To the editor:
As we deal with the horrors of the shootings over this past weekend, the result of which will certainly be the demand to rid ourselves of firearms, I would like to focus on the real truth, which is, the prince of this world is Satan (Job 1:7, 1 Peter 5:8, Rev 12:9). We are dealing with the agents of Satan and the people under his influence. He will not be restrained until Jesus returns (Rev 19:11-20:3).
Bishop Robert C. Morlino has asked that people in the Diocese of Madison pray for the triumph of good in our world and the overcoming of evil by praying the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel at all Sunday and Solemnity Masses in our diocese.
In doing some research (see www.catholic.org), I learned that Saint Michael the Archangel is the leader of all angels and the army of God. He has four main responsibilities, according to Scripture and tradition:
• To combat Satan.
• To escort the faithful to heaven at their hour of death.
• To be a champion of all Christians and the Church itself.
• To call men from life on Earth to their heavenly judgment.
Bishop Robert C. Morlino has asked that people in the Diocese of Madison pray for the triumph of good in our world and the overcoming of evil by praying the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel at all Sunday and Solemnity Masses in our diocese.
In doing some research (see www.catholic.org), I learned that Saint Michael the Archangel is the leader of all angels and the army of God. He has four main responsibilities, according to Scripture and tradition:
• To combat Satan.
• To escort the faithful to heaven at their hour of death.
• To be a champion of all Christians and the Church itself.
• To call men from life on Earth to their heavenly judgment.
To the editor:
Thank you God that we still have people here on earth who have a conscience and won’t sign this form (reference to Little Sisters of the Poor article on their refusal to sign the Health and Human Services’ Contraception Mandate, February 4 Catholic Herald).
Why have Catholics not signed a petition to abolish this mandate? Why is this the first I have heard of this? Why is it kept from us to see?
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| Patrick Gorman |
Lent is a season of preparation and recollection of our Baptism. This is the fourth in a series of several articles reflecting upon the Sacrament of Baptism.
Imagine yourself in darkness with only a few candles providing light. You are standing in a secret location in the middle of the night, shivering from the cold and damp.
You have been “apprenticing” as a Christian for some time and at last you are about to join this small sect. You have no idea what will happen next and you don’t understand some of the things that already have been done.
Suddenly, your companion (godparent) turns you around, you are told to reach out and imagine standing face-to-face with the devil. Finally a booming voice from out of the darkness asks, “Do you renounce Satan?”
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In the sixth chapter of St. Mark’s Gospel, we find the account of Jesus sending out the Twelve, two by two, on mission.
The first thing he gave them, Mark tells us, was “authority over unclean spirits.” And the first pastoral act that they performed was to “drive out many demons.”
When I was coming of age in the ’60s and ’70s, it was common, even in seminaries, to dismiss such talk as primitive superstition — or perhaps to modernize it and make it a literary device using symbolic language evocative of the struggle with evil in the abstract.
To the editor:
To learn about Pope Francis’ extraordinary interview with the Jesuit magazine America, nobody needs to rely on reports from media outlets, secular or Catholic. The full interview can be found easily at America’s web site, and it rewards close reading by anyone interested in the pope’s view of the Church, and where he might lead it.
There is much to reflect on in the interview. Particularly striking are the pope’s harsh words for those who bring a spirit of pride and certainty to their faith and to their dealings with fellow Catholics:
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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. |
“Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous: The Prince of Life, who died, reigns immortal.”
“Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!”
(Easter Sequence – Roman Missal, 1964 translation).
I choose those two lines to focus upon in this Easter Season, because they are exactly reflective of the themes that our Holy Father, Pope Francis struck during many of the early days of Easter. He has asked the question and raised the issue from Scripture, “why do you seek the living among the dead (Lk 24:5)?”
“Death and life have contended,” and life won out, so, the Holy Father asks, echoing the message of the angel, “why do you seek the living among the dead?”
A second point that the Holy Father has focused upon is reassuring us, once again, that no one with a good and open heart is outside the bounds of the mercy of Jesus Christ, won by His death on the Cross, and confirmed by His Resurrection.
And so, we’ve got two words, or groups of words: “death and life,” and “mercy,” on which we should meditate in this Easter season.
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Christ died that there might be mercy. Let’s calmly look at our world today, and let’s look around for mercy.
To the editor:
Satan sometimes speaks to man by the misapplication of Scripture. We saw this happen when President Obama applied the Golden Rule to support his position on gay marriage.
Christ showed us the way to respond is to quote Scripture correctly (Luke 4). For God’s view on gay activity refer to Deuteronomy 22:5, Leviticus 18:22, 20:13. If we are to apply the Golden Rule to the sin of homosexuality, then what about bestiality, cannibalism, and pedophilia? (Leviticus 18:23, 20:15-16). I hope all would say, “ NO.”
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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. |
Each year we are invited to reflect on the whole of our Lenten journey in the context of Jesus’ temptations in the desert. That’s a model, if you will, a paradigm, for what is supposed to happen during Lent. And, I am happy to say that I discovered again this year that, substantially, my reflections on this Gospel passage are in line with those of our Holy Father. I know that when I’m in communion with the Holy Father, by God’s grace and for the good of the diocese, I’m right on target.
