MONONA — Christopher Padilla was ordained by Bishop Robert C. Morlino as a transitional deacon on Friday, June 5, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona.
Bishop Morlino thanked everyone for coming to the “night of great joy.”
Deacon Padilla is a member of the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest.
On October 2, 43 men were ordained as deacons at the Pontifical North American College (PNAC) were ordained by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C.
On Friday, May 23, Deacons Chahm Gahng, Christopher Gernetzke, and Tafadzwa Kushamba took their next steps to the priesthood, as they were ordained to the transitional diaconate by Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison in the chapel of the Bishop O’Connor Center.
Filipe Alvial, James Leeser, Vincente Salas, and Jerry Zhanay were ordained to the Order of Deacons Friday, August 9, at the Bishop O’Connor Center in Madison.
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| A packed St. Joseph Church in Baraboo witnessed Scott Jablonski ordained to the diaconate on Sunday, April 14. To view more photos from the diaconate, visit St. Joseph Parish, Baraboo Facebook page here. (Contributed photo/Bryan Thompson) |
BARABOO — Scott Jablonski was ordained to the transitional diaconate by Bishop Robert C. Morlino during the 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Joseph Church in Baraboo on Sunday, April 14. He is expected to be ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Madison next year.
In his homily at the Mass, Bishop Morlino spoke about the “beauty” of the Office of Deacon, and how a deacon is called to “testify” and proclaim the Gospel at the liturgy and in their daily life.
“Our new Deacon Scott is a very great witness — he loves to testify, and he’s one of the most pleasant testifiers I’ve ever met,” said Bishop Morlino. “The Lord has given him such marvelous gifts, that he’s now put at the Lord’s disposal.”
You can read more on the bishop’s message in his column here.
Deacon Jablonski, originally from Appleton, returned to Catholicism after years searching for answers and learning about different religions. He received first Communion as a youth, but says his family members did not practice the faith. He was recently interviewed by EWTN for The Journey Home series telling the story of his personal journey getting to know Christ more fully.
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
This last weekend in Baraboo I ordained Scott Jablonski to the diaconate and I’m so very grateful to Scott and to Fr. Jay Poster and the faithful in Baraboo for their tremendous welcome and hard work in preparing for the Mass. Here I’d like to recount a few things I shared with our new deacon and the people there, but would address here to all the faithful:
The deacons and the priests of the diocese, in a special way, are all sons of the bishop. And although the ages don’t quite work out for all of the priests and deacons, it works fine with Deacon Scott.
And this is why it’s such a blessing to be a bishop, even with everything else that comes along with the office; it’s so wonderful because the bishop gets to call the deacon or the priest, “my son.”
Steve Petrica, a former Anglican priest who was received into the Catholic Church in 2006, was ordained to the transitional diaconate by Bishop Robert C. Morlino during the Cathedral Parish’s 11 a.m. Mass at St. Patrick Church on Sunday, Feb. 10.
Visus Non Mentietur — “The vision will not disappoint”— is taken from the book of the prophet Habakkuk 2:3.
This scriptural text, which happens to be the Episcopal Motto of His Excellency the Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino, in a way captures his vision for priestly vocations in the Diocese of Madison.
On behalf of Bishop Robert C. Morlino and all our seminarians, I would like to congratulate Deacons David Johannes and Mark Miller on their upcoming ordinations to the priesthood.
The entire Diocese of Madison rejoices because the Lord has shown us great favor in calling these two men to be numbered amongst the Levites. I also want to extend our congratulations to Deacons Vince Brewer and Garrett Kau who were ordained to the transitional diaconate in May. We wish you all fruitful ministry in the Lord’s vineyard.
Ordination of men to the priesthood is a good reminder to us of how God continues to work in our midst. The Holy Spirit working through the bishop, by his imposition of hands and prayer of ordination, raises these men to become in effect “Alter Christus.”
Editor’s Note: The following is a copy of Bishop Morlino’s Homily for the celebration of the Ordination to the Diaconate of Rev. Mr. Vincent Brewer and Rev. Mr. Garrett Kau, for the Diocese of Madison.
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
We know that the Holy Spirit hovers over this celebration tonight and that in just a few moments, the Holy Spirit is going to rush onto your souls and He’s going to change you, Vince and Garrett, into the person of Jesus Christ, the servant. This will be a lifelong change at the deepest level of your soul and you will be very different when you go to sleep tonight, than you were when you woke up this morning. And if you had moments of nervousness about this today, they will disappear, as the Holy Spirit will take up residence at the deepest level of your soul, in a whole new way — and it really is a big deal!
In the Second Reading, from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8:26-40), we heard the Ethiopian eunuch reading from the Prophet Isaiah, and talking about Jesus, the suffering servant. Of course, the identity of the diaconate is all about being servant — servant of the Word, and servant of charity. It’s a very interesting description that we have of the servanthood of Jesus, this description of the suffering servant.
