I am writing this column while leading the canonical retreat for the 11 transitional deacons, including four for our diocese, from St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee.

Every deacon must do a spiritual retreat to prepare for his ordination to the priesthood, and I am blessed to be with these men in this moment of grace.

In my talks, I focus on Jesus Christ as Priest, Prophet, and King, on the Paschal Mystery and the priest as a servant of this saving Gospel, on the Eucharist, and on how the priest is called to give his life in sacrificial service for God’s beloved flock.

I try to offer practical insights as well; as you may expect, the deacons are filled with enthusiasm and joy as well as maybe a little anxiety as priestly ordination looms ever closer.

On fire for Christ

In leading this annual retreat for a decade now, I have come to admiration and gratitude for the young men whom the Lord is calling to be priests in these challenging years.

They are very committed to their vocation, profoundly dedicated to prayer and spiritual growth, want to live the priesthood well, and are eager to begin their ministry.

They often have a maturity of spiritual insight beyond their years, perhaps because they have all had to swim upstream against a secular culture to find their way to the seminary.

I know you join me in professing gratitude and offering prayer for our priests.

They have a challenging responsibility, preaching the Gospel to an often indifferent or hostile culture, being available to serve people in a total and constant way, moving through various emotional situations, from the joy of Baptisms to the grief of funerals, with calm and poise, and leading our parishes and parishioners through both our Go Make Disciples evangelizing initiative and the restructuring of Into the Deep.

Our priests are zealous, generous, obedient, and prayerful, wanting to celebrate the sacraments well, preach effectively, and bring everyone to Christ.

They navigate the challenges and difficulties of their ministry most often with patience and perseverance, relying on the grace of the Holy Spirit and the prayers of the people they serve.

As their bishop, I love, admire, pray for, and thank God for our priests. We would be lost without them.

They feed us with the Eucharist, offer God’s forgiveness, teach our children, explain the Faith, visit us in our sickness, and prepare us for death.

They are with us in the most poignant, joyful, sorrowful, and essential moments of life.

Personal encounter

When my brother Patrick died, one of my family’s parish vicars walked down to our house in the rain and simply sat with my parents for a few hours, listening and consoling them.

My father and mother talked about that moment for the rest of their lives. The impact of a priest’s simple presence, the effect of his words, the power of his gestures flow, not from himself but from Christ, and the grace of the priesthood to which he has been ordained and given his life in humble service.

I am grateful to Fr. Jared Holzhuter, our director of vocations, for his good work in promoting and supporting vocations in the Diocese of Madison.

Pray for vocations

Pray for our priests and seminarians. Encourage and thank them. Compliment them when they have done something well. Support them. Volunteer to help with things in the parish as you can. They do not have easy lives, and a little loving kindness can go a long way.

Also pray for an increase in priestly vocations for our diocese. Can you commit to praying one “Hail Mary” a day for this intention? Think of the power of that.

Finally, are there young people in your life whom you can encourage to consider a priestly or Religious vocation?

Maybe just a word of encouragement or invitation from you may lead them to the life God is preparing for them.

Our Lady, Mother of priests, pray for them and us!