Category: Bishop Morlino’s Columns

On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Verbal victims of the Dictatorship of Relativism
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.

We live in a world where many, many people have either made themselves into “God” or they’ve been tricked into thinking that they are “God” by others. The impact of this reality touches each and every aspect of our lives and shakes the foundations of our society and certainly of our Church.

Our Holy Father has spoken several times of what he has called the “Dictatorship of Relativism” — that is, there is no objective truth. To say there is no objective truth is to say there is no God. These are the same statement, for when one says there is no objective truth, they are, in effect, saying, “I’m God,” and therefore, “I create the world in which I live.” If there is no objective truth or objective way that things are, then things are the way that one thinks they are. It allows one to say, “I create my own world, my own bubble, which is different from everybody else’s bubble.”

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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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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Finding hope, healing in the Resurrection
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.

On behalf of all the priests of the Diocese of Madison, and behalf of all my staff, I want to promise our sincere and continued Easter prayers, in this Resurrection season. Each one of you has our prayers for health, safety, and above all, deeper union with Christ. I beg you, too, to offer your Easter prayers for us, because each of us and our Church certainly always stand in need of prayer. I wanted to share with you here a few of the thoughts I offered at the Easter Vigil this year.

We celebrated Easter Sunday this year on April 4th — that day on which Christ was raised from the dead, the day which changed history forever. In some ways I had hoped to see some large signs and advertisements on Easter Sunday about how the Resurrection of Jesus Christ had happened and how we celebrated our new life on April 4. Instead, all the signs told me that April 3 was the launch of iPad! That tells me — and it should tell you — something significant about the mission that Jesus Christ places in our hands this Easter and everyday.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Reflecting the joy of the greatest victory
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.

I want to wish you all a very blessed Holy Triduum and a very happy Easter. May it be a joyful and prayerful time for you and your family, and may it provide a powerful experience with our Lord Jesus, risen from the dead.

We are called, each and every day, to invite people to meet Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. In a very real way, this is the mission of my episcopacy here — it is the stated mission of my staff, and, by extension, it is truly the mission of each of us here in the 11 counties of south-central Wisconsin.

In order, credibly, to invite our neighbors to meet Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, we have to have met Him. So these days of Holy Week and Easter should be a very special time for each of us, when we intensify that meeting which we are called to have with the risen Christ. The proper celebration of Holy Week and Easter has everything to do with the mission to which each of us, by nature of our Baptism, is called.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Untangling the confusion about the Church
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.

After months of political machinations, things are moving extremely quickly and we are at an advanced and critical point with regard to our discussion of healthcare legislation, to the point that, as of this writing, the House has passed the terribly deficient Senate Bill, as well as a bill making a few changes (which do nothing to help in key matters). The Senate has yet to approve these few changes and all that is really left is the President’s signature. Much can happen between my writing and your reading this, so I’d like to take a look more at what has happened, and why it is not a good thing. What will happen is still yet to be seen.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

The prodigal son: A tale of two ‘snots’
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.

The story we heard in the Gospel on Sunday, the story (as it is called) of the “Prodigal Son,” is a terrific story. I have a bishop-friend who always refers to this, not as the parable of the prodigal son, but as the “parable of the two snots.” That, indeed, is exactly what it is.

Let’s take a brief look at the first son. In speaking of this story over the past weekend, Pope Benedict talked about how, as young people grow up, they go through a period of “infantile dependence” on their parents, during which time they practice “infantile obedience.” Then, as they hit those wonderful teens, they get the idea that they should be free and more independent of their parents. And then they sing that old song, “I gotta be free, I gotta be me.”

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Lent: Time to slam the door in Satan’s face
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.

Each year we are invited to reflect on the whole of our Lenten journey in the context of Jesus’ temptations in the desert. That’s a model, if you will, a paradigm, for what is supposed to happen during Lent. And, I am happy to say that I discovered again this year that, substantially, my reflections on this Gospel passage are in line with those of our Holy Father. I know that when I’m in communion with the Holy Father, by God’s grace and for the good of the diocese, I’m right on target.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Ash Wednesday and a Lent for Priests
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.

It was wonderful to witness and to hear of the strong turn-out of people at our Ash Wednesday Masses around the diocese. Such a turn-out is a hopeful sign that our people genuinely want to pursue the journey of holiness and conversion this Lent.

I share with you today three points that I made during my Mass on Ash Wednesday. The first point is regarding this, our Year for Priests, within the Church. I do think about the Year for Priests a lot, but I’m not sure that we’ve done everything that we can to help you think about it. I hope that you do think about it, though. My point is this: if it is the “Year for Priests,” and this “year” includes Lent, then this Lent is for priests.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Aid in Haiti — the beginning to a Lent of love
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 Christ,

As was mentioned last week, you, your parishes, and your pastors are to be highly commended in general! We as a diocesan family have come together in an incredible show of our love of neighbor and our unity as a diocese by raising a remarkable $508,130.02 for our sisters and brothers in Haiti.

Very soon after the devastating earthquake, Pope Benedict XVI promised the people of Haiti of the prayers and concrete support of Catholics around the world. And even before the Holy Father made these promises, Catholic Relief Services was there in Haiti helping those injured and dying; you and your parishes were asking “what can we do?” and our diocesan offices were organizing how we could respond.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Journeying home during the Lenten season
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 the first place, let me thank you most sincerely for your remembrance in prayer during the days of my vacation. They were special days for me of friendship, especially friendship with the Lord, and also some needed rest and recreation. The time was most enjoyable and life-giving, I’m sure in large part due to your prayers. And, of course, I remembered all of you every blessed day.

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