The Lord has a new laborer for his harvest, chosen by the Holy Spirit.
On June 24, Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison ordained Fr. Joseph Baker to the priesthood at St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison.
Tag: Bishop Robert C. Morlino
Pray for all students and Catholic schools
Dear Friends,
As we come to the end of the school year, it strikes me as a wonderful time to reflect on Catholic schools.
Of course, this is made all the more easy for me as I’ve also just concluded an outstanding Confirmation circuit. It was simply a joy for me to be with our young people from parishes and schools around the diocese, and I have to say that I was very impressed with the young women and men I encountered and with whom I prayed.
The Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit
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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,
We are right in the middle of the month of May and this past Sunday we celebrated the great Feast of Pentecost, so what better time to say something about the Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit?
The Blessed Mother’s relationship with the Holy Spirit is powerful and unique.
This is made very clear by some of the most pivotal moments in Scripture and in all of human history.
In the first place, we know that the Holy Spirit overshadowed Our Lady when Jesus was conceived.
Proclaiming the truth about the Ascension
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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,
Why did Christ ascend to heaven? Wouldn’t it have been nice if He had just stayed here on earth and appeared regularly for the rest of history? Wouldn’t it be nice if every so often we could go to a certain place and He would appear? Wouldn’t it be nice if the whole world simply knew the truth and would not have to seek after faith, since they would have regular audiences with Christ, our God? Wouldn’t it be nice!
What was so important that Christ, with His Father and the Holy Spirit, decided not to do it that way? What could be so important? Two things:
Christ is Eternal High Priest
First of all, the Eternal High Priesthood of Christ had to be definitively accomplished, completed, and revealed. And that Eternal High Priesthood was definitively completed and revealed only when Jesus ascended and took His place at the Father’s right hand.
It says in the Hebrew Scriptures, the one who takes his place at the Father’s right hand is, in fact, the Eternal High Priest. “The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand while I make your enemies your footstool . . . You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek (Psalms 110: 1, 4)’.”
God holds us in His hands at all times
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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,
The readings of this past weekend speak a much-needed word of consolation, hope, and joy to each of us, in the here and now.
I don’t know about each of you (though I’ve heard from a number of you), but in my opinion there are a good number of reasons for concern in our times, and there’s good reason to wonder where things are going — especially in terms of our national political scene.
But in such moments of uncertainty, the followers of Jesus Christ have always been able to consider the ultimate realities and to reflect back upon readings like those of this past weekend.
In the first place, we can consider the context of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:14, 43-52) as they have begun to go out and preach the Good News far and wide.
Some initial comments on Amoris Laetitia
Dear Friends,
There is a great deal to consider and to speak of this week. However, I want first to comment on the readings of this past weekend and specifically upon the Second Reading (Rev 5:11-14), which provide us with a beautiful image of heaven.
In that reading we hear of the vision that St. John had of all creation singing eternally: “To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever!” A beautiful, glorious hymn of praise for all eternity is one very reliable picture of what heaven is like.
Two ordained to the transitional diaconate
The Diocese of Madison received two great gifts on Friday of the Easter Octave.
Deacon Jared Holzhuter and Deacon Luke Syse were ordained to the transitional diaconate at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona.
Have faith in the invisible realities
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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 we celebrated our Second Sunday of Easter — Divine Mercy Sunday — and the readings point in a particular way to the way we as a Christian people are called to respond, when acting simply in faith.
In the Gospel, we saw our Lord appear in His resurrected body, and we heard him speak to Thomas and the Apostles saying, “Blessed are they who have not seen but have believed (Jn 20:29).” These are words which are terribly important for our country and for our culture and for our day and age.
Some say truth found only in science
Our country and our culture and our day and age have tried to convince us that the only truth is to be found in science, that is, seeing what is visible by some method of physical observation, by some scientific method. If there is some kind of physical seeing possible, then we have truth. I see it with my own eyes!
Our strides in science are wonderful and our knowledge impressive, but what does Jesus say to us? “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Gospel tells us that knowledge by grace, knowledge from God’s point of view, gives us far more certainty than science, which is limited to picturing how things go in the physical world. We continue to have a greater and greater understanding of how things work in our physical world, but there is far more to understand.
Chrism Mass is night of blessings and promises
Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison thanked people from throughout the Diocese of Madison for coming to the annual “holy night” of the Chrism Mass held at St. Maria Goretti Church on March 22.
Two to be ordained deacons on April 1
MONONA — Bishop Robert C. Morlino will ordain Jared Holzhuter and Luke Syse, seminarians for the Diocese of Madison, as transitional deacons on Friday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona.
A transitional deacon is a man who has completed his third year of theology studies and intends to be ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church.
Holzhuter is the son of Tammie and John Holzhuter, members of St. John Vianney Parish in Janesville. Syse is the son of Patty and Jim Syse of St. Isidore Parish in Blanchardville.