At the very heart of the Christian faith is the conviction that Jesus Christ died to redeem us from sin and death, to restore us to right relationship with the Father, and to open the gates of eternal life to His faithful people.
Tag: gospel
A full picture of the Good News
During Lent, I am reading one chapter of Scripture every day, starting with John’s Gospel. Reading one of the Gospels sequentially gives one a full picture of the Good News, the whole story of Jesus Christ, each with a different perspective.
Jesus: History and fact
Luke’s Gospel contextualizes Jesus’ birth in its historical moment, mentioning in Chapter 2 that Caesar Augustus initiated the census which brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and that Quirinius was governor of Syria.
What would Jesus do (or say)?
Catholics have found some new things to argue over in the past few weeks.
If you had five minutes to speak about your love of Christ, what would you say about your belief?
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The kerygma also reminds us of other key Scriptural figures — Peter standing up in the streets of Jerusalem on the feast of Pentecost to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus for the first time; Paul preaching the meaning of faith in Jesus as Lord and Messiah, and his letters as thoughtfully theological follow-ups to the kerygma.
Proclaiming the Gospel
The task of every vocation in the Church, from those in Holy Orders to the Religious to the lay faithful, is to proclaim the Gospel. This mission is the fundamental purpose of the Body of Christ.
Advent is a significant moment for us to go back to the basics of our faith. Who is Jesus for us? How have we experienced him? How do I grow in my relationship with the Lord? How do I better proclaim the love, mercy, and forgiveness that I have experienced flowing from his merciful heart?
God is good . . . all the time . . . at Totus Tuus
JANESVILLE — It’s never a dull moment when Totus Tuus comes to your parish.
For the fourth summer in a row, the Diocese of Madison is presenting the summer Catholic youth program dedicated to sharing the Gospel and promoting the Catholic faith through evangelization, catechesis, Christian witness, and Eucharistic worship.
Two teams of four college-aged leaders each are travelling to a different parish, over a six-week period, to lead programs for grade school-aged and junior high-aged children.
Parish mission features Jon Leonetti
MONONA — Immaculate […]
Enter Christmas season with joy, patience, and love
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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,
I greet you all, and hope and pray that your times of preparation for Christmas have been filled with blessings.
The Church continues to challenge us — a challenge given by our Lord, Himself — to grow and to change as we prepare once again to renew our welcoming of the Lord into our lives.
In the Gospel of this past Sunday we hear Jesus say, “. . . the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed . . . and blessed is the one who takes no offense at me (MT 11:5-6)!”
Dipped in the Holy Spirit and set on fire
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Revealing one of the most significant themes in Catholic theology, namely, the play between nature and grace, St. Luke tells us that people came to John the Baptist, asking what they should do to reform their lives. John responds with good and very pointed moral advice.
To the tax collectors he says, “Don’t take more money than you ought” and to the soldiers he urges, “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone; be content with your pay.”
In so saying, he was addressing very common practices of that time and place. Tax collectors regularly demanded more money than was just and skimmed the surplus for themselves — which helps to explain why they were so unpopular. And soldiers — young men with weapons and too much time on their hands — predictably acted as bully-boys, extorting money through threats of violence.
Moving from ‘just war’ to ‘just peace’ strategy
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For the first 300 years of Christianity, followers of the nonviolent Jesus — imitating his example — practiced total nonviolence.
But after Christianity was legalized and later made the official religion of the Roman Empire, Christians began fighting for the empire. And sadly, Christians have been fighting for empires ever since.
The “just war” theory was developed to offer criteria — like protecting civilians from attack — that had to be met before war could be theoretically morally justified and continued. Most unfortunately, this led to the Catholic Church’s abandonment of total Christ-like nonviolence.