Day: April 16, 2009

On
Fr. Brian Dulli

St. Paul and the wisdom of the ages

pauline year logoNote from Bishop Morlino: Dear Friends, As we come to the close of this year of St. Paul, let us refocus our minds and hearts on the life and works of this great Apostle. One of our newly ordained priests, Fr. Brian Dulli, parochial vicar of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish in Sun Prairie, has been kind enough to offer some excellent reflections on St. Paul to help us along the way. — Bishop Robert C. Morlino

First in a series

According to the initiative of Pope Benedict XVI, we are now in the midst of a year of celebration in honor of the life of St. Paul, the Apostle to the Nations.

In our very time, all the nations of the world still greatly need the preaching and truth of the Gospel. Like Paul, a modern preacher must overcome real obstacles barring the delivery of Christ in his fullness.

Yet that is what Paul strove to do. He did not speak or write about Christ through vague intimations. He delivered the full reality of Christ to show that faith is never in vain.

Read More
On
Kat Wagner, Catholic Herald Staff

Celebrating the sacraments as a universal Church

Chrism Mass 2009
Bishop Robert C. Morlino distributes the sacred oils to priests and parish representatives from around the Diocese of Madison during the Chrism Mass April 7, held at St. Maria Goretti, Madison. (Catholic Herald photo/Kat Wagner) For more photos click here.

MADISON — The events of Holy Week, particularly the Triduum — what Pope Benedict XVI called “the heart of the entire liturgical year” — offer Catholics an opportunity “to immerse themselves in the central events of our redemption,” the pope said during his weekly audience April 8.

Throughout the world, Catholics recalled the events of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection through the celebration of the Triduum. The liturgies in  this heart of the Church’s year focus on and commemorate the fundamentals of the Church and its sacraments.

Read More
On
Msgr. Daniel Ganshert

Everyone can do something

Living and Learning column by Msgr. Daniel T. Ganshert

No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. This is the intent behind the new Annual Catholic Appeal in our diocese.

Just as it takes many peoples’ involvement, commitment, sacrifice, perseverance, and more when it comes to maintaining the vitality of our respective parishes, the same is true for our family of parishes, our diocese. When it was founded in 1946 in the 11 counties of southwest Wisconsin covering over 8,000 square miles, the diocese had 82,000 Catholics. Now it has 277,000. It had 122 active priests; now there are 96.

Read More
On
John Huebscher

Some ways budget can help parents choose life

Eye on the Capitol by John Huebscher

Budgets are mostly about numbers. Numbers of taxes collected and numbers of dollars spent. But budgets are also fundamentally about people and the priorities of the community. In ways large and small, budgets can affirm values and arrange laws and policies in ways that favor personal choices.

Budgets are generally not the place to settle questions like whether abortion should be legal. But individual budget items can encourage or discourage women who are facing the choice of whether to carry a pregnancy to term and give life to the child they carry.

Read More
On
Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Making truthful choices of conscience

Making Sense out of Bioethics column by Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

One recurrent theme in bioethical discussions is the idea that each of us possesses a basic awareness of the moral law. This distinctly human faculty, which Western culture has referred to as “conscience,” helps us to choose correctly when confronted with basic moral decisions.

Even children, when taught about right and wrong, instinctively seem to recognize a law higher than themselves. Deep within his conscience man discovers that law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Conscience has been aptly described as man’s most secret core and his sanctuary.

Read More