This Month’s Bishop’s Bulletin

Bishop DeGrood’s Column

God’s greatness shines through our humility

God’s greatness shines through our humility

Bishop DeGrood's Column, January 2021
01Jan 2021 by rkranz
When I think of humility as I look back on my 55 years of life, what stirs in my heart and mind is how much humble people and our humble God have inspired me. I think of my parents who came from humble beginnings in farm families trying to get settled in America. Neither of them liked having to speak in public or be on church committees, but they loved just being on the farm doing their daily tasks as farmers. As country school students for most of their education years and the need to work hard to get ahead, they learned the value of humble beginnings, humble lifestyles, and a humble disposition before God. When I think of humility, I think of my severely disabled uncle Donnie who humbly…
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Fr. Mike Griffin’s Column

It has been a gift

It has been a gift

December 2020, Fr. Mike Griffin's Column
01Dec 2020 by rkranz
When I was a senior at Aberdeen Central High School, I was the editor of the school newspaper, “The Blue and Gold.” My dad, at the time, was the editor of the city newspaper, “The Aberdeen American News,” so most people assumed I was active in journalism due to my dad, but there is also a good chance that it was because my sister Christy was the editor of “The Blue and Gold” when she was a senior. It might have been family tradition, but there is something to be said for sibling competition as well. Either way, when I enrolled at South Dakota State University I declared print journalism as my major. I enjoyed the classes and the internships; I was fascinated by the history of journalism and the…
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This Month’s Featured Story

The virtue of humility: Learning to surrender to our littleness

The virtue of humility: Learning to surrender to our littleness

Featured, January 2021
01Jan 2021 by rkranz
By Renae Kranz Pride is a sneaky sin. It’s the sin of the Fall in the Garden of Eden. It creeps around seeking the ruin of souls. It seems like pride would be easy to recognize since it’s considered by many to be the root of sin, but it’s surprisingly stealthy in its manifestations. One way we often see it is when we think to ourselves, “I can do this on my own.” Or it could be, “I don’t need God for this.” Or even, “Look at all the good I’ve done.” It’s an easy trap to fall into—we want to be our own god. This was the sin of Adam and Eve, and it continues to be our biggest downfall. God didn’t leave us without an antidote, however. There…
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Local News

St. Wenceslaus Parish receives donation at the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association quadrennial convention

Local, March 2020
28Feb 2020 by rkranz
The First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association (FCSLA) awarded one million dollars in donations to qualified programs/projects which comply with keeping the vision of the Association. Donations were awarded during the 42nd Quadrennial Convention in October in Tampa, Florida. St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church of Tabor, South Dakota was the recipient of one of the donations given at the convention. Father Anthony Urban, center, pastor of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Tabor, receives the Donation check from FCSLA National Auditor Dennis L. Povondra on the right and FCSLA Branch W093 member Mark Povondra on the left. A donation was also received in 2015 and both donations were and will be used for upgrades and repairs to the Catholic school building and the Catholic church in Tabor. FCSLA with over 110,000 members in…
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Bishop Hoch Scholarships help make private college attainable

Local, March 2020
28Feb 2020 by rkranz
Private Catholic colleges offer great opportunities for their students. To make the tuition more affordable, the Diocese of Sioux Falls offers the Bishop Hoch Scholarship program, a $1,000 scholarship given to one student in each of its seven deaneries every year. The scholarships can be used to attend either Mount Marty College in Yankton or Presentation College in Aberdeen in the next academic year. The awards can be used by new students, current students and non-traditional students. Margaret Barnett, parishioner at St. John the Baptist in Wagner, was awarded one of the scholarships last year. She is majoring in biology at Mount Marty College in Yankton and says the scholarship has helped her focus on her studies instead of worrying about tuition all the time. She chose Mount Marty after…
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Lenten Retreat

February 2020, Local
19Feb 2020 by rkranz
A Lenten Retreat, “Renewing Our Baptism through the Lenten Scriptures” will be offered February 29, 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Benedictine Peace Center, Sacred Heart Monastery, in Yankton. Presentations by Sisters Doris Oberembt and Mary Jo Polak, times of silence and table discussion will help you enter more deeply into the Scriptures proclaimed at our Sunday liturgies. These Scriptures shape our Lenten journey so we can renew our baptismal commitment in the joy of Easter. To inquire about an appropriate donation or to register by February 26, call 605-668-6292 or email BenedictinePeaceCtr@ yanktonbenedictines.org.
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Celebrate Advent at Mount Marty’s free annual Vespers Concert

