Tag: bishop

On
Bishop Robert Barron

First thoughts on Amoris Laetitia

On a spring day about five years ago, when I was rector of Mundelein Seminary, Cardinal Francis George spoke to the assembled student body.

He congratulated those proudly orthodox seminarians for their devotion to the dogmatic and moral truths proposed by the Church, but he also offered some pointed pastoral advice.

He said that it is insufficient simply to drop the truth on people and then smugly walk away. Rather, he insisted, you must accompany those you have instructed, committing yourself to helping them integrate the truth that you have shared.

 

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

Lessons derived from the Resurrection

The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the be-all and the end-all of the Christian faith. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, all bishops, priests, and Christian ministers should go home and get honest jobs, and all the Christian faithful should leave their churches immediately.

As Paul himself put it: “If Jesus is not raised from the dead, our preaching is in vain and we are the most pitiable of men.” It’s no good, of course, trying to explain the Resurrection away or rationalize it as a myth, a symbol, or an inner subjective experience. None of that does justice to the novelty and sheer strangeness of the Biblical message.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

Blasting holes through the buffered self

Last week, during the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, I had the enormous privilege of sharing a breakfast with Fr. Robert Spitzer, the inter-galactically smart Jesuit, who once served as president of Gonzaga University and who now directs the Magis Center on matters of faith, reason, and science.

I had just finished Spitzer’s latest book entitled The Soul’s Upward Yearning and delighted in discussing it in some detail with him.

The ‘buffered self’

This text is, in my judgment, the best challenge to what the philosopher Charles Taylor calls the “buffered self,” that is to say, a self isolated from any sense of the transcendent.

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On
Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Why it matters what the bishop is wearing

What's That All About column by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The fourth in a series by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf about the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

We are looking into what bishops do when they celebrate the Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Since you may see reports that Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison occasionally offers these Masses, you may be wondering what that’s all about, what he’s up to.

Last week we closed with a look at how the fine elements of reverent liturgy, the beautiful vestments and so forth, are not really about the glorification of the priest or bishop. They are about the perfect spotless only Holy One, Christ the High Priest/Victim at the altar of Sacrifice.

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

The Doritos commercial and voluntarism

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the absurd reaction of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) to the lighthearted Super Bowl commercial produced to advertise Doritos.

In the 30-second clip, a pregnant mother, undergoing an ultra-sound, is annoyed by her husband who is absent-mindedly munching Doritos while their baby’s image is displayed on the screen.

But as the father moves the corn chip, the baby in the womb moves with it; and when the mother throws the bag across the room, the child reacts so keenly and purposively that he decides this is the moment to be born.

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On
Patrick Gorman, For the Catholic Herald

Rite of Election, Call to Continuing Conversion, to be held Sunday, Feb. 14

Rite of Election
A catechumen signs the Book of the Elect at the Rite of Election in 2015. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash)

WAUNAKEE — The Rite of Election of Catechumens and Call to Continuing Conversion for Candidates for Full Communion in the Catholic Church will be celebrated by the parishes of the Diocese of Madison on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 3 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee.

Parishes from throughout the diocese will send those who will celebrate the sacraments of initiation this Easter, as well as their sponsors, family, and friends. About 800 people are expected to attend, with Bishop Robert C. Morlino presiding.

‘Election’ means ‘chosen’

The word “election” is used in this liturgy to mean “chosen.”

In this liturgy, we acknowledge those who seek to be part of the Church have been chosen by God. The celebration comes from an ancient Christian practice of asking those who were to celebrate the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) to come forward at the beginning of Lent to show their intent.

The people of the Church, in turn, promise their support, guidance, and prayers. The celebration is one part of a long process that is called The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

The RCIA encompasses many facets of initiation, from the time a person first experiences the call of Christ or wishes to know about the Church, to the celebration of the sacraments of initiation and continued growth as a Christian.

It also includes adaptations for those who were baptized in another Christian denomination and seek to become members of the Catholic Church through the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison

In spite of our sinfulness, God rescues us

Dear Friends,

By the time that you read this, we’ll likely have jumped right into Lent. It’s one of those years in which the gap between the end of Christmas and the start of Lent is a bit abrupt. Nevertheless, in so many ways, the readings of this past Sunday end up being particularly fitting for a pre-Lenten exhortation — especially in this Year of Mercy!

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On
Bishop Robert Barron

The Revenant and search for higher justice

Alejandro Iñárritu’s new film The Revenant is one of the most talked about movies, and for good reason.

The opening 20 minutes, which feature a frighteningly realistic Indian attack and a horrifically vivid mauling by a grizzly bear, are absolutely compelling viewing. And the remainder of the film is so involving that this viewer at least felt physically sick as he followed the sufferings of the main character.

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