All fatherhood takes its pattern from God our Almighty Father. Through earthly, biological fatherhood, we see a reflection of the great mystery of the love that the Father has for His children; and we also see, in events like Father’s Day, the manifestation of the love and respect we are to have for our fathers, both living and deceased.

Father’s Day has always been one of those very tricky holidays for me. It is filled with great respect and admiration for the honor that is due to “fatherhood,” but it is difficult for me to get sentimental and personal about it because my father and I had no relationship to speak of at all. It was a sad situation, but not unusual in the lives of some families.

I was very fortunate, however, that I was taught early on in grade school—those great Sisters of Saint Joseph, Third Order of Saint Francis—that the Fatherhood of God surrounds all of us; His love protects us and will never abandon us. I took this quite seriously. I figured if God was God and could do anything and He loved His Son Jesus, and I was God’s adopted son through Baptism, it stood to reason that God was my Father too. I believed it then and I believe it even more now.

I was blessed to have other father figures in my life; most notable, Saint Joseph. As father and protector of the Holy Family, he became and remains a father and protector for me to this very day. God the Father chose Joseph and gave him a special part in the Incarnation. Mary was allowed to give Jesus a body; Joseph was given the gift of authority and protection over the Child. That was a gift that only God could have given because Jesus would recognize the Father’s life in Joseph and respond to it with love and obedience. Thus, God the Father blessed all marriage and family life through the love that was shared between Mary and Joseph and the gift of the Child Jesus who was given to them. Jesus learned about human family life with a real Mother and foster father who shared the authentic life of grace personally given to him by the Eternal Father in heaven.

My respect and love for fathers, and my true good wishes, prayers and blessings, are reflected in that Divine gift of Fatherhood. It is this gift which is the example to be followed by all men who are so blessed to be fathers themselves. Men must never forget the need their children have for them to be authentic, strong, good, and holy fathers in their lives. They must be present to their children. In addition, they must never forget that the greatest gift a father can give his children is to love their mother. The bond of the Holy Family continues to be a strength and a positive witness for all fathers on this blessed Father’s Day!

Remember Dad at Sunday Mass.

There are many people who may not have heard that the Bishops of this country are once again calling the Faithful to a “Fortnight for Freedom.” I am also surprised to hear from many people that this second Fortnight is reported to be a big yawn. Maybe everyone thinks that the issues regarding personal freedom and the issues surrounding the loss of First Amendment rights were all discussed, prayed about, acted upon, and resolved last year. I’m sad to say that is not the case.

While as many as 80% of the Catholic dioceses across the country participated last year, we still have not turned the corner on the issues of the HHS mandate and other social matters that are troubling to the people of faith.

The Bishops of the United States are once again calling all people forth to consider some of the issues that still require our attention and to thoughtfully reflect on what needs to be resolved.

The Fortnight for Freedom will be marked from 21 June until 4 July—a two-week period set aside to produce some unified and fresh thinking about basic elements surrounding the Constitution and other elements of government involving the free exercise of our religious liberties. Our time is filled with trivial pursuits and so many superfluous additions to our already crowded lives. This Fortnight is quickly becoming a time for us to reconsider time honored values and depth of character that has always marked the land of the free and the home of the brave. Catholics have had a major share in building this country from the ground up. We have always been proud to love God and country—without fear or reprisal. This is not a time for us to forsake either love. Once again it is time to stand up and show that we have not abandoned faith in God or faith in our country. The new religion of secularism threatens both. As in past moments of America’s history, people of faith, and Catholics in particular, were ridiculed and ostracized for their beliefs, threatened, and discriminated against. Catholics rallied and the Constitution prevailed.

This Fortnight for Freedom is calling us as patriots to do it again!

“Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in us. Our defense is in the spirit, which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism at your own doors. Familiarize yourself with the chains of bondage, and you prepare your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of others, you have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you.”

–Abraham Lincoln

Check out the information at usccb.org or at dioceseoflacrosse.com and, of course, I’ll see you at Sunday Mass!

Pope Francis, in recent talks, appears to be picking up the mantra of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, in challenging and addressing the current social evil of relativism. With its ugly twin, secularism, relativism shoves aside any sort of objective truth preferring a subjective presentation of one’s own version of what “truth” may be. It is interesting to note, even further, that this relativistic thinking extends itself into the revision of history and the fictional recreation of actual events so that a new story may be told. Usually the revised version of history excoriates the established version and unmasks villains who perpetrated crimes and social evils against generally unsuspecting and innocent victims.