December 2019, Local
03Dec 2019 by rkranz
The Mount Marty College Music Department and Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery invite the community to their 37th annual Vespers concert on Saturday, December 7 at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The performances will take place in the Bishop Marty Memorial Chapel, located on the Mount Marty Campus in Yankton. Vespers is free and open to the public, and no tickets will be required for admittance. Vespers will feature Scripture reading and prayer in addition to songs and instrumental works of the Advent and Christmas season, including hymns and traditional English, Irish, and Polish carols. Pieces will be performed by the Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery Schola and Mount Marty College’s Concert Band, Chamber Singers, Choral Union, and pop a cappella ensemble, Smooth Benediction. Between performances, the Mount Marty Gregorian…
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Bulletin Extras

Pope Francis proclaims Year of St. Joseph

Bulletin Extras, January 2021
01Jan 2021 by rkranz
(CNA) - Pope Francis announced a Year of St. Joseph on Dec. 8 in honor of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as patron of the Universal Church. The year begins Dec. 8, 2020, and concludes on Dec. 8, 2021, according to a decree authorized by the pope. The decree said Francis had established a Year of St. Joseph so “every member of the faithful, following his example, may strengthen their life of faith daily in the complete fulfillment of God’s will.” It added that the pope had granted special indulgences to mark the year. The Dec. 8 decree was issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees indulgences, and signed by the Major Penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, and the Regent, Msgr. Krzysztof Nykiel.…
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U.S. bishops approve use of coronavirus vaccines with ‘remote connection’ to abortion

Bulletin Extras, January 2021
01Jan 2021 by rkranz
(CNA) - The United States bishops’ conference has said that Catholics can take two of the three available COVID-19 vaccines, even though they were developed with a “remote connection” to “morally compromised” cell lines. In a statement released Dec. 14, the bishops also said it is morally permissible in some circumstances to receive a third vaccine, developed in close connection with aborted cell lines, but that Catholics cannot allow the pandemic to “desensitize” or “weaken our determination” to oppose the evil of abortion. Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, the chair of the USCCB’s doctrine committee, and Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s pro-life activities committee, outlined their concerns about the vaccines in statement dated Dec. 11 and published on Dec. 14. “In…
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Pope Francis names Father Michel Mulloy of Diocese of Rapid City as bishop of Duluth

Bulletin Extras, June 2020
19Jun 2020 by rkranz
WASHINGTON—Pope Francis has appointed Father Michel Mulloy, a priest of the Diocese of Rapid City and current Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Rapid City as the Bishop of Duluth. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on June 19, 2020 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. The Diocese of Duluth has been a vacant see since December 2019. Bishop-elect Mulloy was born on May 20, 1954 in Mobridge, South Dakota. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Humanities from St. Mary University in Winona, Minnesota. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Sioux Falls on June 8, 1979. After ordination, Father Mulloy was assigned to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Diocese of Rapid City (1979-1981). He…
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Knights of Columbus founder Father Michael McGivney moves closer to sainthood

Bulletin Extras, May 2020
28May 2020 by rkranz
Father Michael J. McGivney in "Founding Vision" by Antonella Cappuccio. ROME – The Vatican announced May 27 that Pope Francis approved the promulgation of a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of the founder of the Knights of Columbus, Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, a Connecticut priest who served his flock during the pandemic of 1890, before himself becoming ill and dying of pneumonia. The pope’s action means that Father McGivney can be declared “Blessed,” the step just prior to sainthood. An additional miracle attributed to Father McGivney’s intercession will be required for his canonization as a saint. McGivney is best known for founding the Knights of Columbus in 1882. Nearly a century before the Second Vatican Council, his prescient vision empowered the laity…
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Pope Francis names Father Peter Muhich of Diocese of Duluth as bishop of Rapid City

Bulletin Extras, May 2020
12May 2020 by rkranz
WASHINGTON—Pope Francis has named Father Peter M. Muhich, a priest of the Diocese of Duluth, as the Bishop of Rapid City. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on May 12, 2020, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. The Diocese of Rapid City has been a vacant see since July 2019. Bishop-elect Muhich was born on May 13, 1961, and ordained to the priesthood on September 29, 1989, for the Diocese of Duluth. Father Muhich attended Eveleth High School in Eveleth, MN and University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, MN. He studied theology at American College of Louvain in Belgium. Father Muhich’s assignments in the Diocese of Duluth after ordination include: parochial vicar at St. Francis Parish in Brainerd (1989-1991); parochial vicar at St. Joseph,…
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