Author: wpadmin

Tough Love: a punishment or a gift? – Sunday TV Mass

Tough Love: a punishment or a gift? – Sunday TV Mass

Homilies
Discipline and tough love can be difficult to deal with. Regardless of whether you're on the giving or receiving end of tough love, it can be hard. It's even more difficult in today's world to give discipline and tough love because of the influences of relativism. This weekend in his homily, Bishop reflected on the tough love of his mother, and how we need discipline in our lives. He also encouraged us to embrace the gift of discipline of the laws of God so that our lives might be rightly ordered.
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The power of influences – Sunday TV Mass

The power of influences – Sunday TV Mass

Homilies
The influences of the world are all around us, and they're powerful. This weekend in his homily, Bishop DeGrood encouraged us to not grow weary, to not lose hope, or to give in to the cultural mindset of relativism. Instead, he encourages us to keep our eyes on Jesus, the perfecter of faith.
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Gifts of the Divine Creator: on being Male and Female

Gifts of the Divine Creator: on being Male and Female

Statements and Documents
Memorial of Saint John Vianney To all Catholic Faithful of the Diocese, God’s love, by its very nature, seeks the good of others through a communion of loving friendship. God created human beings with unique and complementary features as males and females. God’s love, reflected in the very order of his creation, is generative. By leading us into a communion of friendship with himself and others, divine love fulfills what we most long for. In baptism we are blessed with the very gift of God’s own spiritual life. Created in God’s image and likeness, and with the help of the grace we receive through the sacraments, we can truly live as we were made to live, sharing in the communion of loving friendship with God and others. When we receive…
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Priest Assignment Change Effective July 1 2022

Priest Assignment Change Effective July 1 2022

Officials
  Since publication of the Priest assignment changes in the June 2022 Bishop’s Bulletin, the Most Reverend Donald E. DeGrood decreed the following revision to a previous appointment given to a new ordinand and instead made the following assignment effective on July 1, 2022:   Reverend Nicholas Haiar to Parochial Vicar, Sacred Heart and St Benedict Parishes, Yankton.  Thank you for holding each of these priests and deacons in prayer as they undergo these transitions in their ministry.   [icon name="file-pdf-o" class="" unprefixed_class=""]View Printable Official Statement
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Statement of the Bishops of South Dakota on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Abortion Ruling

Statement of the Bishops of South Dakota on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Abortion Ruling

Joint Statements
June 24, 2022 Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The court’s majority overturned its prior rulings in the cases of Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), which asserted that a right to abortion exists in the U.S. constitution. The Dobbs ruling is a momentous decision that will once again allow the sanctity of life to be protected by law. We are grateful for this decision. It honors this country’s highest aspirations to be a society that secures “liberty and justice for all.” From the moment of conception, there exists a whole, separate, unique human life with an immortal soul given by God. This life is…
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Priest Assignment Changes Effective July 1 2022

Priest Assignment Changes Effective July 1 2022

Officials
  The Most Reverend Donald E. DeGrood has decreed the following appointments effective July 1, 2022: Those who will be continuing ministry as Senior Priests: Reverend Charles L. Cimpl, granted his request to retire from his assignment as Pastor, Holy Spirit, Sioux Falls. Reverend Cathal Gallagher, granted his request to retire from his assignment as Pastor, St. Paul, Marty, St. Mark, Lake Andes, and St. Paul, Armour. Reverend David Krogman, granted his request to retire from his assignment as Chaplain, Avera McKennan Hospital & University Medical Center. Those who will be serving in new pastoral and specialized/chaplaincy ministry assignments: Reverend Timothy Cone from Parochial Vicar of St. Mary and Sacred Heart Parishes and St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center, Aberdeen to Parochial Administrator of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Leola,…
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Remembering 9/11 on the 20th Anniversary

Remembering 9/11 on the 20th Anniversary

Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcT3lNJdHJg Remembering 9/11: Recommit to peace and justice As a fellow US citizen as a Catholic bishop on the Eastern side of South Dakota as we remember September 11th of 2001, many of us remember it was a great tragedy indeed. Nearly 3,000 people died that day from terrorist attacks. We think of all those families and all those souls that were lost and all those who since that time have made so many sacrifices in America and Beyond to try to protect the innocent, to try to protect life. We think of the nearly 2,300 people who died in Afghanistan, those military personnel who made sacrifices let alone all those who were affected in other ways. As we remember this sobering reality may be also be filled with a…
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Statement of the Bishops of South Dakota Regarding Covid-19 Vaccination Requirements

Statement of the Bishops of South Dakota Regarding Covid-19 Vaccination Requirements

Joint Statements
We have recently received a significant number of inquiries from the faithful concerning general requirements for some persons to receive a Covid-19 vaccination.We addressed many moral aspects of choosing a vaccine in a statement on December 30, 2020. As we said then, one may accept Covid-19 vaccines in good conscience if certain conditions are met, but doing so is not a universal moral duty. We echoed the Vatican, which explained in a doctrinal note that “practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation.” Rather, with attention to the common good, the decision to receive a Covid-19 vaccination should be discerned in light of many factors, several of which we described in that statement.Now, recent inquiries from the faithful raise the corollary question of whether…
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Preparing our Hearts to Receive God’s Love in the Blessed Sacrament

Preparing our Hearts to Receive God’s Love in the Blessed Sacrament

Statements and Documents
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, During the June General Assembly meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), I sensed in prayer I should offer some comments on whether the U.S. bishops should draft a teaching on the Eucharist. Various bishops offered their thoughts, and voting results were 168-55 to authorize the drafting of a teaching document on the Eucharist, which could then be discussed at a future USCCB meeting. As your bishop, I thought it fitting to offer you some rationale regarding the comments I made at the USCCB General Assembly. As you may be aware, a 2019 Pew Research Center survey indicated only one-third of Catholics believe the Church’s teaching on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, that is, that the Eucharist is…
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