Strengthen Your Brethren, – July 30, 2006

One of the signs of the vitality of the faith and families of a parish is the number of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life that the parish has nurtured. God has truly blessed Saint Peter’s raising up from our midst many young men and women to these special vocations. This weekend several native daughters of our parish are celebrating their Jubilee of Religious Profession as Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Third Order of Saint Francis. We rejoice with Sister Florence Domka on the 60^th anniversary of her religious profession and with golden jubilarians Sisters Catherine Kieliszewski, Gerri Kryshak, and Mary Ann Stoltz. Although not a native of Saint Peter, we also beg God’s blessings on Sister Michele Nemojeski on her 50^th anniversary. May the witness of these women “who are consecrated in a special manner to God by the profession of the evangelical counsels (of) chastity, poverty, and obedience” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 178) inspire our young people to prayerfully consider the consecrated life. Congratulations, Sisters!

Thank you for the beautiful cards, kind wishes, gifts and prayers on the occasion of my 17^th anniversary of ordination to the Priesthood! In some ways July 22, 1989 seems just like yesterday and in other ways it seems like a million years ago! I am most grateful to those who helped me to hear God’s call to the Priesthood and to embrace it with joy. “The anointing of the Spirit seals the priest with an indelible, spiritual character that configures him to Christ the priest and enables him to act in the name of Christ the Head. As a co-worker of the order of bishops he is consecrated to preach the Gospel, to celebrate divine worship, especially the Eucharist from which his ministry draws its strength, and to be a shepherd of the faithful” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 328). Please pray that I may always remain faithful to this wondrous gift! Thanks, as always, for your many signs of support, encouragement, and affection!

Our Diocese of La Crosse was honored recently as Pope Benedict XVI appointed a native son, Archbishop Raymond Burke of Saint Louis, to the Vatican’s supreme court. He remains the Archbishop of Saint Louis, but now also serves as one of the 15 judges of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. This means that Archbishop Burke will occasionally have to travel to Rome for the court’s business. The Church’s high court hears final appeals of decisions by Vatican administrators and offices and ensures that justice is administered correctly in the Church. Archbishop Burke explained that the Apostolic Signatura’s work involves more than merely handing down legal decisions. “The Signatura serves a very important function in promoting reconciliation and peace within the Church,” he said. “Efforts are made to bring a peaceful resolution.” May the Holy Spirit guide the deliberations of Archbishop Burke and the other members of the Church’s supreme court!

Father Louis’ bulletin column 6/11/06

The Catechism of the Catholic Church helps us see the practical implications of this weekend’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: “The Church is one because of her source: ‘the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit [Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism, 2].’ The Church is one because of her founder: for ‘the word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross . . . restoring the unity of all in one people and one body [Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 78].’ The Church is one because of her ‘soul’: ‘It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that He is the principle of the Church’s unity [Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism, 2].’ Unity is of the essence of the Church” (813). A few paragraphs later the Catechism continues: “The Lord’s missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity: ‘The Church on earth is by her nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, she has as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit [Vatican II, Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, 2].’ The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love” (850).

A warm welcome to all our guests who have joined us for Saint Peter’s Picnic! We appreciate your presence with us this weekend! Please know you are always welcome here!

Two times per year all the priests of the Diocese of La Crosse gather to strengthen our fraternity in the priesthood of Christ, to hear presentations by various speakers, and simply to enjoy some time of relaxation together. The summer gathering in La Crosse – called “Priest Unity Days” – begins at 4:00 pm on Sunday, June 11, and ends at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, June 13. At Saint Peter Father Worzalla will celebrate Mass as usual at 8:00 am on Monday, June 12. However, there will be no Mass on Tuesday, June 13, as Father Sakowski and I will still be in La Crosse and Father Worzalla will be on vacation. On that Tuesday at 8:00 am our parish’s deacon-in-training, Gary Glodowski, will lead a Liturgy of the Word with the Distribution of Holy Communion. Gary has already been trained to conduct such a service, which is detailed in the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship’s 1973 Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass. Please pray for your priests, for those studying to be priests, and for the young men of Saint Peter’s to have hearts open to the call to the priesthood.

Very early Saturday morning, June 17, I will be leaving for Hanceville,Alabama, leading a week-long Eucharistic pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. The Shrine is at the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, home of the Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration established by Mother Angelica in 1962. It is into this religious community that our parishioner, Katie Buss, will be entering July 16. Please pray for all the pilgrims and for me as their spiritual director, that it will be an occasion of many blessings and graces. You will be specially remembered in my prayers at this holy place.

