Homily

2008 Homily (High Quality) 7,316 KB mp3 file For Use with Windows Media Player ~ 1 Minute Download with Broadband ~ 12 Minute Download with Dial-up

2008 Homily (Regular Quality) 3,658 KB mp3 file For Use with Windows Media Player ~ 1 Minute Download with Broadband ~ 8 Minute Download with Dial-up

I am Bishop Robert Morneau, Auxiliary Bishop of our Diocese of Green Bay and pastor at Resurrection Parish in Allouez. As we await the coming of our new bishop to the Diocese of Green Bay, it is my privilege to invite you to assist our Diocese in building God’s Kingdom. Since the beginning of the Bishop’s Appeal, I have witnessed how your generosity has helped our local Church serve the poor, comfort those in pain, educate our children and adults, and grow in our faith. This ministry would not have been possible without your help.

The theme for this year’s Bishop’s Appeal is "Sharing our Faith." What a great gift faith is. One theologian, Cardinal Avery Dulles calls faith "the radical conviction that God’s redeeming love surrounds and sustains us." This God we believe in is our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sanctifier. The spiritual writer Michael Downey also says God is Giver, Given, Giving. Therefore, we who are made in the image and likeness of God are also to be givers, given, and giving people. We are called to share our faith by putting our faith into action.

God’s word today tells us to take action by attending to our call, by experiencing blessedness – deep Gospel happiness – by being peacemakers, by being merciful, and by hungering and thirsting for justice. The Bishop’s Appeal is one important way that our Diocese – our 16 counties, our 160 parishes, and our nearly 400,000 Catholics – can take action and live out the Gospel message of Jesus

Through your generosity to the Bishop’s Appeal, Catholic Charities is able to provide budget counseling adoption services, and mental health counseling; our Stewardship and Pastoral Services Department supports our diocesan mission in the Dominican Republic and assists our local parishes in planning for the future and building vibrant parishes; our Education Department is assisting our faith formation programs, schools, and adult continuing education; and our Evangelization and Worship Department is assisting parishes with reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus.

I can assure you that we have a dedicated and competent staff; I am grateful to them. I know Resurrection parish, like all parishes, calls on them often for help and advice.

St. Paul is very clear that we are not to boast, unless we boast in the Lord. Well, I want to boast of two events that could not have happened without your generosity to the Bishop’s Appeal. The first is the response of the Diocese to the tragedy in Crandon last October. The ministry of several of our departments including Catholic Charities, Evangelization and Worship, Education, and Communications was truly impressive. I witnessed first-hand the gratitude of many Crandon citizens. The second event of which I boast is the peaceful resolution of the homeless shelter in the city of Green Bay. It was the Diocese of Green Bay and the parish of St. John the Evangelist, in working with the mayor and city council, that makes it possible for our homeless brothers and sisters to have a place to sleep and some food. These are examples of sharing our faith, by putting faith into action.

In her book Radical Gratitude, a religious sister Mary Jo Leddy, calls gratitude the cornerstone of faith. She says "radical gratitude begins when we stop taking life for granted. It arises in the astonishment at the miracle of creation and our own creation. As "In the beginning," this miracle is more fundamental than anything we try to manufacture or work on. In gratitude, the vicious cycle of dissatisfaction is broken" as we recognize what we have, rather than what we don’t have, in acknowledging what we are rather then what we are not. Gratitude is the foundation of faith in God as the Creator of all beginnings, great and small. Mary Jo got it right. Gratitude is the basis of our discipleship. And when we have a deep sense of gratitude that spills over into generosity. Please be generous to the Bishop’s Appeal. If you are, I can assure of two things: deep joy and deep peace.

The hit song by Bette Midler, "Wind Beneath My Wings," from a few years ago ends with the words: "thank you, thank you, thank God for you." I echo that thank you in my name and in the name of those thousands of individuals and families you have helped through your generous contributions to the Bishop’s Appeal: "thank you, thank you, thank God for you."

Thank you and may God bless all of you with an abundance of His Grace.
Download the 2008 Bishop's Appeal Homily