Last month I had the privilege of traveling with priests from around the country who had been part of my [...]

Looking back over the past half century, it hardly seems possible that I have been privileged to serve for 50 years as a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee! Undoubtedly, like couples who celebrate five decades of marriage or individuals who have been employed for great periods of time at the same company, we are amazed and wonder where the time has gone? Good days and more challenging ones … where have they gone?

In December of 1959 it was a very different world from what we now know and take for granted. The Cold War sharply separated the democratic West from the communists of the Eastern European Bloc, each regarding the other with profound suspicion and mutual distrust. Europe was being rebuilt after the Second World War, and air travel was just beginning to become common. Space travel was a dream mostly relegated to comic books and science fiction. 

Because so many of the Christmas readings from Scripture speak of the imminent arrival of a great Light, the season of Advent has assumed a kind of darkness, perhaps similar to the dark void before creation. That distinctive notion of darkness might also be experienced at night before the dawn or in the thunderous heart of a severe storm before the breaking out of the sun. The angelic chorus of Bethlehem seems to assume that the birth of the Christ occurred at night and our Midnight Masses reinforce that bit of Catholic piety. Christmas carols invariably describe the “O Holy Night,” and their carolers usually go forth after sunset.

In the weeks of Advent prior to Christmas we are encouraged to watch and wait. The prescribed color of vestments is a certain hue of serum purple, dark yet not harshly penitential (broken only on the third Sunday of Advent by that awful color of off-rose which always makes me feel like a bottle of Pepto-Bismol).

According to the recent 2009 edition of the Official Catholic Directory there are some 1,484 sisters living and working in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Just a few years ago the number was closer to 2,500. They come from various ancient and proven traditions of Catholic spirituality: Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite and a wonderful variety of evangelical traditions of solid Christian existence. Over the centuries there have been countless forms of religious life and each has brought its own blessing to the life of the church. Each has given its own distinctive witness to the larger world.

We know from history that these women have devoted their lives to a great variety of ministries on behalf of the needy. As teachers they staffed schools and religious education programs beyond count. As nurses and health care specialists they provided care for the sick and infirm at all levels of need. These sisters have been involved in works of justice and peace in virtually all areas of Christian service.

By definition, religious life begins with God’s grace encountering deep human needs and hopes. Whether through lives of contemplative prayer or apostolic ministry these heroic women have embodied the Gospel of Christ and reached out in service. Again and again they generously rolled up their sleeves, stepped into the trenches and poured out their lives in the name of Christ. Seldom if ever justly recompensed over the years, these women of the church have been faithful pillars of strength and courage.

For many years I have initiated the ritual of installing a new pastor by noting that “the new arrival of [...]

Last month the members of our national Lutheran/Catholic Dia-logue spent two days in intense conversation regarding the teaching of our [...]

One of the great jewels of American church history is the Congregation of Saint Paul, founded in New York in [...]

On three occasions last month I was confronted by some very moving accounts of the needs of our elder relatives, friends and neighbors.

First, there was a special blessing for a new garden designed for elderly immigrants, many of them Asian, who still struggle with English after their children have grown and moved out on their own.

The recurring grief over the loss of their native land at a time of national turmoil and war, and the distance from their original Vietnamese culture and language has often increased a sense of isolation. They no longer have the respect and reverence given to elders in the country of their birth, and so they live in sadness. A garden was planned and planted especially for them by our Catholic Charities at the Elder Respite Care site at 60th and Lloyd streets in Milwaukee, and several of us were invited to be part of its blessing.

A few weeks ago I happened to be caught in afternoon Milwaukee expressway traffic. It was one of those beautiful [...]

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit one of the smaller, rural parishes for Sunday Mass. It [...]