Tag: column

On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

God’s unfailing mercy and our response

Dear Friends,

Last week I was blessed to be in Rome for the ordination for two of our men (Scott Emerson and Gabriel López-Betanzos) to the Order of Deacon in St. Peter’s Basilica. It was a wonderful event, and I was so pleased to experience it, with so many faithful from our parishes and some brother priests.

I know you’ll all join me in prayer for our two new deacons and the three we saw ordained this spring (Deacons Chahm Gahng, Christopher Gernetzke, and Tafadzwa Kushamba), as they make their way to priestly ordination this coming June 26!

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

All time belongs to Him

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,

It is always strange to prepare a column for this issue of the Catholic Herald.

As I write, it is Monday and we’ve just entered into Holy Week. When this issue arrives at your homes, it will most likely be Holy Thursday, and yet this will also serve as the “Easter issue.”

We’ve just experienced Palm Sunday, when we rejoiced and sang “Hosanna!” as Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem.

So should I reflect upon those moments of worldly glory? Should I rejoice with all the gusto of Easter, knowing that you may read this in the glow of those days? Or, should I consider the darkness of Christ’s passion and death, bearing in mind that you may read this column on Holy Thursday or Good Friday?

Of course it wouldn’t be the end of the world to do any of this, and the point is not really the tension of writing this column.

We live in a world of tension

I reflect upon it though, because it’s actually the tension in which we live day-in and day-out.

For us, Christ’s life, His passion, His death, and His raising to new life all are present at once.

 

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Being ‘with the Lord’

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,

“With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption (Ps 130:7).” We were reminded in the Responsorial Psalm of this past Sunday. And these are precisely the thoughts to which we should turn our minds and hearts as we come upon Holy Week, Easter, and the celebration of His Divine Mercy.

I would like to take a look briefly at the three major ideas in the above verse, “With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.”

What does it mean to be ‘with the Lord’?

“With the Lord . . .” What does it mean to be with the Lord?

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On
Tony Magliano

Thirsting for clean water

We turn on our faucets and out comes water — clean, refreshing, plentiful, life-sustaining water. But we rarely give it a thought.

We just tend to take for granted that it will always be there. We even forget to thank God — the well-spring of life.

Lack of access to clean water

But for 768 million fellow human beings, clean plentiful water is a distant dream, according to the United Nations. For them, the water they drink, cook with, and bath in, is polluted and often disease-ridden, and must be carried long distances in many cases.

According to figures released by the United Nations Children‘s Fund in 2013, lack of access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene is a leading cause of death from diarrhea in children under five, amounting to approximately 1,400 children dying each day.

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On
Audrey Mettel Fixmer

Grand Mom is still ‘plugging away’

Editor’s note: We are pleased to welcome back our popular “Grand Mom” columnist, Audrey Mettel Fixmer. We published her last column in November of 2012. This week she explains some of the challenges she has faced in the past 14 months. We hope that Audrey will continue to share her wisdom with us as often as possible. God bless you, Audrey!

Our wonderful editor, Mary Uhler, phoned me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that so many of my faithful readers inquired about me that she felt obliged to offer an excuse for my absence.

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On
Mary C. Uhler

Peace on earth: It’s possible if we see each other as brothers and sisters

Although we all seem to long for peace on earth and in our own lives, peace seems to be an elusive commodity. Is peace on earth really possible?

Some would say we may have to wait until our earthly life is over to experience real peace. However, Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” He has sent his apostles and all of his disciples — including us — to establish peace on earth.

Treating each other as sisters and brothers

But how do we achieve that peace? In his message for the World Day of Peace, observed on January 1, Pope Francis says that peace will happen if we treat each other as sisters and brothers, remembering that God is the father of all.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Let the joy of the Lord be our strength

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,

In these last days of Advent, before our joy-filled celebration of Christ’s Incarnation and the Christmas Season, we are offered a taste of that joy (during this penitential season) on Gaudete Sunday.

In the book of Nehemiah, but also in the book of Chronicles, there is a prayer which goes simply: “Let the joy of the Lord be our strength” (Neh 8:10).

As a matter of fact, in many of the translations of the Mass (in both Spanish and Italian, for instance) that phrase is inserted at the time of the final dismissal. “The Mass is ended, let the joy of the Lord be our strength, and let us go in peace.”

Before the new English translation came out, I myself was known to use that dismissal. Blessed Pope John Paul II never left it out when he was celebrating Mass privately. “Let the joy of the Lord be our strength, and let us go in peace” — that is the perfect attitude with which we should leave Mass.

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