Tag: Resurrection

On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Divine Mercy sums up the story of Lent, Easter

Under the Gospel Book by Bishop Robert C. Morlino
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.

This past Sunday was a wonderful celebration in so many ways. And the Gospel from Sunday — the second Sunday of Easter — was simply spectacular.

In John 20:19-31 we see Jesus appearing to the Apostles in His risen body and using the greeting, “Peace be with you.” The peace Jesus means, of course, is the peace of heaven — that “Shalom,” that total well being, which is part of heavenly joy and heavenly rest. The peace that Jesus means is the peace of heaven itself.

Jesus died so that sins may be forgiven

And what does Jesus say after that? “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” An essential part of the heavenly peace and joy, and the whole point of Jesus’ death and resurrection, is the forgiveness of sins! Jesus’ body was broken and His blood was poured out so that sins might be forgiven, so that there might be mercy. Essential to the heavenly “Shalom,” contained in Jesus’ greeting, is that His mercy is poured out upon us, that sins are forgiven.

 

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On
Sr. Margie Lavonis

Redemptive suffering is part of being a Christian

Cutting Edge by Sr. Margie Lavonis

It is not easy to block out the multiple cries of pain and suffering that permeate the world. It is almost deafening.

All one has to do is turn on the radio, read the newspaper, watch television, or go online. We are bombarded with news of pain and suffering, almost to the saturation point. I think of the people in Libya, Haiti, Japan, and others affected by war and natural disasters. It gives me an overwhelming feeling.

Good people suffer

A couple of years ago I attended several lectures on the martyrs of El Salvador who were killed during a civil war that took place there in the 1970’s and ’80s. Archbishop Oscar Romero, four women missionaries, and several Jesuits — only to name a few of hundreds of people — were brutally murdered because they spoke out against the intense suffering of the Salvadoran people and a system of government that perpetuated it.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

State needs ‘Resurrection healing’

Under the Gospel Book by Bishop Robert C. Morlino
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,

On the Fourth Sunday of Lent, we celebrated the theme “Laetare,” which expresses our anticipation of Easter joy, a joy which strengthens us to enter into the depth of each mystery of Holy Week, culminating in the great celebration of the Resurrection itself.

In anticipation of Easter, I find it necessary in this column to reflect on one of the ancient Antiphons from the Eastern Church liturgy: “Let us call even those who hate us our sisters and our brothers, for Christ the Almighty is risen.”

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On
Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer

This Lent: Helping hope live in the missions

Propagation of Faith by Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer

“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” is the familiar cry of Jesus on the cross.

In our own lives, we may also sometimes feel abandoned, with hope seeming to disappear. As we cope with the serious illness of someone close to us. As we face economic challenges, perhaps even the loss of our job. In the gray loneliness that follows the death of a beloved wife or husband.

God does not abandon us

And yet, in the midst of our darkness, we remember that God did not abandon His beloved Son and the suffering of Good Friday transformed into the hope of our Lord’s Resurrection. God does not abandon us.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

What the future really means

Under the Gospel Book by Bishop Robert C. Morlino
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 wonderful to be back in Wisconsin, though I am very grateful to have had a bit of time for vacation — where the weather was a bit different from our weather here and now. Nevertheless, it is good to be home!

I’d like to bring up here a very interesting phrase that has come to the fore in recent weeks in our national life.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Survival: a victory truly worth celebrating

Under the Gospel Book by Bishop Robert C. Morlino
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,

Last Friday evening I was privileged to celebrate the Eucharist for the International Retrouvaille gathering here in Madison. It is always an honor to welcome others to our diocese, particularly when the community gathered has an international flavor.

Many of you know that Retrouvaille is an excellent movement in the Catholic Church which calls for husbands and wives whose marriage is, to some degree, in trouble, to the kind of conversion-of-heart that enables them to rediscover the sacramental grace that they receive for the first time on their wedding day and that they are called to renew in the Lord every blessed day. The members of Retrouvaille are very seasoned people as husbands and wives, though not necessarily seasoned in the sense of “older,” and they are very strong in their faith. It is always an energizing experience to be among them.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Survival: a victory truly worth celebrating

Under the Gospel Book by Bishop Robert C. Morlino
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,

Last Friday evening I was privileged to celebrate the Eucharist for the International Retrouvaille gathering here in Madison. It is always an honor to welcome others to our diocese, particularly when the community gathered has an international flavor.

Many of you know that Retrouvaille is an excellent movement in the Catholic Church which calls for husbands and wives whose marriage is, to some degree, in trouble, to the kind of conversion-of-heart that enables them to rediscover the sacramental grace that they receive for the first time on their wedding day and that they are called to renew in the Lord every blessed day. The members of Retrouvaille are very seasoned people as husbands and wives, though not necessarily seasoned in the sense of “older,” and they are very strong in their faith. It is always an energizing experience to be among them.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Finding hope, healing in the Resurrection
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.

On behalf of all the priests of the Diocese of Madison, and behalf of all my staff, I want to promise our sincere and continued Easter prayers, in this Resurrection season. Each one of you has our prayers for health, safety, and above all, deeper union with Christ. I beg you, too, to offer your Easter prayers for us, because each of us and our Church certainly always stand in need of prayer. I wanted to share with you here a few of the thoughts I offered at the Easter Vigil this year.

We celebrated Easter Sunday this year on April 4th — that day on which Christ was raised from the dead, the day which changed history forever. In some ways I had hoped to see some large signs and advertisements on Easter Sunday about how the Resurrection of Jesus Christ had happened and how we celebrated our new life on April 4. Instead, all the signs told me that April 3 was the launch of iPad! That tells me — and it should tell you — something significant about the mission that Jesus Christ places in our hands this Easter and everyday.

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On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Reflecting the joy of the greatest victory
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.

I want to wish you all a very blessed Holy Triduum and a very happy Easter. May it be a joyful and prayerful time for you and your family, and may it provide a powerful experience with our Lord Jesus, risen from the dead.

We are called, each and every day, to invite people to meet Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. In a very real way, this is the mission of my episcopacy here — it is the stated mission of my staff, and, by extension, it is truly the mission of each of us here in the 11 counties of south-central Wisconsin.

In order, credibly, to invite our neighbors to meet Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, we have to have met Him. So these days of Holy Week and Easter should be a very special time for each of us, when we intensify that meeting which we are called to have with the risen Christ. The proper celebration of Holy Week and Easter has everything to do with the mission to which each of us, by nature of our Baptism, is called.

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