Tag: priests

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Encouragement key for new priests

We rejoice in the ordination of three new priests for the Diocese of Madison: Frs. Jared Holzhuter, Andrew Showers, and Luke Syse.

While we thank God for the gift of their priesthood, some of us can also take a little credit for their ordination.

Importance of encouragement

Why is that? According to the annual survey of this year’s ordination class, 82 percent of the men ordained to the priesthood were encouraged by four people in their lives, including parish priests, friends, or other parishioners.

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Chris Lee

Diocese to coordinate efforts to evangelize Hispanic population

MADISON — Recently a group of priests involved in Hispanic Ministry in the Diocese of Madison met to begin to plan for a diocesan-wide effort to welcome and minister to Hispanic Catholics living in the diocese.

The priests are hoping to involve Hispanic parishioners following a grass-roots, consultative format that has been initiated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called Encuentro. Encuentro is a national effort on behalf of the Catholic Church in the United States to respond to the needs of Hispanic Catholics and to strengthen the ways in which Hispanics respond to the call to the New Evangelization as missionary disciples serving the entire Church.

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Kevin Wondrash

Priests to gather for annual Presbyteral Assembly

WISCONSIN DELLS — Priests of the Diocese of Madison will be gathering for their annual Presbyteral Assembly from Sunday evening, Sept. 18, to Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

The assembly is an opportunity for prayer and fellowship among the priests of the diocese, as well as education and reflection.

In this Year of Mercy, there will be two keynote presentations by Vinny Flynn, who is known by many as the man who sings the Divine Mercy Chaplet on EWTN.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Proclaiming the truth about the Ascension

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,

Why did Christ ascend to heaven? Wouldn’t it have been nice if He had just stayed here on earth and appeared regularly for the rest of history? Wouldn’t it be nice if every so often we could go to a certain place and He would appear? Wouldn’t it be nice if the whole world simply knew the truth and would not have to seek after faith, since they would have regular audiences with Christ, our God? Wouldn’t it be nice!

What was so important that Christ, with His Father and the Holy Spirit, decided not to do it that way? What could be so important? Two things:

Christ is Eternal High Priest

First of all, the Eternal High Priesthood of Christ had to be definitively accomplished, completed, and revealed. And that Eternal High Priesthood was definitively completed and revealed only when Jesus ascended and took His place at the Father’s right hand.

It says in the Hebrew Scriptures, the one who takes his place at the Father’s right hand is, in fact, the Eternal High Priest. “The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand while I make your enemies your footstool . . . You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek (Psalms 110: 1, 4)’.”

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Fr. Greg Ihm

Who will fill these shoes?

Fr. Greg Ihm

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

There is a story that comes out of the Archdiocese of Chicago that asks a profound question. It is a story of a monsignor.

At his last weekend before retirement, he placed his shoes at the foot of the altar and after a long pause looked out and asked: “Who is going to fill these shoes now?”

This is a question that has been placed before us as a diocese as we have lost both Msgr. Monte Robinson and Fr. Larry Bowens within a week of each other.

In the past three years, we have also lost Fr. John Auby, Fr. Michael Richel, and Msgr. Felix Oehrlein, who were pastors at the time of their death.

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Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Holy Name ‘History Lounge’ seeks memories

marc ott
Marc Ott, lead architect for Gorman & Company, displays some of the items that will be part of the History Lounge in Holy Name Heights, the former Holy Name Seminary in Madison (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash).

MADISON — “We really want to tell the entire story of what it was like to leave home and come to a seminary school and live every day with hundreds of other young men.”

In addition to being the lead architect on the project to repurpose the Bishop O’Connor Center (BOC) in Madison — the former Holy Name Seminary — Marc Ott from Gorman & Company has taken on a sentimental role.

Ott, member of St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison, along with his wife and children who attend school there, is heading up the efforts to make part of the Holy Name Heights building a museum.

The so-called “History Lounge,” along with other parts of the building, will tell the stories of more than three decades of students who learned and lived within its walls.

The project has sentimental meaning for Ott who is a 1992 graduate of New Glarus High School and used to compete at Holy Name in football and wrestling.

Ott said it’s a “very special connection” and a “lot of fun” to work on the project there.

Looking back and looking ahead

Holy Name opened in 1963 and closed in 1995. The building was then renovated and re-opened in 1998 as the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Pastoral Center.

Since then, it has been serving as the home of diocesan offices and other organizations such as Catholic Charities, the Catholic Herald, Relevant Radio, and Catholic Mutual Group.

Within the last few years, studies were done to determine how to make better use of the building.

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Dale Lawinger

Priests should preach about sin, Confession

To the editor:

As we enter into this extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, it is good to see the extra times set aside by our priests for the Sacrament of Confession. I am concerned that most priests will have a lot of reading time or time to visit with Our Lord as they wait for people to come to this sacrament of mercy.

We must not judge another person, but our priests need to teach from the pulpit what sin is. Today’s Church has forgotten to lead people, to be a teacher to us, more on dogma on the faith and not just love your neighbor.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

There are many reasons to thank God

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,

Thanksgiving is at the heart of what we do and who we are as a faithful Catholic people.

And so, while there is a great deal to be terribly concerned about in our world, in our nation, and in our own part of the country, there is also a great deal for which we each can offer our thanks to God — which is the origin and the reason for the holiday that is upon us.

On a personal level, I have a great deal for which to be thankful.

In terms of my friends and those with whom I am blessed to serve, I am just that — terribly blessed. Thanks be to God, it’s been another year of good health, and for that too, I cannot fail to be thankful.

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