Month: May 2013

On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Adoration worldwide: Joining with Holy Father on June 2
Diocesan Adoration schedule
Click here for a list of Adoration locations and times throughout the diocese.

MADISON  — As a special event during the Year of Faith, Catholics throughout the world will be joining with Pope Francis in Eucharistic Adoration on the Feast of Corpus Christi, Sunday, June 2.

On that day, the Holy Father will preside at an hour of Eucharistic Adoration in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican at 5 p.m. Rome time, in communion with all bishops and with their local diocesan communities around the world.

In Wisconsin, that occurs at 10 a.m. Bishop Robert C. Morlino is promoting this time of Adoration at the Cathedral Parish in Madison at St. Patrick Church at 10 a.m., prior to his 11 a.m. Stational Mass.

Bishop Morlino has invited people throughout the Diocese of Madison either to join him at St. Patrick Church or attend times of Eucharistic Adoration at their own parishes and in the various Vicariates of the diocese at 10 a.m. where possible, recognizing the reality of Mass schedule conflicts on a Sunday morning, or at other times on that Sunday.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Bishops release revised end-of-life letter

MADISON — Wisconsin’s Catholic bishops have released the third edition of their pastoral letter on end-of-life health care decision-making and advance care planning, Now and at the Hour of Our Death.

The letter voices the bishops’ concern and compassion for those facing critical health care decisions, and shares a moral and ethical framework for making such decisions.

Popular document

“The conference issued the first edition of this pastoral statement in 2002. That edition and the second one issued in 2006 have proven to be our most frequently requested document,” explained Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) Executive Director John Huebscher.

“In the seven years since the second edition, we have seen even greater interest in the moral questions surrounding death and dying. The bishops are resolved to keep responding to that interest. Reissuing the document is an effective way to do that.”

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On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

The Eucharist — Believe it: We truly encounter Jesus’ presence

Editor's View by Mary C. Uhler

During this Year of Faith, the Catholic Church is asking all of us to reflect on various aspects of our faith and its meaning in our daily lives.

When Pope Benedict XVI talked about the reasons for calling for a Year of Faith, he said that one of his considerations was that it would provide an opportunity “to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist, which is the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed and also the source from which all its power flows” (Porta Fidei).

Pope Benedict’s words are actually taken from a document of the Second Vatican Council called Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, which calls the Eucharist “the source and summit of Christian life.”

Christ is really present in the Eucharist

Our Catholic faith teaches us that Jesus Christ is really present in the Eucharist. At the Last Supper Jesus changed bread and wine into his body and blood. This is a key doctrine of our faith.

What is sad is that surveys have shown that many Catholics do not believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Some only believe that the bread and wine are symbols, not the real body and blood of Christ.

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On
Abbot Marcel Rooney

The Holy Eucharist: Theology and Spirituality, part two

By Abbot Marcel Rooney, OSB

year of faith column logo

This is the second in a series of articles examining the theology and spirituality of the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

We have seen in a previous reflection that the first thing the Holy Eucharist does is proclaim God’s great love for us, above all through the Paschal Mystery of Jesus (i.e., His Death, Resurrection, and Ascension) which is the means of our eternal salvation.

In the light of that great divine love coming to us, through sacramental signs, we need to respond in faith and in love.

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On
Fr. Donald Lange

Feast of Corpus Christi: Honoring the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

Seeing with Jesus' Eyes, a column by Fr. Donald Lange

On June 2, we celebrate Corpus Christi, the feast of the Eucharist. In Latin Corpus Christi means the Body of Christ. The full Latin name of this feast is “Corpus et Sanguis Christi’’ — “The Body and Blood of Christ.”

In some countries and sometimes in our diocese, during this feast there are edifying processions when the sacred host is carried outdoors or around the church.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

The Holy Spirit brings harmony
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

In his homily for Pentecost morning – which, of course had three points and which was focused upon the Holy Spirit — Pope Francis began by saying that he is very devoted to a particular Church Father who said that the Holy Spirit is, Himself, harmony. The Holy Spirit is, Himself, harmony. When we’re celebrating a Year of Faith and of the New Evangelization through beauty, what a beautiful image that is for the Holy Spirit — harmony.

It is the harmony that we hear so beautifully mirrored by well-prepared choirs singing good music. Harmony is pleasing to the ear and it lifts up the heart. Harmony has a particularly positive effect on people when they are disposed to it, because they themselves are harmonized in the first place. You can hear all the harmony you want, but if you yourself are not harmonized, it really doesn’t make any difference.

Many people are not harmonized

In our society and in our culture, many people are not harmonized. That’s why young people for example, can get used to the music that they listen to a lot of the time. Much of it is really not pleasing to the ear, but it’s an acquired taste, and it certainly resonates with those who are experiencing a great deal of un-harmonized angst in their daily lives.

This is why it appeals so easily to the young people — it resonates with the tremendous angst which teens are used to encountering anyway, but which is multiplied by our own culture. And so, the teens easily acquire a taste for it and become habituated to it, until anything else seems strange.

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