Bishop Kevin Farrell

The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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A surge of Cistercian vocations

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Last month I had the privilege of ordaining two young men to the priesthood and three to the transitional diaconate at the Cistercian Abbey. The five ordinations reflect a surge of new vocations being experienced by the Irving community.

In August I ordained Father Augustine Hoelke and Father Philip Neri Lastimosa. Last year I ordained Cistercian Father Joseph Van House, the first monk to be ordained for the Abbey community since 1998. The three deacons ordained in August will be ordained to the priesthood next year. Five other young men are in formation either in Irving or in Rome.

Abbot Denis Farkasfalvy and other monks of the community have been aggressive in approaching young men about becoming a Cistercian. Fathers Hoelke and Lastimosa are both graduates of Cistercian Preparatory School. The three deacons all came in contact with Cistercians at the University of Dallas. The two to be ordained to the diaconate next year are both graduates of Cistercian Prep.

It is the Holy Sprit who calls men and women to a religious vocation but parents, teachers and friends are the instruments of the Spirit. This truth is amply demonstrated by the number of new vocations at the Abbey.

This is indeed a blessing for the Cistercian community and for the Church of Dallas which benefits greatly from the presence of the monks and their ministries at Cistercian Prep, the University of Dallas and in our parishes.

You may be an instrument of the Holy Spirit. Have you invited a young man or woman to consider a vocation to the priesthood or religious life?

Our new seminarians

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Monday evening I had the joy of meeting and welcoming 12 new seminarians for the Diocese of Dallas with celebration of Mass and a dinner. This year the Lord has blessed us with an even dozen, a twenty percent increase over 2009. Altogether we have 55 seminarians for the Diocese.

The annual Seminarian Convocation is underway this week as they prepare for the beginning of the academic year. Each year the number of seminarians has been increasing thanks to God and to the prayers of all the people of the Diocese who regularly pray for vocations. I also thank all or our priests who promote vocations in their parishes.

Not only do we have larger numbers of seminarians entering, we also have more approaching ordination. In 2011 we will ordain three new priests for the Diocese and in 2012 we will ordain six more.

On October 5 there will be a public welcome for all of our seminarians at the Fairmont Hotel, I urge you all to join in welcoming these fine young men. Contact Holy Trinity Seminary for information.

Most of all I urge you to continue your prayers for our seminarians and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Without prayer there will be no vocations.

Priests are made not born

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To ordain a new priest is one of the great joys of a Bishop. On June 5 I will have the privilege of ordaining two new priests for the Church of Dallas, Marco Polo Rangel and John Michael Szatkowski. Marco and John have spent years in preparation for and in anticipation of this occasion. I would like to reflect on what brought them to this moment.

Priests are made not born. That is not to say they are not called by God to priestly ministry. It is a question of how the call is nurtured. Grace builds upon nature. In the call to priesthood one might say that the grace of the call is built upon the nature of one’s family.

Historically our Catholic culture has been a culture that nourished vocations. Sadly, in some cases, that is no longer the case. Instead of discerning the movement of the Holy Spirit in their child and nurturing it lovingly and carefully, the Spirit is often quenched through disinterest and even discouragement.

The ordination of Marco and John will not only be an occasion of great joy to their parents, but a witness of how the Catholic culture of the Rangels and the Szatkowskis not only discerned God’s call in their sons, but nurtured the spark of priestly vocation and fanned into flame. May God bless them for their gift, not only of their sons, but for providing the foundation upon which God’s grace flourished.

As for Marco and John, they are to be commended for discerning their call in the midst of the din of our society and persevering in their pursuit of the priesthood. They have reached the end of one journey and the beginning of a new and far more challenging one. May God’s grace sustain them in their priesthood!

I ask God’s continued blessings on the ordinands and their families.

An end and a new beginning

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It was a magnificent day! Yesterday was a day of special blessing for the Church of Dallas. The Cathedral was overflowing for the inspiring liturgy that culminated in the ordinations of Bishop J. Douglas Deshsotel and Bishop Mark Seitz.

Please be sure to read the wonderful coverage in the Texas Catholic this week and view the video and other features at www.TexasCatholictv.com. Blogs are brief and my thoughts on the event are more fully expressed in my homily at the ordination Mass. (Link at bottom of page) Excellent coverage with fine pictures was also provided by the Dallas Morning News.

Two cardinals honored the event by their presence, Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington D.C., and Daniel Cardinal Dinardo of Galveston-Houston. Archbishop José Gomez of San Antonio (soon to be Co-adjutor Archbishop of Los Angeles), Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe., who was rector of Holy Trinity Seminary when the ordinands were seminarians, Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza, Archbishop Emeritus of Galveston-Houston were present as was Cistercian Abbot Denis Farkasfalvy.

In addition to about 30 other bishops and several hundred priests and deacons, hundreds of friends and relatives filled the cathedral and overflowed into a tent outside. The event was especially meaningful for the families of Bishop Deshotel and Bishop Seitz, who came in large numbers to witness the ordination and celebrate with pride having their very own bishop.

To the scores who worked to make the day such a success, I am particularly grateful. For the Pastoral Center staff, the Catholic Foundation, Knights of Columbus, Council of Catholic Women and the staff of the Cathedral, months of hard work paid off with a spectacular day. It was very happy ending to their efforts.

For the two new bishops, it was not the end but just the beginning. As I noted at the ceremony, to be ordained a bishop means that your life is irrevocably changed – indeed changed forever – changed in ways that you do not yet know but in ways that are all according to God’s divine will and often paradoxical providence.

They have been good priests, they will be good bishops, as shepherds their Episcopal ministry will be to lead, not goad, inspire, not shame, encourage, not rebuke the sheep that comprise the pilgrim church on earth.

Our hearts and our prayers are with them both.

Click Here for Full text of Bishop Homily