Joyful Transitions: Sending Forth and Welcoming

A significant part of the formation for men preparing to be priests is the time they spend in a parish. The time a seminarian spends in a parish is also an invaluable tool for evaluating the seminarian’s preparedness for ordination first as a deacon and then as a priest. Deacon Pat Sorrells has been with us for the past four years, as we have served as his teaching parish during the time he has spent at Saint Paul Seminary. He will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota, on June 6. That means his time with us will be coming to an end. 

However I am excited to share that our Bishop has assigned one of the two men who will be ordained transitional deacons on May 24 for our Diocese to our parish for the summer. Scott Pederson will spend his diaconal summer with us, before returning to Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee for his final year of formation in the fall. Scott is from Spooner, Wisconsin. He enjoys running, biking, woodworking, and reading. Prior to entering the seminary, he worked as a product development engineer. Among the gifts Scott will bring to our parish this summer is his fluency with the Spanish language.  We look forward to welcoming Scott after his ordination as a deacon. 

Many in our parish have enjoyed getting to know Deacon Pat these past four years. As I mentioned previously it is customary for a teaching parish to offer a gift to the newly ordained priest. Working with Deacon Pat, we have decided to gift him the money needed to refurbish a chalice that will become his personal chalice. Priests often receive a chalice when they are ordained. In the past these chalices were often beautiful works of art, fitting for what they hold, the Blood of Christ. As priests die, many give their chalices to their diocese. Newly ordained priests will often look through the donated chalices and select one for themselves. However, they often need to be refurbished. This is what Deacon Pat has done. If you would like to offer a gift to Deacon Pat for his chalice, please turn in a check made out to Saint Patrick Parish and mark on the envelope “Deacon Pat’s Chalice.” If we raise more than is needed to pay for the refurbishment, we will give him the additional money for him to use in purchasing priestly vestments. Please turn your gift into the parish office by May 1.

The weekend of May 2-3 will be Deacon Pat’s last official weekend with us. However he is planning to return the weekend of June 13-14, to preside as a priest at Mass and offer a Mass of Thanksgiving with us. 

In preparation for Deacon Pat’s ordination to the priesthood and the diaconate ordination of Scott Pederson and Karl Oman in our Diocese, watch for details for a designated prayer opportunity to pray for them before their ordinations. Details will be announced at Mass, published in the bulletin, and on social media in the next week or so. 

Finally make sure to support our school through our annual school gala that is taking place next weekend. Even if you are not attending you can bid on items in the silent auction or donate to our school. Check out our school’s FaceBook page for more information.