Bishop Sklba authors 605-page ‘retirement project’

For Bishop Richard J. Sklba, “Fire Starters” is a compilation of the study, prayer, reflection and pastoral creativity that have been part of his more than 54 years of priesthood. Thus, it is fitting that a volume devoted to the homily at daily Mass includes a declaration that the author preaches and practices.

“I’ve been praying about the readings, as a personal practice, for decades. As the years go by, I continue to see more and more in those readings – the more applications, the more people I deal with, the more pastoral implications I am exposed to, the more I see the Word continues to have an application,” said Milwaukee’s retired auxiliary bishop.

A year before his retirement on Oct. 18, 2010, shortly after his 75th birthday, Bishop Sklba was looking for “a project that would bridge into retirement because I have said to individuals, to priests, for years, ‘You don’t retire from something; you retire to something.’”

He continued, “I wanted a project that might possibly take what I had experienced and prayed over and put it at the service of other people.”

Since moving to Old St. Mary Church, Milwaukee, seven and a half years ago, Bishop Sklba has celebrated the parish’s 7 a.m. Mass on Mondays and Wednesdays when he is in town.

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