The beautiful words of Psalm 85 verse 10 and following convey great sentiment and profound meaning for today’s world stunned as it is with headlines of sadness and speculation for the future. The simplicity of the psalm reads: “Kindness and truth have met; justice and peace have kissed.” From a spiritual vantage point there is little irony wasted on supreme courts and Supreme Justice.

I don’t know if it matters or not, but up until just a few days ago, the Supreme Court Justices numbered nine: the count was six Catholics and three Jews. Amazingly enough that is a rather significant grouping of people of faith!

On Saturday, that count changed significantly, not only from the numeric vantage point of men or women or religious denomination—Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a prominent Justice, a man and a Catholic, has died. His death, at this time, is historic and, as we shall see, it is an event that will have great significance for our country.

The fact that we are embroiled, once again, in a campaign that will result in the election of a new President for our beloved country, the vacancy of a seat on the Supreme Court will create a new sense of urgency for civic awareness and Constitutional correctness. Scalia’s death will demand an awakening on the part of many Americans who are only now trying to come to a conscious and genuine decision about whom, in fact, should assume the highest position in the Executive Branch of our government. Presidential appointments to the Supreme Court are one of the most important and basic components of our system of government.

Our Constitutional form of government continues to liberate minds and hearts to pursue the common good for all men and women who look to the United States of America as the light of liberty and justice. The Supreme Court, in spite of some of its more flamboyant decisions in recent months, has struggled to remain unaffected by politics. This is a profound element of our freedom and our way of life as Americans.

Justice Scalia has been one of the more outspoken defenders of the Constitution—its meaning and its historic point of view. Major cases now await the decision of the Supreme Court. Many of those decisions deeply affect issues having serious consequences for Americans who are also people of faith. Decisions regarding abortion, the HHS mandate and the decision regarding the Little Sisters of the Poor, immigration, to name a few, are easily points of law where the voice of Justice Scalia will be seriously missed. His death is a major loss of a measured and reasonable voice in a time when such voices are desperately needed to speak truth to power in our age of secular relativism.

People of faith are always urged by conscience and by the moral order, to pray for our leaders and to be mindful of the challenge to liberty and justice. It behooves us, certainly to pray for the repose of the soul of Justice Scalia by virtue of our common faith and support of one another in the light of our faith. It behooves us further, in this time of faithful citizenship, to be aware of the election of a new President who has the awesome responsibility of providing those who will serve in the leadership of those who will guarantee equal justice under the law.

We can recall the psalmist’s sentiments leading us to ponder the meeting of epic concerns as a reality of kindness and truth meeting and justice and peace kissing lead us to pray: eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine on him. May his soul and the soul of all the faithful departed rest in peace.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

Let us pray that our hearts may be open to receive the Mercy of God during this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy!

Pope Francis declared this year to encourage us to focus on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives. When we make an effort to encounter Jesus, whether in prayer, in the sacraments, through the sacred scriptures, or even in sacred architecture such as the Holy Door, we become more like Him.

On Sunday, December 13th, Holy Doors were opened at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and at our Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman. Many people were present and took part in the procession. Representatives were present from many diocesan parishes to be part of the Mass as well as pick up copies of Embracing the Year of Mercy. A booklet specifically put together for this year, in our diocese.

Each time you come into one of these two churches through their Holy Door, it should be an entrance of prayer, an encounter with Jesus, who is the entry into eternal life. It is He who is Mercy Incarnate, and who bestows the Father’s mercy on all sinners, great and small. Upon leaving the church, our passage back through the Holy Door is an impetus to show mercy to others and a grace to lead others through the Door of the Church into a life of joy in the Blessed Trinity.

If you are unable to make a pilgrimage to one of the two churches with a Holy Door, I have also designated twelve pilgrimage churches spread throughout the diocese. A Year of Mercy plenary indulgence can be obtained by visiting each of these pilgrimage churches as well as the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman and the Shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe both in La Crosse. There are prescribed prayers and actions for the gaining of the indulgence. I invite you to read more about the indulgence on the Year of Mercy website  www.diolc.org/mercy

I pray this Holy Year of Mercy will find us awake and alert to its many graces. May you share fully and abundantly in the mystery of His Divine Love and Mercy.