At the epicenter of such thinking, we may generally find a “writing out” or a deletion of references to the Divine, or a judgment that makes the Church’s involvement in human history strangely suspect, ultimately meaningless, or often times cumbersome to human beings. Relativism makes it easier to forge a new society that sees itself as enlightened and less given to fairy tales and myths concerning deities and the institutions that promote them.

Speaking as a Catholic bishop, I am concerned how relativism and its greater manifestation in our age affects the Church of Jesus Christ as an institution. This thinking specifically affects Christ’s Faithful who, as individual believers, are exposed to a continual barrage of revised, made-up, contrived, untrue, and distorted versions of what may laughingly be called “truth.” Sadly, dear readers, the relativists and secularists are gaining valuable ground even among Catholics, who are seriously trying to “hold their own” against the gathering swells; but many Catholics are starting to “make it up as they go along.” The greater sadness in this approach is the disruption of unity and dissension among believers.

Many Catholics are seriously asking the bishops to take a stronger hand in the proclamation of authentic doctrine and the condemnation of those who oppose orthodoxy. The ravages of relativism among Catholics and the ascendency of the phenomenon of “cafeteria Catholics” among the faithful makes this an even more perplexing challenge for all of us.

I don’t think the answer is going to be found in calling names and drawing lines. I have always believed that knowing one’s Faith is the first step to living it. Several points can be made here for our consideration. First of all, faith comes through hearing. Daily reading of the Scriptures—maybe even reading out loud, if you have the time and space to do so—can bring great consolation and a deepening of faith through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, I urge you to read and study the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Part of the invitation to the Year of Faith is the celebration of the anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism. The Catechism is the definitive compendium of the essential elements necessary for belief by Catholics. It is a great gift for college graduation or for weddings. Don’t laugh—the only way to confront relativism is to promote the truth. We cannot simply sit back and tell the bishops and other Church leaders that they have to confront the current situation and do something; it is time for the Church to confront these misconceptions and distortions with the armor of the truth.

Finally, I encourage the prayer to Saint Michael, the Archangel. Saint Michael is our champion in this area. With his heavenly intercession, God’s truth, like country cream, will rise to the top.

O, yes, there is always Sunday Mass!

Every year since my Mom died when Mother’s Day rolls around, I find myself missing the opportunity to take some time to research Mother’s Day cards. It was one of the few times that I would “spend time” in a card shop and review the prospects. My Mom enjoyed the cards and really studied the messages enclosed. She saved many of them—but really treasured the ones she received from us kids that were “home-made”—misspellings and all! Moms do those things. They ponder, they remember, they treasure the events of our lives that are lived and held so closely in theirs.

Back when I was stationed in Peoria, Illinois, I received a book from a woman with whom I was doing spiritual direction. She always had good insights and offered some positive reading matter to back up her Catholic, motherly, and strong feminine thoughts on life. One day, she came in with a children’s book called: “Love You Forever.” I was quite taken by the story. My Mom was already in the loving care of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Chicago and was slipping steadily away into the cloud of Alzheimer’s disease. I bought many copies of the book (the illustrations are fantastic!) and gave them away to so many friends—mothers, mostly, but sons and daughters, too. A few weeks ago, (realizing the approach of Mother’s Day) I wanted to read it again. I know it’s here somewhere, but my bookshelves failed to yield the treasure. So, I went looking online and I found this website. Not only can you order the book, but the author, Robert Munsch, “performs” it (a little more than “reading” it, if you get my drift). Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out:http://robertmunsch.com/book/love-you-forever# I think it might bring a tear to your eye, so have a Kleenex handy.

Mothers are so special and so important. They must be treated with respect and held in the highest honor. God values motherhood so much that He chose to have a Mother Himself—the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus loves Mary so much and honors her so well as His Mother that He gave her to all of us so that she could be our Mother, too. He gave her to us when He died on the cross for us.

Mary was with the Apostles when the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost, and she was with them when the Church, in its infancy, started to be formed. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be at a Mass celebrated by one of the Apostles with the Blessed Mother in attendance? Clearly amazing!

Mary is the Mother of the Church—our Mother and the model and example of all Motherhood. God honors all women through Mary and teaches us to do so as well. Remember your mother this week. Pray for her, call her up, send her a card, take her out for coffee, or dinner. Do some kind of act of love for her. Happy Mother’s Day! I miss you, Mom.

