On Sunday, December 29, 2024, the Feast of the Holy Family, in union with the Holy Father, the bishops and the entire universal Church, we enter into the Jubilee Year of 2025!
Category: Bishop
Advent, Christmas, and the journey
As the wonder of Christmas fast approaches, the Fourth Sunday of Advent presents us with the Gospel scene of the Visitation — Mary immediately making haste to share the joyful news of the Incarnation of God in her womb with her beloved cousin Elizabeth who herself is pregnant with John the Baptist.
Clergy appointments 12-12-2024
Very Rev. Tait Schroeder, Vicar General, announces the following clergy appointments, effective Thursday, December 12, 2024, and announced on Saturday and Sunday, December 14 and 15, 2024, based on the merger of Good Shepherd Parish, Madison, and St. Raphael Parish, Madison, to become Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Madison, as decreed by Most Rev. Donald Hying, Bishop of Madison:
Continuing the walk with prayer
If you practice the Catholic faith and have a loving and living relationship with Jesus, various people in your life have prayed for you to be where you spiritually are.
Bringing Christ to others during Advent
In the annual autumn meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) this month, we bishops voted to set the national priorities for 2025-2028, as guideposts for our pastoral work.
Be thankful and faithful
Gratitude is a fundamental aspect of the Christian life. God has most generously and lovingly shared everything with us, culminating in the precious gift of salvation, offered to us through Jesus Christ.
Church teachings on death
This month, on November 2, All Souls’ Day, the bishops of Wisconsin issued the fourth edition of Now and at the Hour of our Death, a pastoral letter concerning Catholic teaching on death and dying, end-of-life issues, and the importance of funeral planning.
Letting go and letting God
Autumn is my favorite season of the year. The frosty temperatures, the blazing color of the trees, the smell of wood smoke, and the crunch of leaves underfoot are all expressions of beauty and peace.
Knowing the Four Last Things
November is the traditional month we as Catholics ponder the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. As we celebrate All Saints’ Day on November 1 and pray for all the souls in Purgatory on November 2, God draws our hearts to ponder the brevity of this life, the urgency of conversion, the beauty of eternity with God, and the possibility of losing our salvation through habitual mortal sin without repentance.
The Church and religious freedom
The United States Constitution guarantees religious freedom in the First Amendment.
This fundamental right propelled many persecuted religious groups in Europe (including the Catholics who settled Maryland) to come to America in pursuit of religious liberty — the ability to practice their own faith as their conscience led them.