Some of my fondest memories of my childhood in the ‘30s were the Sunday afternoon visits to our country cousins.
We’d all pile into Daddy’s new model Chevy, (he sold them, so we always had a new one), drive the 20 miles or more to run in the fields, jump in the hay mow, and watch the animals warily, keeping a safe distance.
Dear Friends,
The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ is such a beautiful and important day for us, and the reality which we celebrate on that day has such an impact that its themes bear repeating. I hope you’ll forgive me if I look back a bit to the great Feast of Corpus Christi, which we celebrated on June 26, and reiterate a few thoughts which I shared in my Stational Mass homily.
I was fascinated by an article I read this morning over my coffee and cereal.
It was in the July issue of Ladies Home Journal, and written by Michael J. Berland, president of a polling and research firm, who states, “Sure, her family makes her happy, but despite what society expects, a woman’s sense of fulfillment comes from being independent and having a sense of control over her own life.” He calls this the silver lining on that recession cloud because it has driven so many women to become actively involved in their family finances.
The Catholic Church has long acknowledged the role of the medical professional in declaring death. It is the proper competency of medicine, not theology, to identify reliable signs that death has occurred.
The hardening of the body known as rigor mortis, for example, is a reliable medical indicator that death has occurred. When the heart permanently stops beating and the lungs permanently stop functioning (cessation of cardio-pulmonary function), medical professionals recognize these signs as another reliable way to assess that death has occurred.
Dear Friends,
Already it’s been about a month and a half since our celebration of Holy Week and Easter. Since that time, many have asked me to write here a bit of what I mentioned with regard to “Eucharistic living” during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday.
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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,
This past weekend’s readings included the beautiful recounting of the Apostles choosing “helpers” in their mission of charity and justice, and so I have the joy of going to the altar this Friday and ordaining, to the Transitional Diaconate, David Johannes, who is simply a terrific candidate and who will be an outstanding deacon and priest.
In the fall, God willing, Mark Miller likewise will be ordained a deacon at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and Mark and David will together be ordained priests a year from now. Please pray for both of these great young men as they come upon their diaconate ordinations and final year of preparation for the priesthood.
Married Catholics today often struggle to understand the moral difference between using contraceptives to avoid a pregnancy and using Natural Family Planning (NFP).
NFP relies on sexual abstinence during fertile periods in a woman’s cycle, as assessed by various indicators like cervical mucus or changes in body temperature.
To many, the Church’s prohibition of contraception seems to be at odds with its acceptance of NFP because in both cases, the couple’s intention is to avoid children. That intention, however, is not the problem, as long as there are, in the words of Pope Paul VI, “serious motives to space out births.”
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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. |
Editor’s note: The following is a transcription of Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s homily for Priestly Ordinations on Friday, May 6, at St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison.
Tim, Jorge — “my sons,” I get to call you tonight. At the moment I call you my sons, I want to thank both of your dear parents, your grandparents, and your family for showing you what it means to be a good father — long before I came on the scene. And I want to thank them for showing you what it is to be a faithful son.
All of that will come into play in the days, the months, and the years ahead. I’m almost as proud of you tonight as your dear parents are — not quite as proud (I don’t think I could manage that) but I know how proud they are and I, certainly, am proud. I’m so grateful to your dear parents and your family, for their generosity in giving the Church such a wonderful, unselfish gift.
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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. |
This past Sunday was a wonderful celebration in so many ways. And the Gospel from Sunday — the second Sunday of Easter — was simply spectacular.
In John 20:19-31 we see Jesus appearing to the Apostles in His risen body and using the greeting, “Peace be with you.” The peace Jesus means, of course, is the peace of heaven — that “Shalom,” that total well being, which is part of heavenly joy and heavenly rest. The peace that Jesus means is the peace of heaven itself.
And what does Jesus say after that? “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” An essential part of the heavenly peace and joy, and the whole point of Jesus’ death and resurrection, is the forgiveness of sins! Jesus’ body was broken and His blood was poured out so that sins might be forgiven, so that there might be mercy. Essential to the heavenly “Shalom,” contained in Jesus’ greeting, is that His mercy is poured out upon us, that sins are forgiven.
An electrician by trade, Tim Roach is married with two children and lives about an hour outside Minneapolis. He was laid off his job in July 2009.
After looking for work for more than a year and a half, he got a call from his local union in February 2011 with the news anyone who is unemployed longs for, not just a job offer, but one with responsibility and a good salary of almost $70,000 a year.
He ultimately turned the offer down, however, because he discovered that he was being asked to oversee the electrical work at a new Planned Parenthood facility under construction in St. Paul on University Ave. Aware that abortions would be performed there, he knew his work would involve him in “cooperation with evil,” and he courageously declined the offer.
