The Madison Seven: Dinner with Bishop Morlino

After having brunch with Monsignor Holmes and a short tour of beautiful State Street in Madison, Wisconsin, we were off to dinner with Bishop Morlino, sovereign of the Diocese of Madison.

We met arrived at his residence with two choice bottles of wine - a gift from our rector (Monsignor Callaghan) to Bishop Morlino. His Excellency greeted us with such enthusiasm that I nearly thought that I was the most important person in the room - that is to say that he was welcoming to such a degree that it appears that he was honored to have us seminarians at his residence.

In addition to meeting Bishop Morlino, that Madison Seven was able to meet three others waiting for us: Joe (a new seminarian for the Diocese of Madison, just assigned in January to a college seminary), Chad (director of development and advancement for the Diocese of Madison and MC for the Bishop), and Linda (senior accountant for the Diocese of Madison and chef to His Excellency - for special occations).

Bishop Morlino and the Madison Seven conversed in the sitting room together before having dinner with the bishop and the three mentioned above. The kindness and wisdom of Bishop Morlino flowed through the entire evening. He communicated the tasks that lay ahead for the Church in the mid-West as well as both across the United States and around the globe.

Though we wanted private dinner to last hours, we had only a short time to ourselves with Bishop Morlino because we needed to go to our next schedules event: a hockey game. Our tickets were donated by generous Catholic family of the Diocese of Madison.

What about the hockey game and the trip home? Stay tuned for the final installments of the Madison Seven weekend.

Take care, -Jeremy