Tag: Diocese of Madison

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Fr. David Carrano

Jesus the Good Shepherd is the model for all priests

Fr. David Carrano

Following is the homily given at Fr. Joseph Baker’s First Mass of Thanksgiving on June 25, 2016, at Holy Redeemer Church in Madison by Fr. David Carrano, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Reedsburg.

Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Readings: Dt 10:12-22 and Jn 10:11-18

“I came that they might have life, and have it in abundance.”

Reverend Fathers, Father Joe’s parents Mark and Kay, Fr. Joe’s family, friends, and faithful of the Diocese of Madison, it is a great joy to be here. It is truly life-giving to be present as Father Joe Baker offers his first Mass in Thanksgiving to God.

Though persevering through many years of seminary studies is a great accomplishment, we are not here to celebrate the achievement of Father Joe. Moses told the people today: “God is your praise . . . He who has done for you those great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.”

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Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Love Begins Here’s ‘biggest summer yet’

love begins here
Love Begins Here missionaries help to sort items at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Monroe during a week spent in the area in a previous year (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash)

MADISON — It’s almost time for another summer of hundreds of teens doing small things with great love.

This summer marks the eighth of its kind for Love Begins Here (LBH) — an apostolate of the Diocese of Madison Office of Evangelization and Catechesis.

It provides youth with an opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ in a life-changing way through weeklong, local mission trips where they live in community and continue God’s work on earth.

This year at LBH

On June 12, the first group of a total of 600 LBH teens over the course of the summer will make their way to parish number one – Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Beloit.

It could be a milestone week for LBH, as the program is nearing its 50,000 hours of service to the communities in the diocese.

Leading the teens will be a Core Team of 12, the largest ever for the program — some of whom were LBH teen missionaries themselves in years past.

LBH Mission Director Lindsay Becher calls it “a delight to see that number grow and to watch what they can give back to the missionaries.”

Becher added there is “something nostalgic about having them with us . . . It’s fun to hear the stories that they remember from the earlier days” when the program was smaller and just beginning.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

The Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit

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.

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Jane Lepeska Grinde, For the Catholic Herald

Madison Diocesan Council of Catholic Women convention

BERLIN — With the theme, “Women on Fire for the Lord,” keynote speaker Marianne Skrobiak will challenge women “to witness the power of God in our lives” at the 62nd annual convention of the Madison Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (MDCCW) Tuesday and Wednesday, June 7 and 8, at All Saints Church here.

MDCCW President Rosa Ropers, Waunakee, invites women “to come together to celebrate, learn, and pray so we can become women who are willing to speak up for the Lord with enthusiasm and dedication.”

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Chris Lee

Appointments (May 7-8, 2016)

Msgr. James Bartylla, Vicar General, announces the following priest appointments made by Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, effective Saturday, July 9, 2016, unless otherwise specifically stated, and announced at weekend Masses of Saturday and Sunday, May 7 and May 8, 2016.

• Rev. Msgr. Terrence Connors, resignation from pastor, St. Albert the Great Parish, Sun Prairie, in accordance with canon 538 §1, to pastor emeritus.

• Rev. Fr. Sanctus Ibe, resignation from pastor, St. Patrick Parish, Janesville, in accordance with canon 538 §1.

• Rev. Fr. Alex Navarro Saenz, SJS, to parochial vicar, St. Mary Parish, Platteville, St. Augustine Parish, Platteville, Queen of All Saints Parish, Fennimore, per canon 545, from parochial vicar, Divine Mercy Parish, Sauk City, Holy Cross Parish, Mazomanie, and St. Norbert Parish, Roxbury, effective July 30, 2016.

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Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Christian culture is collapsing, warns Dr. Ralph Martin

ralph martin
Dr. Ralph Martin gives a talk on “Mercy and Mission: Living as a Catholic in Challenging Times” on April 20 at the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Center in Madison — part of the semi-annual St. Thérèse of Lisieux Lecture Series. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash)

MADISON — “Seventeen hundred years of Christian culture is collapsing before our eyes,” Dr. Ralph Martin warned in his talk, “Mercy and Mission: Living as a Catholic in Challenging Times.”

Dr. Martin was the guest speaker for the semi-annual St. Thérèse of Lisieux Lecture at the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Center in Madison on April 20.

He is president of Renewal Ministries and an associate professor of theology and director of Graduate Programs in the New Evangelization at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit.

He is the author of a number of books, the most recent of which are The Urgency of the New Evangelization: Answering the Call; The Fulfillment of All Desire: A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints; and ed? What Vatican II Actually Teaches Will Many Be Saved? What Vatican II Actually Teaches and Its Implications for the New Evangelization.

Living with challenges

“We’re living in something like a big apostasy, whether it’s the [Great] apostasy or not, I don’t know,” he added. He cited the decreasing numbers in Mass attendance, vocations to the priesthood and Religious Life, and Baptisms and other sacramental practices.

The “Great Apostasy” Dr. Martin referenced is one of the events St. Paul said has to happen before Christ comes again — a “a turning away of the faith on the part of those who once had faith.”

Another event is a time of unrestrained evil and lawlessness.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Madison Diocesan Choir presents Spring Concert

MADISON — “Built on a Rock” is the theme of the Madison Diocesan Choir’s Spring Concert to be presented on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m. in the chapel of the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Center, 702 S. High Point Rd.

Choir Director Dr. Patrick Gorman said the theme points to Christ as our rock and the cornerstone of our faith as we look forward to our heavenly home. “We’ve taken the theme, ‘Built on a Rock,’ and selected Scripture readings and songs based on the theme,” he said.

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