Experience Lent as season unto itself
Oh yes, we need a little Lent …With everything going on in complex times, when seismic shifts are occurring not [...]
A Lenten project: ‘…earning, gaining, sharing ro receiving eternal life’
We’ve finally entered the 2011 Season of Lent and the lateness of this year’s cycle brings us into overlap with [...]
New Roman Missal invites us to enter into life of Christ
On Friday Feb. 25, the Cousins Center was teeming with representatives from every part of our archdiocese. As I approached [...]
We live in interesting times
“For on whatever place one has fallen, on that place he must find support that he may rise again.” – [...]
Use communication wisely to benefit common good
For almost three weeks we viewed the struggles of a people to be free. The Egyptian people demonstrated their displeasure [...]
Celebrate the gift of Catholic schools
Happy the person who meditates on wisdom and reflects on knowledge. She will nourish him with the bread of understanding, and give him the water of learning to drink. He will lean upon her and not fall; he will trust in her and not be put to shame. She will exalt him above his fellows; and he will inherit an everlasting name. (Sir 14:20; 15:3-5a, 6b)
We celebrate the gift of Catholic schools this week, a blessing on all who are part of a great system that holds the formation and education of our youth as a prime value! To the teachers, principals, administrators, support staffs, parents and guardians, to faithful, supportive parishioners, and most especially our students – a shout of joy and affirmation at your important place in the life of our church!
Charity is at heart of church’s mission
There are so many aspects to the church in the modern world. But one aspect at the very heart of the church’s mission is charity. From its beginnings, Jesus directed his apostles: “Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them everything that I have commanded you,” (Mt 28:19-20).
The command he has given us is a new commandment. Jesus told us to love one another as I have loved you. In the end, we will be judged by God in our response to those in need for as it is stated in the Gospel, “When did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you?” (Mt 25:37-38)
Church family will go forward in faith
In my experience as a priest and a bishop, my life has been enriched by the example of the families I have encountered. I have observed them in times of joy and during times of struggle. I laughed with them and celebrated their successes. I have prayed and cried with families at the deaths of loved ones. I have watched as the loss of a job or economic hardship necessitated a move to another town or state, tearfully separating friends. I have viewed the effects of an injury or illness, forcing adjustments to the normal family routine in order to care for a loved one.
“… A hope which does not disappoint …”
For many years I have been privileged to be a member of the writing team which has contributed to this column, always under the banner headline of “Herald of Hope.”
The “heralds” are in fact many within our Catholic community of southeastern Wisconsin, certainly far more numerous than the few authors of this weekly column in our Catholic Herald over the years! Every one of us as members of Christ’s Body, the church, is a herald of hope.
Embrace the beauty, wonder of the Christmas spirit
As we approach Christmas, we are again bombarded with the usual Christmas stories. For the children there is “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” finding his niche as a directional signal, or “The Night Before Christmas,” enkindling the excitement of Old St. Nick.
For the adults there is George Bailey discovering “It’s a Wonderful Life” (“To my big brother George, the richest man in town.”) and, of course, there is the timeless favorite, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” in which Mr. Scrooge will be visited by the three spirits of Christmas – past, present and future.