MADISON — “It’s the best thing ever.”
“I love it. I can’t get enough.”
Those are just a couple of the verbally-expressed emotions from 27-year-old Tina Saviano from Madison as she is just a few weeks away from becoming a member of the Catholic Church.
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Just last month, my media ministry Word on Fire marked a milestone: 10,000,000 views on our YouTube channel.
This achievement fills me with gratitude both to God and to the many people who watched one or more of the videos I’ve produced. It also provides the occasion for me to reflect a bit on both the pitfalls and advantages of evangelizing through the new media.
When we commenced our outreach through YouTube seven years ago, we did so in the manner of an experiment. YouTube had just come into being at that time, and it largely featured crude, homemade videos of cats jumping off the roof and babies gurgling for their mother’s camcorder.
I thought we should try to invade this space with the Gospel, and so I resolved to make short video commentaries on movies, music, current affairs, cultural happenings, etc.
This week I happily relinquish most of the Editorial Page to a most distinguished writer: Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.
Cardinal George writes so eloquently about the evolution of the Catholic Church as it relates to society as a whole.
He discusses particularly what has happened in the United States in more recent years, when the Church — and its faithful members — have been forced to “swim against the tide” when the government and social pressure seek to impose their “own form of morality” on us.
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By now everyone in the world knows that Pope Francis offered a lengthy and wide-ranging interview to the editor of Civilta Cattolica, which was subsequently published in 16 Jesuit-sponsored journals from a variety of countries.
To judge by some media coverage, the Church is in the midst of a moral and doctrinal revolution, led by a pope bent on dragging the old institution into the modern world.
I might recommend that everyone read what Pope Francis actually said. For what he said is beautiful, lyrical, spirit-filled, and in its own distinctive way, revolutionary.
The first question to which the pope responded in this interview is simple: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio (his given name)?” After a substantial pause, he said, “a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.”
On the first Sunday of Lent, March 9, more than 100 people came forward saying they want to be full members of the Catholic Church.
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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,
Well it’s been seven months, but it was surely worth the wait! I was simply overjoyed in recent days to have my first moments with our Holy Father, Pope Francis. I hope to have some pictures to share with you by next week.
Simply put, I had never met Cardinal Bergoglio previously and, since his election as Bishop of Rome, I’ve had a tremendous desire to have a few moments with the man to whom my mission is so intricately tied.
I’ve spoken of it many times before, but I’ll recall here again that it is one of the key duties of the diocesan bishop to reach out and to act as a sort of glue which holds people fast to the heart of the Church and to be a sign of unity among the Body of Christ in His diocese. It is one of the key duties of the Pope to act as that glue and that sign of unity among all the bishops of the world and their people united with them.
To the editor:
We hear much about the New Evangelization. Here is why:
The Catholic Church is the largest Church in our country. The second largest denomination, although it isn’t an organized church, consists of former “fallen-away” Catholics. Ouch!
There are many challenges facing the Catholic Church today, challenges which the new pope will have to address.
What are the most important challenges? If we only go by secular media reports, the key issues would seem to be the sexual abuse scandal, ordination of women, and same-sex marriage. These are some of the so-called “hot button” issues, but are they the major challenges facing the Church?
The late Jack McBride, who used to be in charge of adult education programs in the Diocese of Madison, often reminded me that Jesus taught adults and blessed children.
When I think about Jesus’ life as recorded in the Scriptures, I realize that Jack was right. Jesus is almost always found teaching adults. As we know, Jesus often used parables to help get his message across in words his audience could understand in that time and place.
I’m sure Jack realized that we do need to educate our children. However, he felt that the Catholic Church should do much more to educate adults on matters of the faith.
One of America’s greatest blessings is the Declaration of Independence. Its preamble reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
For years, America failed to live up to some of the noble principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence. One of these failures was tolerating legalized slavery. In 1865 the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery as a legal institution. But after slavery was abolished, many former slaves were denied some of their God-given rights in other ways.
For years women were also denied the right to vote. In August of 1920, 144 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.