God be with you!

The response for the Psalm offered for the second Mass of Christmas—the Mass at Dawn—or even more traditionally called the Mass of the Shepherds, certainly captures a theme of the day and of the mystery of the Incarnation itself that remarkably speaks to the hearts and minds of believers who come from every stripe to share the gift of God’s Presence in the Flesh!

Somehow we still choose darkness in the midst of the most powerful Light ever cast upon the vision of humanity—Emmanuel—God with us. Since the prophecy was uttered in the book of the Prophet Isaiah (7:14) the title Emmanuel is a pledge of Divine assistance and a prophetic utterance announcing Messianic involvement in the Redemption of humanity. Thus, shepherds and kings are summoned to Bethlehem to glorify God and witness the action of God’s love and gratuitous mercy set forth in the birth of Jesus.

It is the Blessed Virgin Mary who offers the secular world an insight that cannot and must not be overlooked. The Gospel of that Mass of the Shepherds once again reminds us that none of the undeniably Divine actions—choirs of angels, visiting shepherds, or fascinated kings, would escape the thoughtful rumination of the Mother of God. “Mary pondered these events in her heart.” What a gift! From the beginning of the Savior’s life, Mary was the memory and the sacred trust of the formulation of His Church. Her maternal eye and matriarchal mind followed the events of Jesus’ life from Bethlehem to Jerusalem and every stop in between. It is she, to this day who still reminds us of Emmanuel’s presence.

In the Church, this year, we mark a Year of Jubilee celebrating the gift of Divine Mercy and the challenge of seeking Jesus in the world every day, until He comes again. From the beginning of time, the mercy of God always offers sinner pardon. This is the gratuitous gift of grace and love from God. We must not forget, however, that this gift calls us to “ponder” God’s love in our hearts and respond in an act of conversion—recognizing God’s gift in the simplicity and the poverty of our own hearts. Thus, Light shines in the darkness of our secular world and offers itself to those believers who share it and recognize it in their own actions performed in the Light of Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters, arise and come into the Light that is Christ. Be of good cheer and celebrate His presence in your actions of mercy accomplished in His Name! Merry Christmas!

Dear Brothers and Sisters–

It is a sad day for all of humanity as we weep for the beloved sons and daughters of France who have been struck by the most heinous of all terrorism in Paris. May God have mercy on all who have been affected by this horror. This terrorist attack affects all of us and its impact makes us aware of the need for a greater sense of prayer and reliance on Jesus as we move forward. This tragedy truly affects all of us and affects us deeply. This goes beyond politics–this is about humanity! Please pray.

I encourage all parishes to pour forth prayers and deep sentiments for the victims of this terrorism. Pray that we may open our minds and our hearts to the grace of God for peace. Let us move away from the promotion of individual ideas of relativist morality. We must support one another in prayer and raise a genuine awareness of our solidarity as human beings made in the image and likeness of God.

Let us pray for our brothers and sisters–the world is smaller today! God is with us–do not forget this!!

+William Patrick Callahan, Bishop of La Crosse

Even though I lived for barely three years at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, my time spent there had a tremendous impact on my life. The seminarians and their positive views about the Catholic Church were stimulating and evocative. These men had a sense of enthusiasm that I had not experienced in my daily dealings with Catholic life as a parish priest. Their prayer life was intense and genuine, centered more on the reality of Jesus in the Church rather than on an idea of how to “find” Jesus in the Church. It became a subtle, yet real distinction for me, knowing Jesus rather than simply pondering an idea of Jesus. The motto of the College is emblazoned for all to see as soon as one enters the building: “Firmum est cor meum” “My heart is steadfast.”

