wpadmin - Bishop emeritus

TV Mass Homily 7/14/2019

TV Mass Homily

Jul 13, 2019 by wpadmin

If you were driving along one of our beautiful country highways, maneuvering the twist and turns, the rises and the valleys, and you saw a car stopped along the side of the road with its hood up or lights flashing, would you stop? If you saw a man slumped along the side of the road, would you stop? Of course each of us ought to use the virtue of prudence in such situations and there are ways to report such realities and allow them to be dealt with in a safe and professional way. However, not all those in need so apparent are along the side of a highway. Rather they are along the roadside of our lives – at home, at work, in our families, in our Church. They…

TV Mass Homily 7/7/2019

TV Mass Homily

Jul 06, 2019 by wpadmin

Travel light, Jesus instructed his disciples as he sent them out into the world to evangelize, to share the Good News of Jesus as Lord and Savior person to person and thus challenge the prevailing culture. That is the job description for us all as new evangelizers as hard even intimidating as it is. “Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; do not stop along the way to greet passersby. Avoid anything that interferes with your mission. Travel light and trust in me,” he told them and tells us. It must have been hard for them trusting that their needs would somehow be met. It is even harder for in our culture with our dependence on things, gadgets and conveniences. When I travel by plane I am amazed how…

TV Mass Homily June 30, 2019

TV Mass Homily

Jun 29, 2019 by wpadmin

St. Paul in the Letter to the Galatians declares “You were made for freedom, brothers and sisters, but do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but rather serve one another through love.” That is an important reminder as we Catholics in the United States raise up the issue of preserving religious freedom as we do each year around the 4th of July. Each year we recall when our forefathers with courage and conscience declared that “we are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” which are now under attack by many in the media, freedom from religion proponents, and others in governments at all levels. Fortunately here in South Dakota that movement is not…

TV Mass Homily – June 23, 2019

TV Mass Homily

Jun 22, 2019 by wpadmin

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi. While we in our country seem to minimize this feast, but in many countries it is a day of festival and true celebration for the Lord is with us. The Eucharist, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes, “is the heart and summit of the Church’s life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by his sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body the Church.” The Catechism continues to explain: “The Holy Eucharist is a sacramental sacrifice, memorial of Christ’s Passover, the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death…

TV Mass Homily 06/09/2019

TV Mass Homily

Jun 08, 2019 by wpadmin

Permit me to begin by thanking so many for their prayers for me these last weeks since my mini-stroke. I am truly appreciative and now from experience encourage that when the signs of stroke are present seek out medical attention. It saves lives. I also ask for your prayers as the bishops of the United States gather in Baltimore this week and seek to better address the horror of child sexual abuse and better accountability of bishops. Once again I apologize for our failings over the years and encourage victims to come forward to law enforcement and to the diocese so that pastoral support might be offered. “Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.” That is our psalm response on this the Solemnity of Pentecost.…

TV Mass Homily 05/26/2019

TV Mass Homily

May 25, 2019 by wpadmin

Allow me the privilege to first note that on Monday, Memorial Day, we will prayerfully acknowledge those who over the years have given their lives in defense of freedom here and around the world and pray for those who mourn them. Last November the end of World War I was raised up and next week we will gratefully recall the 75th anniversary of the courageous storming of Normandy beaches which resulted in the end of World War II. Since then many others have sacrificed their lives with the same motivation: defend freedom for us all. There was a poem composed in the early days of World War I which honors those who made the ultimate sacrifice entitled ‘For the Fallen’. (Robert Laurence Binyon) One stirring verse reads: ‘They shall not…

Statement on the appointment of Bishop Gruss to Saginaw

Statements and Documents

May 24, 2019 by wpadmin

Earlier today Pope Francis named Bishop Robert Gruss of Rapid City as the seventh bishop of Saginaw, Michigan. I offer my sincere congratulations and best wishes to him as he undertakes this new ministry. It has been my privilege to work with him over these past 8 years, especially in moments where both South Dakota dioceses were involved. I think particularly of our collaboration in establishing the South Dakota Catholic Conference which has become a meaningful way to better address public policy concerns and matters of Catholic teaching in our state. While I will miss our working together, I ask the Lord to richly bless him in his leadership of the Diocese of Saginaw. I promise to pray for Bishop Gruss, the Diocese of Saginaw and the Diocese of Rapid…

TV Mass Homily 05/12/2019

TV Mass Homily

May 11, 2019 by wpadmin

This is Good Shepherd Sunday. What image comes to mind when you think of a shepherd; probably a pleasant one. Green pastures, gentle breezes, sheep grazing peacefully on the hillside; or shepherds kneeling at the manger before the baby Jesus. The fact is that the life of a shepherd was hardly comfortable or easy, and often not peaceful. Shepherds in the semi-arid lands of the Middle East lived and still live tough lives. They stayed with the animals day and night, enduring the odors and weather and dust. They had to be ever alert to dangers from predators, storms and rustlers. And they had to be ever mindful of the inattentive wandering sheep that so easily could get lost or in trouble. To be a shepherd was and is hard…

TV Mass Homily 04/28/2019

TV Mass Homily

Apr 28, 2019 by wpadmin

Happy Easter. He is risen! Saint John Paul II declared the 2nd Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. This weekend the Church encourages us to trust in the love and mercy of Jesus. Trust in God is the antidote to fear, to doubt, to worry and to loneliness because God’s mercy is unlimited. In the gospel we read about Thomas, who is often referred to as doubting Thomas. In a way it is a bad rap. We all grieve and doubt and wonder, especially when we experience loss. Thomas had lost the great man he had followed for some three years. He had seen Jesus cruelly punished without reason and a painful death on the cross. Thomas felt the loss of Jesus and tried to make sense out of…

TV Mass Homily 04/14/2019

TV Mass Homily

Apr 13, 2019 by wpadmin

Thank you for praying with us this Psalm and Passion Sunday. It begins with a joyful procession welcoming our Lord and ends with the closed tomb. Next Sunday when we celebrate Easter that joy will return multiplied. The Passion of our Lord just proclaimed which is from the Gospel of Luke this year should be our focus all this Holy Week as we walk with Jesus to the cross and beyond. One way to do so is to ponder the actions of Jesus and the others who played pivotal roles and reflect on which of them we relate to with our own lives. There are so many interesting people who can prick our consciences. There are the people who sang, blessed is the king who comes, and only days later…

Author: wpadmin