Priest Appreciation Day
By Mary Jeppson
The Catholic Daughters of the Americas has designated Sunday, June 7th as Priest Appreciation Day. To appreciate is to be fully aware of the value and importance of him being among us. “Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time.” (CCC 1536) In recent times there has been a decline in men answering the call. There can be many reasons for this decline however, it can be said if the family is strong and the parishes are strong then a culture from which vocations come can be created.
The Diocese of La Crosse is continuing to work on the pastoral planning committee’s contingency plan in which they will be able to serve our parishes with fewer priests while promoting vocations along with other priests and parents.
In the meantime, our diocese has a number of foreign priests who have come to the United States to serve the people. It amazed me when I heard the majority of the priests did not speak English when they came to America to serve us. Not only were they willing to take on a different type of parish life and culture but they had to learn the language first to be able to do their vocation.
Being appreciative is showing gratitude. Our priest from Poland, Father Janusz Kowalski has served St. Therese Parish for seven years as of June 4th, 2009. He has brought much to our parish and continues to do what is expected of him as a priest. For the past three years he has worked through the Bishops to bring other priests from Poland to assist him with his duties. This year we have Father Henryk Wos as an associate. For those who have gotten acquainted with Fr. Henryk the time has gone too fast. Our parish is also blessed with having Father Donald Berg as our helpout priest! Without priests there would be NO EUCHARIST. We need to pray for vocations and our priests.
On June 14th Father Janusz will celebrate his 20th Anniversary to the Priesthood. This is our opportunity to show appreciation for his willingness to answer the call to serve God’s people.