SAUK CITY — The Society of Jesus Christ the Priest, which has four priests currently in the Diocese of Madison, recently ordained three young men to the transitional diaconate.
The Transitional Diaconate Ordination took place April 17 at St. Aloysius Church with Bishop Robert C. Morlino presiding.
In his homily Bishop Morlino told the three young men to be ordained that everything we do, even if it doesn’t look like it’s going well, will bear fruit if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. He also reminded them that their ministry, as Christ did on the beach with the disciples after he rose from the dead, is to “serve breakfast.”
“Everything else you do is the ministry of charity — the ministry of service,” the bishop said. “That’s what you are called to be as public ministers, public witnesses of charity: you’re called to serve breakfast.
“Never forget the charism of the diaconate is at the core of your life. It’s a gift of service, a gift of charity,” he said. “And when you proclaim the truth as the Gospel, it’s done as service and as charity.”
John Patrick Blewett, Osvaldo Enrique Briones Césped, and George Alexander Navarro Sáenz, who are all currently studying at the seminary in Navarre, Spain, were ordained transitional deacons and are expected to be ordained priests in 2010. Blewett is originally from Texas, Césped from Chile, and Sáenz from Peru.
Fr. Jared Hood, administrator of St. Aloysius Parish, said that the ordination took place in the Diocese of Madison in order for Bishop Robert C. Morlino to ordain them. The Diocese of Cartagena, Spain, where the society was founded, currently does not have a bishop.
Four priests of the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest are currently incardinated as priests of the Diocese of Madison. They serve as administrator and parochial vicars of the linked parishes of St. Barnabas, Mazomanie, and St. John the Baptist, Mill Creek, and the linked parishes of St. Aloysius, Sauk City; St. Mary, Health of the Sick, Merrimac; and St. Norbert, Roxbury.
The society was founded in Spain by Fr. Alfonso Gálvez, uncle to Fr. Miguel Gálvez, parochial vicar of St. Aloysius Parish. It was approved as a Pious Union in 1980 and as an Association of Christian Faithful in 1986. The society includes priests, laymen, and laywomen and has members in Spain, the United States, Ecuador, and Chile. It places special emphasis on working with youth and young people.