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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Bishop DeGrood — Pre-ordination vespers

Bishop-elect Donald DeGrood addresses the congregation at his pre-ordination vespers service Feb. 12 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. COURTESY MICHAEL G. BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY

A time to pray for submission to God’s will

“Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like.” James 1:22-24.

Joining family, friends, clergy, and religious men and women at his pre-ordination vespers service, Bishop-elect Donald DeGrood reflected on the call to do God’s will, even when it is difficult.

“I think of all the times in my life I intended to do something, desired to do something” but didn’t follow through, Bishop-elect DeGrood said in his homily Feb. 12, the evening before being ordained bishop of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Expanding on James 1:19-25, which addresses acting on God’s word and was read at vespers, he said God is present to help, and the Lord invites people to conform more closely to his will. But prayers for God’s strength must include a willingness to act.

“It must be something that moves from the mind and is acted upon,” he said.

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Sometimes action takes the form of prayer and apparent inaction, Bishop-elect DeGrood said. He told the congregation at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Sioux Falls about a telephone call he received more than an hour before vespers began. It was from a priest he greatly admired, his pastor while growing up as a member of St. Lawrence in Faribault, Father Francis Pouliot, who has been retired from full-time ministry since 2005.

Voice weakened by Parkinson’s, Father Pouliot thanked the bishop-elect for taking the call. He said he wanted to be present for the ordination, but his health wouldn’t allow it, Bishop-elect DeGrood said.

“He said, ‘We must do God’s will,’” Bishop-elect DeGrood said.

They discussed how it was God’s will that Father Pouliot be home, but present in spirit, much like the communion of saints are an unseen but active presence.

“He was my inspiration: a simple, humble, country priest,” Bishop-elect DeGrood said. “It is what I have desired to be. And yet ­— I should have never answered that phone,” he continued, smiling ruefully, referring to the telephone call he received in December from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to the United States, telling him of his appointment as bishop.

Again, there comes a time to act, whether it means staying back or pushing forward, Bishop-elect DeGrood said.

“Brothers and sisters, as we celebrate this solemn vigil tonight, as we take time before the Lord, let’s pray for the grace to let the Lord configure our hearts to his own, so that his will is done in our life, whatever that is, whatever the ask.

“Even to be home, in a small apartment, of a priest who had such an impact on my life. Knowing this is God’s will for him. He is here with us. God is with us,” he said.

“Let us give glory and honor to God and pray for the grace to put into practice what the Lord stirs in our hearts.”

 


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