Please join the Blessed Mother and all our Moms at Sunday Mass!

There are very few things in life that make me rise to my feet and shout out loud more than the single issue of the sacredness of human life. Over my thirty-six years of priestly ministry, I have delivered some of my most passionate homilies on the beauty and sacredness of human life. I find it personally disturbing that in the wake of the sexual revolution we are becoming less and less concerned with the value of human life. Abortion is at the forefront of the matter, but all life and its value has succumbed to human ignorance and the pursuit of transitory moments of pleasure. These instances are becoming more intense in their violence against women and their ruthlessness in actions of aggression against any and all human beings.

Thus, much of the public has been denied access to the trial of Kermit Gosnell, an abortionist who ran a “clinic” in Philadelphia. He faces 43 criminal counts, including eight counts of murder, one adult and seven newborn infants. The infants, it is alleged, were born in the midst of a procedure known as late term abortion—more commonly called partial-birth abortions. Partial-birth abortions were banned by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2003. In that law, partial-birth abortions were defined as: “An abortion in which the person performing the abortion, deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus; and performs the overt act, other than completion of delivery, that kills the partially delivered living fetus.” (18 U.S. Code 1531)

Most of us would agree that once a child is delivered from his or her mother’s womb, it is no longer a fetus, but a viable human being. Most attempts to kill those babies would be seen as horrifying and, indeed, criminal. Arguments in this trial have been trying to “split the hair” of what to call those living babies who were murdered. Let’s try “babies.” Let’s try to at least give these abortion victims the benefit of the doubt—let’s try “human beings.”

You may not have seen or even heard about this trial, because there are many people who are preventing you from hearing about it. The mainstream media has not brought this story to the prominence it deserves. Government and business leaders have not brought it forward. The abortion industry does not want to talk about this, because they know this mess undoes all of their hard work trying to tell us how they are providing “healthcare for women.”

Abortion is such an insidious evil in our midst. It has done such harm to our society, and it continues to dull our consciences. This case manifests the damage done and cries out for justice and common sense to return to our troubled lives. Pray for those affected. Support and promote the sacredness of life—it is a divine gift!

Come celebrate life at Sunday Mass in your home parish.

Today is the feast of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr. He was murdered in his cathedral while he was celebrating the Mass on 8 May 1079. His crime: reproaching King Boleslaus and excommunicating him for his bellicose and immoral actions against the poor and the oppressed. This hero and patron saint of Poland led me to further reflect on our own “Polish hero,” Fr. Joe Walijewski.

Today, 11 April, is the seventh anniversary of Fr. Joe’s death. “Joe the Pole,” as he was affectionately called, ministered to children and to the poor and oppressed people of South America, specifically in Peru and Bolivia. Fr. Joe died during Holy Week of 2006 in Peru and his tomb is on the hill overlooking the orphanage he founded, Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II, which still flourishes today.

It is exciting for us to think about the saints. As we pray for the canonization of Fr. Joe, how wonderful it is for us to consider the fact that he has only been dead for seven years. Many people in our Diocese and around the state and, indeed, around the world, have stories they tell about him and their direct encounters with him.

On 1 May, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph the Worker, the principal patron of our beloved Diocese, we will gather at our Cathedral and celebrate the Mass in honor of our Patron Saint. At that Mass, we will witness the formal convoking of the Tribunal (the officials), who will formally work at the task of assembling, evaluating, and collating the data that will be sent to Rome for the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints to consider and, hopefully, recommend to the Pope for formal declaration in the Church.

The Mass will be celebrated at 12:10 in the afternoon, and everyone in the Diocese is welcome and encouraged to attend. Even if you are not able to participate in person, I sure hope that you will take some time to pray to Saint Joseph, our Patron, for all workers and for families in these tough economic times. Please also offer a prayer that God will give Fr. Joe to us as a saint for our times. A noble man of Polish heritage, who like Saint Stanislaus, defended the poor and the orphan; a virtuous man, like Saint Joseph, who supported the integrity of the Incarnation in heroic love and care for God’s “little ones.”

The saints are all around us. They are us. While we have the time, let’s try to recognize and encourage each other to be the best person we can be.

I look forward to seeing you at Sunday Mass!

