Bishops' Schedules: Schedule of Bishop William H. Bullock Saturday, February 15, 2003 6:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. John the Baptist Parish, Montello, with the link of Good Shepherd Parish, Westfield, at St. John the Baptist Parish, Montello Sunday, February 16, 2003 10:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. John the Baptist Parish, Jefferson, with St. Lawrence Parish, Jefferson, at St. John the Baptist Parish, Jefferson Tuesday, February 18, 2003 10:00 a.m. -- Attend St. Raphael Society Board Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center Madison Wednesday, February 19, 2003 5:00 p.m. -- Attend Presbyteral Council Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Thursday, February 20, 2003 9:00 a.m. -- Attend Presbyteral Council Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison 6:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Clergy Appreciation Banquet/Memorial Mass, Knights of Columbus, St. Mary Parish, Platteville Schedule of Bishop George O. Wirz Saturday, February 15, 2003 4:30 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, Immaculate Conception Parish, Kieler, with the link of St. Joseph Parish, Sinsinawa, at Immaculate Conception Parish, Kieler Sunday, February 16, 2003 10:30 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, Our Lady of Assumption Parish, Beloit 12:30 p.m. -- Attend Annual Clergy and Religious Recognition Brunch, Beloit Serra Club, Beloit Tuesday, February 18, 2003 10:00 a.m. -- Attend St. Raphael Society Board Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Wednesday, February 19, 2003 5:00 p.m. -- Attend Presbyteral Council Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Thursday, February 20, 2003 9:00 a.m. -- Attend Presbyteral Council Meeting, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

Consecrated religious, Catholic schools,
and health care

		The Bishop: A Herald of Faith Bishop William H. Bullock

Several worldwide events that touch deeply on the work and mission of the Church occur in this month of February: World Day for our women and men Religious, Catholic Schools' Week, and World Day of the Sick.

The three tie together in one for me because the Religious are devoted in their work to Catholic schools and Catholic health care.

"We stop in this month of February to thank our religious, pray for them, and recall for all the rich and deep legacy of Christ's love that they bring even today."

Catholic schools

Our Catholic school people deserve our support, appreciation, and prayer. The beautiful tradition of a Catholic school in each parish was born out of the Council of Baltimore. These Catholic schools were started and staffed in large measure by the religious orders, congregations, and societies of women and men.

Their educational apostolate was very effective. They provided good quality instruction in the classroom. They formed our young people in caring ways and became a source of vocations to the priesthood and religious life for the whole Church. We owe much to them for their labors, their prayers, and their witness to our Catholic faith.

In my own personal life, I remember the superb witness to Christ given me by the Sisters of Saint Benedict, O.S.B., from St. Joseph, Minnesota, and St. Paul, Minnesota, coming to my small town of Maple Lake, Minnesota. Eventually they opened a Catholic grade school at St. Timothy's Parish, which flourishes even today.

These Sisters and other religious orders and congregations brought many blessings to God's people and their work produced generations of faith-filled men and women who lived exemplary lives as laity. We stop in this month of February to thank our religious, pray for them, and recall for all the rich and deep legacy of Christ's love that they bring even today.

Vowed religious

Throughout the Church today, although smaller in number, many Sisters continue as consecrated religious to witness, by their vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, to the presence of Christ.

Catholic schools available to the poor

Maintaining our Church related schools has become very expensive and challenges us to find ways to fund them. Additional challenges face our schools with mixed enrollment of children of other faiths. And of course we want our schools open and available to minority children and the poor. Many generous Catholics support Catholic education on all levels.

Educating the elite and wealthy is not the mandate of the Gospel, therefore not of the Church. So, we continue to support our schools and work hard to continue their quality, their focus, and their formational values. Our schools are excellent, academically strong, and disciplined in their learning environment, and we desire that they be Catholic to the core in their teaching and practice.

World Day of the Sick

World Day of the Sick was developed out of the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. We have a beautiful and exciting history of miracles of the sick, the blind, crippled, and diseased.

On this very day The Catholic Herald is published and appears on my desk, we celebrate a Mass for all who are sick, infirm, old, and dying. We pray earnestly for all who bear the marks of suffering, for their caretakers, and for the families of the sick.

This year Feb. 11, 2003, we celebrate the 11th World Day of the Sick begun by Pope John Paul II. Our Holy Father calls to our attention the words from St. John's letter, "We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world . . . We know and believe the love God has for us" (1Jn 4:14,16).

He points out that "these words of the apostle John are a good summary of what the Church seeks to do through her pastoral work in the area of health care. Recognizing the presence of the Lord in our suffering brothers and sisters, she strives to bring them the good news of the Gospel and to offer them authentic signs of love.

Catholic health care

"Urgent questions about suffering and death, dramatically present in the heart of every person despite the continual attempts by a secular mentality to remove them or ignore them, await satisfactory answers.

"Especially in the presence of tragic human experiences, the Christian is called to bear witness to the consoling truth of the Risen Lord, who takes upon himself the wounds and ills of humanity, including death itself, and transforms them into occasions of grace and life.

"This proclamation and this witness are to be delivered to everyone, in every corner of the world" (Message of His Holiness John Paul II for the 11th World Day of the Sick) and in a special way our religious women who direct and maintain health care in their hospitals.

Religious Institutes continue their meritorious work and indeed expand it with the support of many lay volunteers for the good of suffering humanity in the U.S.