Bishop Robert C. Morlino told over 500 guests at the recent St. Ambrose Academy Benefit Dinner held at the Marriott Hotel in Middleton that today a bishop needs to be a theologian, a defender of the faith, and an apologist.
Day: December 21, 2011
This Christmas pray, profess, forgive, and resolve!
Dear Friends,
Where is Christmas joy to be found? And it IS to be found; it is real, and it is accessible. As I reflected last week, St. Paul tells us that we should, “Rejoice always,” and, “pray always.” I’ll not revisit each of my points from last week, but I’ll remind you that it is in doing all that we do in such a way that we might make it a pleasing offering to God, that we can truly pray always. St. Paul really does mean pray always; it’s not simply an unattainable ideal.
One can glibly say, “well, my work is my prayer,” and then never actually take time for prayer. To make our work into a pleasing prayer does not mean that we should not take time each and every day for focused prayer time. It is both/and; we should be spending time in prayer and also doing our work in such an excellent way that at the end of the day we are proud to present it as a sacrifice to the Lord. That really does turn work into prayer.
This is the very first step toward true Christmas joy — we pray always, so that we might rejoice always. In other words, we put God right at the center of all that we do and all that we are. Each one of us can do as much or as little as we want about that. Is our work a sacrifice of praise, ready to be offered to God? Are all of our interactions sacrifices of praise, ready to be offered to God? Is our prayer steady, daily, and substantial? Those are our very first steps to really experiencing Christmas joy and carrying that joy through the new year. And so, pray always!
Thanks to cardinal, bishop for speaking the truth
To the editor:
Thank you for Mary Uhler’s excellent article on Raymond Cardinal Burke’s recent statement on contraception in Illinois. We were blessed to inform Cardinal Burke of the Madison Catholic Herald covering that story after he celebrated Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse on Friday, Dec. 9, the Feast of St. Juan Diego. He was pleased.
My parents gave me 10 brothers and sisters, 20 years from youngest to oldest, and my in-laws gave me my husband, youngest of eight children, born when his father was 40, and his mother was 39. Praise be to God for big families!
PLW concurs with cardinal on ‘contraceptive mentality’
To the editor:
Thank you to Mary Uhler and the Catholic Herald for your report on Cardinal Raymond Burke’s recent compelling address on the need to counter the “contraceptive mentality” and “advance the culture of life” with “new enthusiasm and new energy.”
As Pro-Wisconsin (PLW) embarks on our 20th year in 2012, we realistically concur with His Eminence Cardinal Burke, in recognition that “the struggle is fierce and the contrary forces are many and clever.”
Christmas peace: A gift for Jesus and the world
A few years ago playwright/director Peter Rothstein created a theatrical concert and musical radio drama entitled, All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. This theatrical concert dramatizes a remarkable incident of peace that happened during an unplanned truce during World War I, which some called the war to end all wars.
A Christmas truce
On Christmas Eve, at certain places along the front, German and British soldiers spontaneously sang Christmas carols. On Christmas day unarmed enemy soldiers met in no man’s land, and exchanged gifts of tobacco, rum, chocolate, and even family photographs. In one section they buried each other’s dead and played soccer.
God’s greatest gift
The present economic crisis can provide us with an opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, rather than on the materialistic spirit that often permeates our Western culture.
Since so many people are unemployed or under-employed and many family incomes are shrinking, a lot people will have to limit the type and number of gifts they give. This might be a blessing in disguise. It can provide us a chance to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
Sign of God’s great love
Gift giving is a wonderful tradition but too many of us tend to go overboard and often measure another’s love and care by the gifts they give and receive. And some people give gifts out of a feeling of obligation or just because someone gives them one. Many feel embarrassed if a person gives them a gift and they have nothing to give in return.
God’s greatest gift
The present economic crisis can provide us with an opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, rather than on the materialistic spirit that often permeates our Western culture.
Since so many people are unemployed or under-employed and many family incomes are shrinking, a lot people will have to limit the type and number of gifts they give. This might be a blessing in disguise. It can provide us a chance to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
Sign of God’s great love
Gift giving is a wonderful tradition but too many of us tend to go overboard and often measure another’s love and care by the gifts they give and receive. And some people give gifts out of a feeling of obligation or just because someone gives them one. Many feel embarrassed if a person gives them a gift and they have nothing to give in return.