Every January, I am blessed to lead a retreat for fourth-year deacons from St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee. As you read this column, we are on retreat at Joseph and Mary Retreat House in Mundelein, Ill., and I ask for your prayers for these men.
Tag: priesthood
Reflections on my priestly retirement
At age 70, I felt it was time to retire. I moved to Madison for a few years where I helped out at different parishes.
Fr. Matthew Pearson ordained to the priesthood
As the early evening’s sunlight shone into St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison on May 27, the Diocese of Madison was graced with its latest blessing — a new priest.
As the penitent, so the confessor
There is a saying in the seminary: “As the seminarian, so the priest.” While I have thought about this phrase many times during my years in formation, it has recently taken on a new light.
The quiet blessing of ministry to retired priests
This year, five of us priests were honored for serving 50 years in the priesthood. Barring a cancellation because of the coronavirus, we will be honored again at the Priests Assembly.
What is ‘synodality’ and walking the synodal path?
It was a great privilege for me to participate in the Synod on Young People in the fall of 2018.
Words of Saint John Paul II lit a fire in me
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Forty years ago this week, Saint John Paul II energized and inspired our country during his epic first Pastoral Visit to the United States.
Saint Paul VI had visited New York City in 1965 during a visit to the United Nations, but that short encounter was the extent of any papal presence in this country. Arriving directly from his remarkable pilgrimage to Ireland, Saint John Paul landed in Boston on a Monday afternoon and electrified all of us.
Listening to the pope
I was 16 at the time, thinking of priesthood, struggling to discern the mystery of such a call. I was also working my first restaurant job; having graduated from washing dishes to frying chicken, I was making $2.32 an hour, which even then was a terrible wage.
Bishop Hying ordains three new priests
A mere three days after his installation as the fifth Bishop of Madison, Bishop Hying, with a self-admitted devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, ordained three men to the priesthood at St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison on Friday, June 28, the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The three new priests were: Fr. Steve Brunner, Fr. Bill Van Wagner, and Fr. Cristian Valenzuela.
Priestly formation and dealing with scandal
What is the Church doing to deal with the scandal of priests and bishops acting against their promise of celibacy and those that have covered up the scandalous actions of those involved?
Answering his call in the diocese, around the world
You might need a map to follow along with while you are reading this story.
In just three years as a priest for the Diocese of Madison, Fr. Scott Emerson has always needed his suitcase, passport, or just a full tank of gas.