A conversation with Bishop Michael O. Jackels

On May 28, four men – God willing – will be ordained priests to serve in the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, devoting their lives as servant leaders, teaching and forming the baptized.

This comes just a day after one more man takes a step closer to priesthood as he is ordained to the diaconate.

Here in the Diocese of Wichita we are truly blessed to have many young men pursuing priestly vocations with nearly 50 discerning a call to the priesthood each year.

We value these men trying to grow in their conviction that God is calling them to the priesthood. The glory of God is when we serve to benefit others, and a seminarian is a good reflection of that.

One minute, he’s a man seeking the ministrations of a priest for himself. The next minute others are calling him Father; offering him bread and wine and asking in return to be fed with the Holy Eucharist; confessing their sins to him in hopes of receiving absolution; looking to him for an example of how to imitate the mind and heart of Jesus so as to make progress on the pilgrimage to heaven.

Every Catholic benefits from the young men educated to serve as diocesan priests; indeed, we need priests to fully practice our faith.

Support, prayer and enthusiasm surround priesthood in general and seminarians in particular. Thanks to the generosity of the Catholic faithful, we have been able to pay the tuition, room and board for young men studying for the priesthood.

Our financial support gives a young man the freedom to go into the seminary (and to leave if he feels called to step out) without worrying about the costs. We sacrifice for these young men as they prepare for a lifetime of sacrifice for us.

Please continue to pray and support those young people who are discerning God’s will and pray for the men who will be ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood in the coming week.

Goals of the TOGETHER vision
• Strengthen the oneness between parish and diocese.
• Deepen our practice of stewardship as a way of life, sharing responsibility for the mission of the Church.
• Invite everyone to help fund seminarian education, Catholic formation programs and a renovation of the Cathedral campus.