Tag: hying

On
Bishop Donald J. Hying

Mission to evangelize world is more urgent

Note: Bishop Donald J. Hying is serializing his Pastoral Letter on the new Evangelization Initiative being launched in the Diocese of Madison. This is the first part of that letter.

Jesus Christ died for you. For you, the person receiving these words, God — the Eternal Creator — became a human being, entered into the messiness of humanity, lived, worked, loved, and prayed with those around him, and at the end of a young life, was unjustly condemned, cruelly tortured, and died as a criminal on a cross.

He did it for you.

Stop, even just for a second, and actually consider that.

You’ve likely heard it before — maybe even a hundred or a thousand times — but reconsider it; try to internalize it anew.

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the Diocese of Madison

Diocese of Madison to roll out reopening plan early next week

MADISON — With the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling of May 13, which overturned Governor Tony Evers’ state-wide Emergency Order #28, i.e., the “Safer at Home” Order, Most Reverend Donald Hying, Bishop of Madison offered the following brief statement:

“I certainly appreciate the exception added to the Public Health Madison and Dane County Order of May 13th, which while continuing to list religious entities as ‘Essential Businesses and Operations’, also allows for more reasonably-sized congregations for public worship while maintaining appropriate health-related safeguards, and I look forward to seeing this exception for religious entities being adopted in our other ten counties in the Diocese of Madison, and hopefully statewide in any possible future state order.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

As we struggle through the pandemic, persevere, keep praying, hold Lord’s hand

Bishop Hying Logo

The Bible is so rich and vast that we can never fully fathom or remember the totality of the Scriptures, which allows for constant pleasant surprises when we discover a text which bears a new divine revelation to our hungry hearts.

This phenomenon happened to me recently as I was reading the Letter to the Hebrews. This New Testament letter was addressed to Jewish Christians to strengthen them in the practice of the faith and not to grow weary or become indifferent.

Two central themes of the text are the Priesthood of Jesus Christ as Savior and Redeemer and the pilgrimage of the people of God to the heavenly Jerusalem, where Jesus ministers in the heavenly sanctuary.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

Turning to God during the pandemic and maintaining momentum afterwards

Hying Logo

Questions often raised during these weeks of social isolation and pandemic are: What am I learning from this experience? How will my life be different going forward? How will society change as a result?

I have heard from many people who are feeling a greater need for God in their lives. When we confront suffering, fear, loneliness, and privation, we gain greater insight into the essential nature of life’s meaning.

Discovering what really matters

Without frenetic activity to distract us, with less social contact to sustain us, with the threat or reality of sickness, unemployment, and even death staring us in the face, we discover very quickly what really matters.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

God has entrusted remarkable powers to us

During this challenging pandemic experience, I have been meditating lately on power and the lack of it, the fear of vulnerability and dependence, the need to surrender control and accept what is beyond one’s ability to change.

Since the definition of power is “the capacity to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events,” we have probably all felt an ebbing of power and influence in our lives. The social restrictions, the loss of health or employment, the cancellation of activities and events have all thrust us into this opaque existence of limitation and diminishment.

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Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Two transitional deacons ordained in Madison

MADISON — Ordinations, whether to the priesthood or the diaconate, are usually very busy events filled with making sure everyone is in their right seats; lining up the men to be ordained, priests, and others in the processional before the Mass; and dozens of people doing their parts during the Mass to make sure the sacred rites are done correctly and reverently.

However, on April 15, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, as Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison said during his homily, “It’s not the ordination that any of us would have anticipated.”

He added, “By being winnowed down to its essence, we see with greater clarity the beauty of what is about to happen.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

The resurrection invites us to leave sin and death behind

We may be tempted to think that once Jesus had risen from the dead and sent the Holy Spirit upon the early Church, the lives of the Apostles were easy; after all, they were filled with the light and joy of knowing that the Lord had conquered sin and death; they knew that He was with them in the power of the Holy Spirit and the sacraments of the Church.

Yet, a simple reading of the Acts of the Apostles reveals that they met with immediate and violent opposition when they began to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ. Those who had conspired to kill Jesus certainly did not want Him coming back from the dead. How much easier for them if He had remained cold and lifeless in the tomb.

Proclamation of resurrection seen as subversive threat

The rising of Jesus on Easter Sunday is a clear and compelling confirmation of the truth of His identity as the Son of God and the Savior of the world. If Christ were inexplicably alive again, in a new and glorious fashion, such an astonishing fact demanded faith in Him and a devout adherence to His teachings and the truths of the holy Gospel. The proclamation of the resurrection is a subversive threat which must be silenced, in the minds of those who violently opposed the teachings of the Master during his earthly life.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

Love and mercy always win

In the summer of 2016, I was blessed to go to World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, with 80 pilgrims from the Diocese of Gary.

The highlight was Saturday evening. More than a million of us from every country on earth gathered to spend the night in an open field as an oppressive sun in a cloudless sky beat down.

After the pope’s talk, he placed an enormous monstrance on the altar for Eucharistic Adoration and we all knelt down in silent prayer for 20 minutes.You could hear a pin drop.

The evening shadows lengthened as the sun descended towards the horizon.

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