Tag: Bishop Robert C. Morlino

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Bishop Morlino receives Christ Brings Hope Award

bishop morlino receives relevant radio award
Bishop Robert C. Morlino, right, was the recipient of the first Christ Brings Hope Award in the Diocese of Madison presented by Fr. Francis “Father Rocky” Hoffman, left, executive director of Relevant Radio.  (Photo by Elizabeth Groshek)

MADISON — Fr. Francis “Father Rocky” Hoffman presented Bishop Robert C. Morlino with the first Christ Brings Hope Award in the Diocese of Madison at the festive Relevant Radio dinner held at the Edgewater Hotel on March 19.

Father Hoffman is the executive director of Relevant Radio, which presents the Christ Brings Hope Award on behalf of the staff and supporters of the Catholic radio network to “an American Catholic who has worked with extraordinary dedication to bring the good news and hope of Christ to all souls.

“This person exemplifies the virtues of charity, generosity, hope, apostolic zeal, and love for the Truth,” said Father Hoffman.

Father Hoffman said of Bishop Morlino, “Through his selfless and dedicated work in the New Evangelization, Bishop Morlino serves as a solid example of what it means to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to thousands of souls. Relevant Radio is personally blessed to have his support and to serve the Diocese of Madison through WHFA 1240 AM.”

Courageous leader

Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer, pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison and former director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the diocese, gave the blessing at the dinner.

Monsignor Schmelzer said that for the past 12 years, Bishop Morlino “has been a courageous leader in our diocese. We ask God to shower him and the diocese with blessings.”

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Reliving Christ’s Passion, Death, 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.

Dear friends,

We stand at the threshold of the holiest of weeks, reliving the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Indeed, the Sacred Triduum — Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday — comprise a microcosm of our whole life lived in Christ.

To enter as fully as possible into the mysteries of these days is to enter more fully into the mysteries of the life of each one of us. For instance, in the fervent celebration of the days of Holy Week, we can come to have an initial grasp of the mystery of why good people suffer.

Meaning of life unveiled

The meaning of life is unveiled by a fervent and serious celebration of the mysteries of these days.

So, please make every effort to be present for the Holy Thursday evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the solemn commemoration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, and the great Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday.

Our churches really should be full (and then some) on these days, because of the gifts of grace available to us at so special a time — and available in a way that they are not otherwise available.

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Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Men gather to grow closer to Christ at retreat

MADISON — More than 60 men from the Diocese of Madison and surrounding areas recently gathered at the Bishop O’Connor Center (BOC) in Madison for “Fortes in Fide” (“Strong in Faith”) — the annual diocesan Lenten Men’s Retreat.

The retreat is a joint effort between the diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis and the Knights of Divine Mercy men’s apostolate.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Do we sacrifice and carry crosses with Jesus?

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,

I pray that your Lent continues to be fruitful and full of hope!

Here below, I want to extract one short line from our readings this past week and reflect upon it very briefly.

I know that many of you did not receive much in the way of a homily this past weekend because many of our pastors wisely decided to shorten or even forgo their homilies due to the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA) and the parish request that took place this week.

Before I go further, though, I wish to offer a word or two in that regard.

Thank you for service, support

The first word I have to offer is my thanks. With every ounce of sincerity, I thank you for all that you’ve done in the past, are doing this year, and may continue to do into the future, in service to our diocesan Church.

So much of the good that we do as a Church relies upon our united effort and our cooperation in and with the Spirit. While I would not stop trying to carry out the mission I have been given, no matter what, we certainly could not be as effective without your prayerful support.

 

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

The Catholic Diocese of Madison Foundation grows, serves

MADISON — People throughout the Diocese of Madison have been hearing much in recent months about the Priests for Our Future Campaign, which seeks to raise $30 million for the education and formation of seminarians.

The funds raised in the Priests for Our Future Campaign are being housed in The Catholic Diocese of Madison Foundation (CDMF), which was incorporated in 2006 to serve parishes, schools, and parish members in the Diocese of Madison.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Core of the Christmas and Easter Mysteries

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,

Please let me first wish you every blessing of Christmas, and abundant blessings for the year to come — blessings of joy, health, and above all, always deeper faith.

Live in the glow of Christmas

I hope that you are continuing to live in the glow of the Christmas season, for we should remember that Christmas is not something that begins at Thanksgiving (or even as soon as Halloween has ended) and ends when presents are returned on December 26.

Our commemoration of Christmas should start on Christmas Eve and carry forward through the Epiphany and beyond. For indeed, Christmas should serve as an annual reminder of the tremendous gift and mystery of the Incarnation.

Christmas is a mystery

Christmas is a mystery, and there is a danger, between the commercialism and the outwardness of Christmas (all of the arguments about if and where you can put a Nativity Scene, and how you greet people), that the fact that Christmas is a mystery gets lost.

Christmas is a time when budgets get challenged, when people get defensive about their beliefs or lack of beliefs, and now where people have all kinds of parties as an excuse to eat and drink too much! (Not that I am immune from the fault of eating too much!) But Christmas is so much more!

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Believing and trusting in God’s plan for us

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 timing of this column falls into one of those awkward periods that comes with the schedule of our weekly publication.

As I write, we are still at the height of preparation for Christmas, yet this will likely be the edition of the Catholic Herald that is in your homes on Christmas Day. As such, I’m going to look forward joyfully and reflect upon the goodness that is “already, but not yet.”

I suppose it’s appropriate to be stuck in this place of anticipation, as it does speak to our lives each and every day, and it’s made especially clear at Christmas.

Rejoice at Jesus’ coming

At Christmas we celebrate and rejoice in the reality of eternal life made possible for us by God’s coming into the world.

We celebrate that everything is now changed for humanity. We celebrate God with us, a light in the darkness, the Word made flesh, God’s Kingdom at hand.

And yet, we remain in a period of waiting and of laboring. The world is not right. We may be redeemed, with hope for forgiveness, but we still fail, and falter, and sin.

When Jesus came into the world, it meant redemption from sin and the hope of an eternity of joy, but it did not mean mankind would be unable to choose otherwise, it did not mean everything would be peachy for us at all times.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Are you a sheep or a goat?

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 marked the great Solemnity of Christ the King. The imagery of the Christ as king is used in many passages of Scripture and in the Gospels.

He’s likened to a king who threw a banquet. He’s likened to a king who sent his armies out to fight. He’s likened to a king who is putting his economic life in order and who was very severe to make sure his finances were well handled. Kings are pictured doing a lot of things in Scripture, and so many of those images refer to the Messiah, to Jesus.

Christ the King as the Judge

On this Feast of Christ the King in 2014, Christ the King has been presented as the Judge. He is separating the sheep from the goats. And, in doing that, He is showing us what it means for Him, for His Father, to be “all in all,” as it says at the end of the second reading (1 Cor 15:28).

God will be all in all. What does that mean? It means God will be everything for everyone. And that’s how we are judged, basically.

Did I live as though God was everything for me? Or, did I live as though God just took up some small corner of my life? Did I live as though He was everything? Or did I live as though He were only a marginal character in my life?

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