Tag: bishop

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Kevin Wondrash

Ordination of Deacon Lawrence Oparaji February 22

Fr. Lawrence Oparaji
Deacon Lawrence Oparaji

MADISON — Bishop Donald J. Hying will ordain Deacon Lawrence Oparaji to the priesthood for the Diocese of Madison on Saturday, Feb. 22, at a 10:30 a.m. Mass in the Bishop O’Donnell Chapel at Holy Name Heights, 702 S. High Point Rd.

Deacon Lawrence is the son of Kenneth and Calista Oparaji of Angwan Fadama, Orozo, FCT, in Nigeria.They are members of St. Andrew Kagwa Parish, Orozo Abuja.

Deacon Lawrence’s home parish in the Diocese of Madison is St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Madison.

He attended grade school in the Model Learning Center/Jikwoyi Phase II, and high school in the Federal government College/Keffi, Nasarawa.

His college studies were taken at the Dominican Institute Samonda Ibadan, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies.

He studied at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, St. Paul, Minn., where he earned a Master of Divinity degree.

His intern experience took place at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Madison. His deacon placements were at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Madison, and Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish, Sun Prairie.

His clinical pastoral experience was taken at Lakeview Hospital, Stillwater, Minn.

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Kevin Wondrash

Bishop calls on men to be ‘St. Joseph Strong’

PINE BLUFF — “Now is the time for St. Joseph” says the new book Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father by Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC.

Each man who attended the Knights of Divine Mercy event at St. Mary Church in Pine Bluff on February 7 received a copy of this book to embark on their own journey to be “St. Joseph Strong”.

More than 300 men were in attendance and heard a talk by Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison.

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Bishop Robert Barron

The maintenance of harmony in the Church

Some years ago, my friend Msgr. Francis Mannion wrote an article concerning the three essential features of the Eucharistic liturgy — namely, the priest, the rite, and the people.

When these elements are in proper balance, rightly ordered liturgy obtains.

Further, from these categories, he argued, we can discern the three typical distortions of the liturgy: clericalism (too much of the priest), ritualism (a fussy hyper-focus on the rite), and congregationalism (a disproportionate emphasis on the people).

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Kevin Wondrash

Throw off darkness, embrace the Eternal Day

Acedia is an uncommon word that defines a common experience. Its Latin and Greek antecedents mean “negligence” and “lack of care.”

The definition is “a state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one’s position or condition in the world. (Acedia) can lead to a state of being unable to perform one’s duties in life. Its spiritual overtones make it related to, but distinct from depression.”

Linked to boredom, lukewarmness, and apathy, acedia can particularly overwhelm us in our spiritual practice and pastoral ministry.

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Bishop Robert Barron

A prayer at the tomb of St. Paul

I write these words on the airplane taking me home from my first visit as a bishop ad limina apostolorum (to the threshold of the apostles).

This is the pilgrimage, required by canon law of every bishop, to pray at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul and to meet personally with the successor of Peter.

In an earlier column, I wrote of the extraordinary visit to the tomb of Peter and an even more extraordinary conversation with the Galilean fisherman’s successor, Pope Francis.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

Work out our salvation by how we live

“Are you saved?” is a classic evangelical question which we have probably all been asked once or twice. Those posing the query usually view salvation as a specific event, the precise moment when they gave their lives to Jesus and experienced his forgiveness.

A gentleman told me once that he was saved at a Billy Graham crusade in 1978, which for him was a powerful spiritual transformation. As Catholics, we may fumble for an articulate answer to the question of salvation, which is a sign perhaps that our understanding of this central reality of faith is more nuanced.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

Life and legacy of Blessed Frederic Ozanam

Bishop Hying blesses mosaic
Bishop Donald J. Hying blesses a mosaic of Blessed Frederic Ozanam at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on January 26. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

Last week, I was honored to celebrate Mass in the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and to bless a newly-installed mosaic of Blessed Frederic Ozanam, the founder of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the Society’s presence in the United States.

I have been involved with the Vincentians for 20 years as a chaplain, serving for the last two years on the national level. In preparing my homily for the Mass, I dug deeper into the life and legacy of Frederic Ozanam, realizing with greater clarity his inestimable contribution to Catholic thought and the wisdom of the Church in addressing the social issues of the day.

Visionary founder

As a visionary founder of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, Frederic has helped millions of Catholics to live the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy in a practical and generous manner. He was a journalist, scholar, professor, social activist, husband, and father. He taught literature, history, and law, deeply engaged in the intellectual problems and social challenges of his day. Ozanam has much to say to our present age.

Frederic was born in Milan in 1813, going to Paris to study law, where he suffered a deep loneliness but also was befriended by André Ampère, a scientist exploring the wonders of electricity, in whose home Ozanam became a boarder.

Simultaneously a sophisticated scientist and a devout Catholic, Ampère showed his young charge that there was no inherent dichotomy between Christianity and science or between Catholicism and the social ills of workers and the poor.

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Kevin Wondrash

Bishop to lead men in consecration to St. Joseph

PINE BLUFF — Bishop Donald J. Hying will be coming to St. Mary of Pine Bluff Parish, 3637 CR P, on Friday, Feb. 7, to launch the “St. Joseph Strong” challenge, calling all men to enter into the 33 Day Consecration to St. Joseph (February 16 to March 19, Feast of St. Joseph).

All men who attend will receive a free copy of Fr. Donald Calloway’s book, Consecration to St. Joseph, along with a free “St. Joseph Strong” challenge coin.

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Bishop Robert Barron

Spending time with my spiritual father

I write these words from the Eternal City of Rome, whither I’ve come with my brother bishops from Region 11 (California, Nevada, and Hawaii) for our ad limina visit.

This is a regular and canonically required trip to pray at the limina apostolorum (the threshold of the Apostles), the tombs of Ss. Peter and Paul, and to meet with the successor of Peter.

Yesterday was the first official day of the pilgrimage, and it was extraordinary indeed.

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