Day: April 22, 2010

On
Kay Ringelstetter, For the Catholic Herald

Divine Mercy Sunday in Sauk City uplifts hearts and touches souls

Bishop Robert C. Morlino celebrates the Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday at St. Aloysius Church in Sauk City with priests of the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest concelebrating. (Catholic Herald photo/Joe Ptak)

SAUK CITY — Divine Mercy Sunday was celebrated on April 11 at St. Aloysius Church in Sauk City and may be best portrayed by the results that followed.

Joyous families, couples, and individuals with uplifted hearts and bright smiles left Sauk City and drove back to their homes as far away as Milwaukee or Janesville with memories of an afternoon that had touched their souls and left them changed.

Hundreds of people poured into St. Aloysius Church to receive the benefits offered by Jesus on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Pope John Paul II declared in the Great Jubilee Year 2000 that the Sunday after Easter would from then on be known as Divine Mercy Sunday in reference to the many revelations received by St. Faustina. Jesus told St. Faustina in 1931 that the feast of Divine Mercy would be a very special day when “all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened.” Jesus promised that, “The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain the complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.”

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On
Fr. Donald Lange

Earth Day invites us to respect God’s creation

Seeing with Jesus' Eyes by Fr. Donald Lange

On April 22, we celebrate Earth Day. Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. senator from Wisconsin. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans crowded streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Earth Day’s time had come.

Earth Day offers us Catholics opportunities to reflect upon statements by recent popes and bishops regarding our moral responsibility towards creation. In his address on the World Day of Peace 2010, Pope Benedict XVI focused upon the theme “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.”

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Priests: Chosen by Holy Spirit, working with Christ
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,

Despite the continued focus on the horrendous crimes of a relatively few priests within the Church, we move forward, a people of faith, cognizant of the fact that our Church is made up of sinners — our priests and bishops included — but that each of us has faith that it is Jesus Christ Himself who founded this Church, for our Salvation, and that He has sent the Holy Spirit to protect His Church from “the gates of hell.”

No matter the sins of Her members, even the terrible sins of a few of Her ministers, the Holy Spirit remains with the Bride of Christ, to care for Her, to reconcile all Her members to Christ, and to grant us everlasting life.

As one Body, each member of the Church is affected when another causes injury. We all feel profoundly the wounds inflicted by a few, and we must do all that we can to bring healing to those wounded. I don’t know that I’ve experienced that empathetic pain in anyone more than in our good priests and bishops. And that brings me to the point of this column.

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