"You are exactly the peole we need."
Remarks at Matriculation by The Most Reverend Robert C. Morlino
(Fall 2007 Newsletter)
 I
want to say first of all that there are schools, and Catholic schools,
that have billion dollar endowments, and Thomas Aquinas College
certainly deserves that. But you don't have that. You make do with
what you have because the truth is so much more important than possessions.
There are many, many bishops in the United States who are very proud
of you, and I just want you to know that we appreciate very much
what you are doing. You are being formed into exactly the kind of
lay Christian faithful who will take up the job of being the instrument
by which the Lord saves the world. You are exactly who we want,
you are exactly the people we need. Many of us are committed to
everything you do here. Our own means and opportunities are always
limited, but many of us would do whatever we can, and I am very
happy and very honored to be here. That is my first point.
Discerning Your Vocation
The second point is simply this: During the course of your years
here, you will have to think about discerning a vocation. Most will
be called to marriage, and that is how it should be: especially
good priests come from very good marriages.
Some of you women will be called to the consecrated life. It is
a beautiful life to be with Mary and like Mary, to be reminded that
holiness is the only thing that counts in the end, not rank or anything
else, only holiness. It is all that Jesus is interested in on judgment
day. That is the beautiful witness, the reminding witness, the work
of the Holy Spirit that consecrated women do.
Some of you young men will be called to be priests. I am at the
edge of my seat waiting for the first priestly vocation to come
from Thomas Aquinas College to the Diocese of Madison. I hereby
invite any young man who thinks in that way to be in touch with
me and to come and see us. I am quite serious. That is how things
get started. Come have a look around if you are from elsewhere.
I have very little scruple about "poaching." So, come
and have a look around. We have some funds that can help me to help
you to do that. I am very serious about that. So that is the second
point, vocations.
Entrust Yourself to Mary
The last point is just that we are going to end this convocation
as we really ought to, by praying in song to our Blessed Mother.
Were we not at some point today to entrust this year-and entrust
our whole life-to her, we would forget or omit something very important.
Please get up every morning and entrust yourself to Jesus Christ
through Mary our Mother. He is Mercy itself, and she is the Mother
of Mercy, and it is through both of them that we become in Christ
everything that we are called to be.
God bless you all, and have a great four years.
Robert Morlino was born December 31, 1946, in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
and was ordained a priest for the Maryland Province of the Society
of Jesus on June 1, 1974.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in philosophy from Fordham University,
a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame,
the Master of Divinity degree from the Weston School of Theology
in Cambridge, Mass., and a doctorate in moral theology from the
Gregorian University in Rome, with specialization in moral theology
and bioethics. Father Morlino has taught philosophy at Loyola College
in Baltimore, St. Joseph University in Philadelphia, Boston College,
the University of Notre Dame, and St. Mary's College.
In 1981, Father Morlino became a priest of the Diocese of Kalamazoo
and served there as Vicar for Spiritual Development, Executive Assistant
and Theological Consultant to the Bishop as Moderator of the Curia,
and as the Promoter of Justice in the Diocesan Tribunal. He also
served as administrator of a number of parishes, and as rector of
St. Augustine Cathedral in Kalamazoo.
Father Morlino was scheduled to begin a full-time faculty appointment
as professor of theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit
when, on July 6, 1999, Pope John Paul II appointed him the Ninth
Bishop of Helena. Bishop Morlino was appointed the Fourth Bishop
of Madison on May 23, 2003, and he was installed on August 1, 2003.
Bishop Morlino currently serves as chairman of the Board of
Directors of the National Catholic Bioethics Center. He is past
chairman of two committees within the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops: from 2001 to 2004, he chaired the Bishops' Committee
on the Diaconate, and from 2001 to 2004, he also chaired the Ad
Hoc Committee on Health Care Issues and the Church, which assists
the bishops in responding to moral and theological questions surrounding
specific health care situations in their dioceses.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Fall 2007
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