Father Louis’ bulletin column 5/21/06

Congratulations and God’s blessings on our parishioner, Katie Buss, daughter of Dan and Colleen, who on July 16 will be entering the religious community of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville, Alabama. This community was officially established in 1962 by Mother Angelica who, of course, also founded the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). The community’s charism – or particular supernatural character, goal and spirit – is offering prayers and sacrifices for their salvation and that of the whole world. As their name indicates, the life of prayer of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration is specially centered on adoration of our Lord present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. In 1999 the Monastery was able to move to a new home which is now filled to capacity with 33 cloistered nuns and eight extern sisters! There are several stages of discernment and formation through which a young woman passes before making her solemn profession of the evangelical counsels (vows) of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Katie begins her religious life as a postulant participating fully in the community’s life of prayer and discipline. This initial time of discernment of God’s will – normally lasting one year – affords her the opportunity to experience the day-to-day rhythm of monastic life. During this time Katie lives as one the so-called “extern” sisters, that is, those who have “usual” contact with the outside world. The majority of the community, however, are cloistered nuns living a radical separation from life in the world. Those who willingly embrace this profound spiritual discipline have an extremely limited opportunity to leave the cloister and their interaction with those outside the cloister is severely restricted. We can be very proud of Katie and humbled, too, that God has chosen yet another young woman from our parish to live the consecrated life! Let us accompany Katie with our prayers – begging God’s blessings on her, her family, and her new family of Poor Clares!

Mother Angelica has been one very active and zealous religious! In addition to establishing Our Lady of the Angels Monastery and what would become the world’s largest Catholic multimedia apostolate – namely, EWTN – she founded the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word in 1987. The charism of this community of priests and brothers is to preach and teach the Catholic faith via the modern means of mass communication and conducting spiritual retreats. One of my former students from my days of teaching at the seminary in Ohio is now part of these Franciscan Missionaries. Mother Angelica also established (1999) the magnificent Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery. There are a number of other buildings associated with the Shrine to accommodate the great number of pilgrims who come to this part of Alabama for spiritual renewal. In fact, I am the spiritual director for one such pilgrimage this summer (June 17-23). Finally, with the many practical chores that must be done to keep the Shrine complex going, Mother Angelica founded the Knights of the Holy Eucharist. They are single, young men who live in community a life of prayer and work. They assist pilgrims visiting the Shrine, give talks to the pilgrims, care for the buildings and grounds, and help out the Poor Clares.

From Fr. Louis’ Bulletin Letter 9/4/05

The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium (28) teaches us that the “the divinely instituted ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees by those who even from ancient times have been called bishops, priests, and deacons.” “There are two degrees of ministerial participation in the priesthood of Christ: the episcopacy and the presbyterate. The diaconate is intended to help and serve them . . . The degrees of priestly participation (episcopate and presbyterate) and the degree of service (diaconate) are all three conferred by a sacramental act called ‘ordination,’ that is, by the Sacrament of Holy Orders” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1554). Congratulations to Gary Glodowski whom Bishop Listecki has accepted into the formation program to become a permanent deacon in our Diocese of La Crosse. Gary recently graduated from the diocesan Lay Formation Institute as well as the Leader of Prayer program. This fall he begins his formation for the diaconate which will culminate, God willing, in his ordination as a deacon in 2010. With regard to deacons, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that they “share in Christ’s mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (‘character’) which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the ‘deacon’ or servant of all. Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity” (1570).

Over the centuries, the Church “generated the norm of conferring the priesthood only on those who have already received the diaconate and exercised it appropriately” (Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons, 3). Thus, as a man preparing for the priesthood, I was ordained a transitional deacon at the Basilica of Saint Peter, Vatican City State, on April 6, 1989. On the other hand, the permanent diaconate – to which Gary aspires – is, as the name implies, a stable state that does not terminate in priestly ordination. This permanent diaconate can be conferred on married men and has always been maintained by the Churches of the East. It was the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) that restored the permanent diaconate “as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium, 29) in the Latin Church.

Let us pray for Gary and for all those men from around our Diocese who have discerned that God may be calling them to service as deacons.

Saint Peter, pray for us!

Father Kevin C. Louis