Dear Friends,
Even as we come upon the last days and hours of this month of October, I cannot fail to take a few moments to reflect upon the woman we’ve been honoring in a special way — Mary, the mother of Jesus, and our mother.
Tag: pope
Local youth return from World Youth Day 2013
After a long, 25-hour adventure of traveling that got us to Rio de Janeiro for the beginning of World Youth Day, the Madison pilgrims, having joined with our new friends from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, were finally en route to the church we would be able to call home for the week.
On the bus, we travelled across the entire city all the way to a far west suburb, Recreio dos Bandeirantes. As we passed through famous areas of Rio, Copacabana, and Ipanema, I craned my neck to try to find the statue of Christ the Redeemer towering above the city, welcoming us to town.
Local teens make pilgrimage to Rio
Journey is a poor word to describe our pilgrimage to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for World Youth Day. The better way to describe it would be to call it a quest. A quest in which the forces of light battle the hordes of darkness. However, in this case the darkness is inside of us. This darkness is the thought that we are alone in our fight against evil, that Church is weak, diminishing, powerless against the aggressive advances of the devil in our world.
Bishop leads Adoration, Corpus Christi, and Capitol procession ceremonies
“O salutaris Hostia, Quae cæli pandis ostium: Bella premunt hostilia, Da robur, fer auxilium.”
At 10 a.m. Madison time on Sunday, June 2 (5 p.m. Vatican time), a small gathering at St. Patrick Church in Madison chanted the familiar hymn for exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
Bishop Morlino comments on Pope Francis
MADISON — Less than an hour after Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was announced as the new pope, taking the name Francis, Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison addressed reporters on the selection.
Bishop Morlino recalled being familiar with Cardinal Bergoglio from eight years ago, when Pope Benedict XVI was elected pope. Bergoglio was reportedly in heavy consideration to replace Pope John Paul II. Bishop Morlino said the new pope can be a leader who could “raise the Church out of mediocrity” around like world like he did in his native Argentina.
Adjusting to the empty chair
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Dear Friends,
Last Thursday morning, as I was leaving Rome to return to Madison, Pope Benedict was still the Bishop of Rome and the Pope of the Universal Church; by the time I arrived in the United States in midafternoon, the Chair of Peter was empty.
Keeping a promise to God upon receiving papal award
To the editor:
This letter is an attempt to keep a promise I made to God when I first heard that I was receiving the Benemerenti Medal. I felt totally unworthy of any recognition from the pope. When I prayed about it, I realized that God, who has given me so many opportunities to serve other people, expected me to see this as another opportunity. There was a strong sense that there was something I was to share.
That was when I made the promise. As the weeks went by, I began to see the award as a symbol of God’s forgiveness and mercy. Would there be an opportunity to share with others my confidence in God’s mercy?
Reflections on pope’s Day of Peace message
In his January 1, 2013, World Day of Peace Message titled “Blessed are the Peacemakers,” Pope Benedict XVI immediately lays out for us the foundation upon which the Church’s ministry for world peace must be built.
Using a challenging proclamation from the Second Vatican Council, the pope teaches that Christians must be committed “to sharing humanity’s joys and hopes, grief and anguish.”
More than absence of war
The Holy Father is reminding us that God’s peace is much more than the absence of war — it is the universal experience of justice and love.
Listening to God’s call: He wants us for himself
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St. Jeanne Jugan was well into her 40s when she established the Little Sisters of the Poor. Some might consider her a “delayed” or “late” vocation, but I don’t think Jeanne was delayed at all. From an early age she had a sense of her vocation.
Jeanne knew that God loved her and was calling her; she just didn’t know where the call would take her. When Jeanne turned down a marriage proposal, she told her mother, “God wants me for himself, he is keeping me for a work as yet unknown, for a work which is not yet founded.”
Being responsible stewards of creation
One morning as I walked to the Mound cafeteria for breakfast, I saw the rising sun, like a bright orange-red host, rise slowly from the chalice of the good earth. It was beautiful!
In the cafeteria, two Sisters were also deeply moved by its beauty. One of them exclaimed, “This is my morning prayer!”
Celebrating Earth Day
Sharing a beautiful sunrise or sunset can bond us with others and open us to God’s presence. It can invite us to respect God’s gift of earth. It can help prepare us for Earth Day.
We celebrate Earth Day on April 22. Earth Day was started by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin to teach and to inspire the public to take better care of the environment.