I often catch the O’Reilly Factor on TV. The anchor, who refers often to his Catholic roots, is a protagonist of some style and grace, yet not without strong and unfettered opinion. There is much to ponder given the world scene and I appreciate the delivery of commentary that sometimes dances on the edge of the insightful and the caustic without too much self-indulgence. I find that here, more often than not.

One troubling thing O’Reilly has said more than once is that there is no strong voice in America speaking a unified message of faith and morals. He specifically notes the aging of Reverend Billy Graham without an heir-apparent; I think of the Venerable Servant of God,Archbishop Fulton Sheen. No one was able to hold a candle to him (pardon the pun) in his day—not even Milton Berle! Mother Angelica does not have a wide enough audience to inspire a nation. So what has happened and where is our voice?

Quite frankly, I am sadly beginning to think that Catholics do not believe there is “one” voice. Some have become quite comfortable with a “cafeteria” style of practice and belief that has muddied our mindset to a considerable degree in recognizing, hearing, and understanding the Truth about our Faith. The cafeteria approach, while being selective and subjective, is also arrogant and dismissive. The very “judgmental” attitude that many wish to avoid is easily displayed in choices made precisely by bad judgments. The loser is, more often than not, the Faith itself. Jesus taught clearly: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Equivocations about that could become disheartening, if not downright misleading.

So much in our secular society speaks differently to today’s Catholics. It’s almost as if there is a different language, different signs and symbols. Personal sacrifice and commitment find their expression in new ways relative only to those making up the definitions. Subjective realities dictate new moralities. Objective thinking, reliance on natural law, and morality founded on virtue is disputed, debated, and denied. I believe that everyone seems to be making it up as he or she goes along.

We must remember: the Holy Spirit still guides the Church. With that guidance the Church does not mislead or deceive the Faithful. The Year of Faith, proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI, is not an empty call to private piety, but rather an announcement of the presence of an old friend: Jesus Christ. He speaks in His Church with a relevance that is born of personal association, unique love and immense passion. He suffered, died, and rose again so that a clear message could be communicated across time with its personal relevance. It is staggering Good News that Jesus entrusted to His Church—His mission for Her to guard and teach: He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the voice for Catholics today!

I just wrote a piece for The Catholic Times calling attention to the marks of the Church that we profess in the Creed each Sunday. Namely: the Church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. These marks of the Church are characteristic and unmistakable; the quintessential elements that define the Bride of Christ. “The Church is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as ‘alone holy,’ loved the Church as His Bride, giving Himself up for her so as to sanctify her; He joined her to Himself as His body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.” (Lumen Gentium 39) The Church is the “holy People of God” and her members are called “saints.” (CCC 823)

The Church calls her members to holiness according to the teaching of Jesus to “be holy as your Father in heaven is holy.” (Mt. 5:48) The Catechism teaches that charity is the soul of holiness to which all are called: “it governs, shapes, and perfects all the means of sanctification.” (Lumen Gentium 42)

The Diocese of La Crosse is embarking on one of the greatest spiritual experiences of our history in inaugurating the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of Fr. Joe Walijewski. Fr. Joe is well known to many people in and out of our Diocese for his priestly zeal for souls and personal care and concern for poor and unwanted children.

In citing the points from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and from the documents of Vatican II, it becomes clearer to see the sense of what drove Fr. Joe to his kind of holiness: it is the imitation of Jesus Christ.

By canonizing some of the faithful, that is, by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God’s grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors. Saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church’s history. Indeed, holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary zeal. (CCC 828)

In these ways, we look to see Fr. Joe become a hero for this generation and a source for good in the ongoing ministry of clergy, the financial support of the missions he established, and a blessing from God upon the work of this Diocese as we all seek to follow Christ and His glory.

Let us pray together at Sunday Mass.

Now begins the Papacy of Pope Francis I. There are, of course, so many different kinds of accolades being offered that one can hardly begin to speak about him without an exclamation point!

I was touched deeply as Pope Francis was introduced to the Church and the world and simply said with a smile: “Buona sera”- “Good Evening”—a heart-felt greeting of love to his people (almost a quarter million who had been standing in the cold and rain for hours). It was fatherly and it was magnificently sincere. He spoke to the people of the Diocese of Rome as their new bishop and led them (and us) in prayer for their bishop-emeritus, Benedict XVI. He encouraged the people of the Diocese of Rome about taking up a journey: Bishop and people.

I was moved that the Holy Father first spoke to the people of “his Diocese” before he spoke to the people of “the world.” Certainly the heart of the bishop was apparent as he spoke his first words to the City and to the World—Urbi et Orbi. Every bishop knows the deep feeling he has for the Diocese over which he is called as pastor and shepherd. His words to the Diocese of Rome, “which presides in charity over all the Churches,” was spoken from the heart of a pastor and father.

In humility, he asked the people to pray for him and his ministry—not just “tonight before you go to bed,” or “the next time you go to church”—pray now. He bowed in the silence that was heard around the world as we prayed for our new shepherd and leader. It showed a humble man, yes; but, definitely, a man ready to act in the moment.

Finally, the picture above is the first action of the new Pope as he went to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. The photo shows him praying before the image of Our Lady—Salus Populi Romani—the Protector [Health] of the People of Rome—where he laid a simple bouquet of flowers in Her honor. This is a revered custom of Popes and once again gives evidence of his love for his people locally. It further communicates, however, one of my favorite mantras to the entire Church: “the greatest gift a father can give his children, is to love their mother.” This shows the stature of the Pope named Francis.

Finally, on this first day, we come to what I consider to be one of the clearest clues as to why this Pope chose the name Francis. This is the ending of his homily to the College of Cardinals gathered for the first Papal Mass of his reign in the Sistine Chapel.

When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, and when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, Popes, but not disciples of the Lord.

I would like that all of us, after these days of grace, might have the courage – the courage – to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Cross of the Lord: to build the Church on the Blood of the Lord, which is shed on the Cross, and to profess the one glory, Christ Crucified. In this way, the Church will go forward.

My hope for all of us is that the Holy Spirit, that the prayer of Our Lady, our Mother, might grant us this grace: to walk, to build, to profess Jesus Christ Crucified. So be it.

Long live the Pope!

“The Cardinal Fathers, gathered at the Vatican for the General Congregations in view of the next Conclave, send you their devoted greetings and express their renewed gratitude for all your brilliant petrine ministry and for your example of generous pastoral care for the good of the Church and of the world.”

Thus, the Cardinals gathered in Rome, greeted the Pope-Emeritus, His Holiness Benedict XVI, in a telegram sent to him earlier this week. The message concluded:

“With their gratitude [the Cardinals] hope to represent the recognition of the entire Church for your tireless work in the vineyard of the Lord.”

The sentiments of the Christian world, in particular, certainly resonate with the message of the Cardinals to the Pope-Emeritus. Nevertheless, speculation continues to run rampant among us as to who might emerge from the white smoke.

While the whole world waits, I thought I might present some of the points of interest that connect those of us who live in Wisconsin with the activity in Rome in a personal way.

Of the eleven voting cardinals from the United States, six of them are from the Midwestern part of the country! Cardinals Di Nardo and O’Malley make the cut by being born in Ohio—rural Ohio. Cardinal Francis George, our eminent neighbor from “south of the border” was born in Chicago.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, born in St. Louis, allows us to enter into the specific Wisconsin vision of cardinal red. Cardinal Dolan was also the Archbishop of Milwaukee (where he ordained me as the first bishop he ever ordained in his episcopacy). Next we have Cardinal James Harvey, born in Milwaukee and now the Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. Basically, Cardinal Harvey has spent his entire priesthood in Rome in one job or another. He is the last Cardinal named by Pope Benedict XVI last November.

The main event for the Cardinals of Wisconsin is Cardinal Raymond Burke, a native son of our beloved Diocese, born in Richland Center and a former Bishop of this Diocese. He now serves in Rome as the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, or the “Supreme Court” of the Church.

So, it looks like there is sure a good turn-out of Cardinals in characteristic Wisconsin red and any one of them could certainly rise to the Petrine Ministry with distinction and humility. It is a wondrous thing for us to ponder as we think of these men entering the Sistine Chapel: we know some of these men personally. This election for the papacy is as personal as it gets in some ways—not only for us Americans, but for so many other people around the world who can lay claim and pride to knowing those who enter that Chapel filled with awe at the responsibility given to them by the grace of office and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray for God’s continued guidance of the Church founded by Jesus Christ and may we celebrate the mysteries of our faith in the knowledge of the Truth and the consolation of Our Lady’s touch.

O, yes, let’s join together at Sunday Mass!