As we enter the midway part of the season of Lent, I am drawn to the words of Psalm 57:8 “My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast.” These words are, of course, well chosen for the heart of a seminarian eager to purposefully draw close to the Lord for sacred service; but I also find a certain sense of strength in them as we, baptized and committed Catholics, continue our Lenten journey.

We find ourselves in a time when we are literally challenged to defend our faith. Murderous, barbaric actions are presented to us as daily news events. Christians are rousted from their homes and communities, brutalized and humiliated—or worse—in cruel denial of their basic human dignity. In our own country, the laws and customs we have cherished, that have formed the basis of our self- government, are being trampled or restructured in a willful denial of divine purpose or plan.

I realize there is so much that is genuinely out of our control in the day-to-day living of life. That fact alone can sometimes lead us to throw up our hands and say: “Enough, I surrender.” There can and should be an alternative, especially for us who claim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Our hearts need to be steadfast in trusting Jesus Christ and realizing that He is still in control of our lives—and, more importantly, that we WANT Him in control of our lives.

During Lent our thoughts center on the desire for Jesus and the awareness of His unique and singular love for each of us. The desire for Jesus helps us to grow ever more spiritually connected with the real Person of Jesus—not an idea or a philosophy—but the real Person of Jesus who exists right now, gloriously alive at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

“My heart is steadfast, O God; my heart is steadfast;” the Psalmist wrote. That phrase is meant to stir a desire for God and reveal the reality of God in action within us. I am unafraid with such knowledge. As I look at the condition of the world and think about the unknown brothers and sisters being hatcheted, beheaded, burned alive, or otherwise derided or persecuted because of their faith in Jesus Christ, I know that I am one with them in the solidarity of faith and in the knowledge of the Christ who loved us all to His death and resurrection, who loves us today—and whom I will follow wherever He leads. My heart is steadfast!

I’ll see you at Sunday Mass!

Over the years secular holidays have started to take on different meanings and deeper popular significance than I ever remember from my youth. Halloween, no longer a celebration of saints, has become the second most popular holiday—next to Christmas—with decorations, planning, parties, anticipation, etc., etc. Valentine’s Day is rapidly peaking in interest as a day of sexual frivolity and excess. This year takes us to a new level of hedonism with the premiere of the movie: Fifty Shades of Grey. The movie is the titillating exposé that pays homage to our major false gods: power, pleasure, wealth, and influence.

The anti-hero is Christian Grey, who, of course, is the incarnation of the false gods in their entire array. An “emotionally-damaged” billionaire sadist, Grey goes about the seduction and humiliation of the anti-heroine, Anastasia Steele. It may be interesting to note, if only for the sake of trivia, that Christian is anything but; and Anastasia is true to her patron’s namesake only inasmuch as she is used and abused by a cold and cruel hollow man.

The true sadness of the film (and the book from which it comes), however, is that it is being touted as a “romance” and being marketed “just in time” for your Valentine date night. I truly doubt that there are too many men out there who really would subject their wives or other female friends to this kind of trash as part of an evening celebrating true love. I am told, however, that I am naïve in this belief, so please allow me to invite you into my naïveté.

This movie exalts so much of what is basically wrong in our society and certainly exploits the dismal state of human relationships, especially those between men and women. It surprises me enormously that this book and movie have been so incredibly popular with women. As I perceive it (I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, nor do I intend to) women, above all, should reject the film and repudiate its content as shameful and vile. True feminism should find this glorification of abuse and debasement of women particularly offensive, hardly entertaining.

Alas, the gods of power, pleasure, wealth, and influence, will not allow such a denial of their authority in this day and age. They manifest themselves in stark and bold powerful contradiction to the images of love and devotion, fidelity and commitment, which marked male and female relationships only yesterday in terms of recent human history.

I am reticent to write this today. The gods will have their way with even the little that I say here; nevertheless, I encourage you to avoid the false doctrines of the age. True love can be best expressed within the confines of respect for the beloved, recognition of human freedom and dignity, and the understanding that each other is a gift from God—the real Author of love.

Happy Valentine’s Day. I’ll see you at Sunday Mass.