priestly Ordinations on Friday, May 6, at St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison.
Tim, Jorge — “my sons,” I get to call you tonight. At the moment I call you my sons, I want to thank both of your dear parents, your grandparents, and your family for showing you what it means to be a good father — long before I came on the scene. And I want to thank them for showing you what it is to be a faithful son.
All of that will come into play in the days, the months, and the years ahead. I’m almost as proud of you tonight as your dear parents are — not quite as proud (I don’t think I could manage that) but I know how proud they are and I, certainly, am proud. I’m so grateful to your dear parents and your family, for their generosity in giving the Church such a wonderful, unselfish gift.
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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,
The Gospel of this past Sunday is addressed to those who are too worried about tomorrow. That’s why Jesus addresses them as “you of little faith.” If they were where He wanted them to be in their relation to His Father and Himself, He wouldn’t have said, “you of little faith.” Because of our human weakness and frailty, whatever faith we have, from God’s point of view, is certainly always “little,” but for Jesus to address it as such indicates a moment of challenge to growth.
One of the measures of our faith is: “how much do you and I worry about tomorrow?” Why is it not a good thing to make worrying about tomorrow my top priority? Certainly it is among our priorities, for obviously we have to be concerned with putting food on the table of our family, and clothing on their backs, and shelter over their heads. It is the sacred responsibility of parents to “worry” about such things. Jesus’ point is not offering some kind of recipe for a care-free life, where one’s responsibilities are just forgotten and put aside. But, our top priority can never be worrying about tomorrow, if we have met Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
The more worrying about tomorrow is our top priority, the more we need to place Jesus Christ ahead of that priority, so that He is our top priority.
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Dear Friends,
Believe it or not, I frequently try to avoid weighing in-on certain situations. However, the recent happenings in our state capital with regard to legislation about labor union practices beg for a comment. In this column, I simply want to point out how a well-informed conscience might work through the dilemma which the situation poses.
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Dear Friends,
Like so many of you, I hope, I enjoyed an excellent Sunday this past week — with time for prayer and with some time for leisure.
In the first place, I was very happy to have the opportunity to say two of the Sunday Masses in Platteville, first at the local Parish of St. Mary’s, and then at the University Parish of St. Augustine’s. It was great to be at prayer with all of those good people, and I was very encouraged to see the new things happening for the Catholic community on the campus of the UW-Platteville.
Together with some generous donations, and some hard work by students and priests alike, the church at St. Augustine’s is looking more beautiful than ever, and the pieces are in place for continued growth in the faith activities of those students.
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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,
It is wonderful to be back in Wisconsin, though I am very grateful to have had a bit of time for vacation — where the weather was a bit different from our weather here and now. Nevertheless, it is good to be home!
I’d like to bring up here a very interesting phrase that has come to the fore in recent weeks in our national life.
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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,
As you read this letter, Christmas will be upon us and the Year of the Lord 2010 will have almost expired. As we look around the whole world, we see the violence of war and terrorism raging, we see hunger thriving in so many places as well as extreme poverty, we see senior citizens being actually or virtually euthanized and we see the slaughter of the unborn, we see God’s gift of human sexuality, naturally oriented toward unselfish love, cheapened and continually used for every kind of self-centered entertainment. It’s not a “pretty picture,” but it is a picture of this world that, we claim, belongs to God this Christmas.
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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 in Christ,
It has been a while since I’ve been able to write down here my thoughts for you in the form of a column. Know that you’ve been very much in my thoughts and prayers, especially as we come upon Christmas.
This week I’d like to share with you my homily from the wonderful Priestly Ordination we were fortunate to celebrate this past week. At this ordination the Lord blessed us with two great young men as priests and blessed me in a special way with two new sons.
I address my homily to Fr. John Putzer and Fr. Chad Droessler, but I think the words are a good reflection for all of us on the priesthood and on the great Grace with which the Lord blesses all of us:
