By Jay Sorgi
WTMJ
March 19, 2008
http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/16817661.html
Click here to listen to Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Gene Mueller and Jon Byman chat with Archbishop Timothy Dolan on Wisconsin's Morning News.
This week of course is Holy Week, the end of Lent, the time for Christians to make sacrifices in their lives.
Even as a very Irish Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan did his thing for St. Patty's Day.
When asked on Newsradio 620 WTMJ's "Wisconsin's Morning News" what he did for St. Patrick's Day, Dolan stated, "none of your business," which garnered hearty laughs in the studio.
Dolan does say that didn't break his Lenten sacrifices for the "wearin' o' the green."
"I give up beer, and I give up eating in between meals, and I give up desserts, and then I do extra things spiritually, like more prayer, more bible reading, that kind of stuff," said the Archbishop.
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| Archbishop Timothy Dolan. |
And he has encouraged his flock to give up something as well
"If I give up watching a favorite TV show, why? It's so that in that half hour, or hour, perhaps I could dedicate to prayer, or to visiting the sick, or reading the Bible.
"So you give something up to create a space to allow you to fill it with something more spiritually fruitful."
He says, though, the fast can end tomorrow night.
And when it does, his cold one will be waiting.
"I have the beer iced up now," says Dolan.
Much of the Flock Returns, Even For Just This Week
"Christmas and Easter are two times that people sort of feel naturally open to the divine, to the transcendent," said Dolan on the subject of how many people make their visits to Church at those two times of the year.
He's not thrilled with overall dwindling numbers in the pews, "like the number of people leaving traditional faiths, and Lord knows we have some challenges there."
But he says he's encourged by a Pew survey saying that 96% of people still believe in something supernatural, and many people across various religions are making a point to celebrate that at this time of year.
"Our Jewish neighbors have Passover, our Greek Orthodox friends and other Christian religions, we as Catholics celebrate Easter. There seems to be a natural, beautiful openness to God's invitation."
What's Dolan's Message This Time of Year?
True hope springs eternal, Dolan evangelizes, even if weather forecasts don't look like spring.
"I get a lot of grief for (Friday's snow) forecast, is there anything you can do to help me out?" asked WTMJ Weather Plus Meterologist Craig Koplien to the Archbishop, who couldn't do much about it.
"Craig, I'm in sales, not management," retorted Dolan.
And he's selling that literally and symbolically, spring will get here.
"When it comes to the battle that we all know is going on, we got a battle going on between winter and spring, we know spring is gonna win," states the Archbishop.
And that's part of what he's communicating for Easter.
"Hope is gonna conquer despair. Faith is going to conquer doubt. We know that goodness is going to conquer evil. We sometimes wonder what's taking it so long, but the great message of Easter is that the good guys win."
Faith and Politics Mixing In Presidental Discussions
The controversy over Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's pastor has brought candidate's beliefs back into the limelight.
"Not God Bless America, God
America," said Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who said in one sermon that the United States brought on the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on itself.
Dolan says, in some ways, politicians talking God is OK.
"There is a comfort level among candidates to speak about their faith," said Dolan. "That's a good thing."
But he states it's not good in other ways.
"Sometimes there's a temptation to make religion divide us. When it can become a source of fraction, of a lack of charity, that's when you just have to say 'hey, this isn't what religion's about.' "
The Church, Holy Week and Priest Scandals
"With all the torture, all the scandal and the bad news that we're hearing about the church, (parishoners) still love the Church, and they still want to support it," says Dolan even during a time when they're trying to sell the Cousins Center to raise money, and Archdiocese cash is going out for legal battles regarding priest sexual abuse scandals.
That's not stopping the Archdiocese from holding its "Faith in the Future" fundraising campaign.
"It's the people's money, and we leaders in the Church have to be scrupulous about the accounting of it," admits Dolan.
So, the Archbishop says, people who give to that should know it's not going to lawyers.
"It's entrusted to us to use, only for the reason that the people give."
The Archdiocese says "Faith in Our Future" is raising money for school development, faith formation programs and global Chuch and mission efforts.
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