Must we live through a lot of history before we love history? Must we be an antique before we appreciate antiques?
My fascination with ancestors just took off this year when Janine, my daughter-in-law, discovered a Luxembourg Museum in her Wisconsin territory. For Christmas she and my son John bought me a year’s membership and took me for a visit soon after. What an exciting adventure!
It is not easy to block out the multiple cries of pain and suffering that permeate the world. It is almost deafening.
All one has to do is turn on the radio, read the newspaper, watch television, or go online. We are bombarded with news of pain and suffering, almost to the saturation point. I think of the people in Libya, Haiti, Japan, and others affected by war and natural disasters. It gives me an overwhelming feeling.
A couple of years ago I attended several lectures on the martyrs of El Salvador who were killed during a civil war that took place there in the 1970’s and ’80s. Archbishop Oscar Romero, four women missionaries, and several Jesuits — only to name a few of hundreds of people — were brutally murdered because they spoke out against the intense suffering of the Salvadoran people and a system of government that perpetuated it.
A widow told her son she sometimes wished that when she died, she could be buried with a fork in her hand. When he asked her “why,” she explained that at a banquet, the head waitress often requests that we keep our fork because the best is yet to come.
She told her son because of our faith in the resurrection, and God’s mercy, that after death the very best is yet to come — the priceless gift of eternal life. Christ’s resurrection gives us hope of enjoying eternal happiness in heaven.
To the editor: […]
To Mark Pattison:
I am writing in response to your column in the March 31 issue of the Catholic Herald about the defunding of public broadcasting.
I am very surprised and shocked at your overwhelming support! Do you not see the very liberal-mindedness of the PBS programming? Multiple shows constantly reaffirm the lie that evolution is a fact and not just an unproven theology.
Also, what about shows like In the Life that constantly affirm homosexuality?
To the editor:
In a time of crisis in our land, our people are called to repent, to pray, and to praise God. We are to be a prayerful, sacrificial people. We are to be a “Light for the World.”
We are to forgive and start anew. We are to recognize that God calls us to reconciliation. We must reach out to our neighbor — to start anew and seek the highest holiness.
The common ground must be love, peace, charity, and respect for others. Our history of kindness must be carried forward without reservation for past hurts.
To Stephen Kent:
Your article in the April 7 issue of the Catholic Herald was an insult to every gun owner.
You generalize the population as unqualified to own a weapon. Evidently you are not a gun owner nor were you raised in a conservative hunting family.
I assure you that I, my family, and my children are just as qualified as most police officers or even more so.
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| Esta columna está dirigida a los fieles de la Diócesis de Madison. Cualquier circulación más amplia transgrede la intención del Obispo. |
Queridos amigos:
Al entrar en esta Semana Santa, somos muy conscientes de la ausencia del Obispo Bullock, del Obispo Wirz, de Mons. Wil Schuster, y de Mons. Tom Campion, quienes recientemente han sido llamados al encuentro con Cristo. Los extraño mucho personalmente y, sin entrar en detalles, la muerte de cada uno de ellos puede ser vista como el final de una era distinta en la diócesis de Madison. Su fallecimiento nos recuerda que, como dice la Escritura, “el mundo como lo conocemos está pasando”. La verdad de ese misterio nos incluye también a nosotros.
Hay mucho por lo cual estar agradecidos por la vida de nuestros dos buenos obispos y estos dos buenos sacerdotes, quienes ahora contemplan el rostro de Cristo. Los recordamos con esperanza e incluso con alegría, en términos del maravilloso camino por que el vivieron y murieron. Ese destino, claro está, no es otro que el Cielo.
Many people in the United States are facing challenges because of unemployment and economic difficulties. Budgets are tight.
However, the worldwide downturn in the economy is also affecting the people living in the land where Jesus lived and walked, where he suffered, died, and rose from the dead.
As we observe Holy Week and Easter, we especially hear about places such as the Sea of Galilee, Bethelehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem. In all those places today, Christians are struggling to keep their faith alive and to live in dignity.
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| 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,
As we enter this great and holy week, we are very much aware of the absence of Bishop Bullock, Bishop Wirz, Msgr. Wil Schuster, and Msgr. Tom Campion, all of whom have been called within recent months to see the face of Christ. I miss them all very much personally, and without going into detail, the passing of each one can be seen as the end of a different era in the Diocese of Madison. Their passing reminds us that, as the Scripture says, “the world as we know it is passing away.” The truth of that mystery includes each one of us as well.
