Bishop DeGrood's Column Archives - Page 2 of 2

Hope is a gift from God

Bishop DeGrood's Column, May 2020

01May 2020 by rkranz

For much of my life I tried to muster up enough hope in others, myself and even God. Only after years of trying so hard the wrong way have I come to learn and appreciate that if my hope is in God I will NEVER be disappointed. St. Paul made this point explicitly when he wrote that “hope does not disappoint.” Why? He went on: “because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). A few years ago I was struggling to have hope that the challenges we were faced with in my home diocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis would turn out for the good. I remember on one of my days of recollection…

Our Lenten trial of coronavirus

April 2020, Bishop DeGrood's Column

01Apr 2020 by rkranz

One never knows what sort of trials, sufferings, disappointments or illnesses may come our way. This year it is the coronavirus which provides us a great opportunity to turn to God, ask for His help and offer our sufferings to God as an act of love in a joyful way. How do we do this? In this context the words written by St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians are especially striking: “I rejoice in my sufferings” (Col 1:24). He rejoices in his sufferings? For most of us, pain and suffering are things to be avoided at all costs, and yet St. Paul wrote to the Colossians in the mid-first century—and to us today—that he not only endured his sufferings for good reason, but he rejoiced in them. Why…

God given desire to be a holy bishop as your shepherd

Bishop DeGrood's Column, March 2020

01Mar 2020 by rkranz

It is a great gift to be able to greet you, the people of the diocese of Sioux Falls, in this my first Bishop’s Bulletin column. Through this means I hope to be able to share my thoughts with you on matters important to our faith journey. Let us travel towards heaven together. There is a great saying that says, “Where the shepherd goes so does the flock.” If my heart is not set on fire with the love of God, how could I possibly lead you to the love of God and ultimately to heaven? If I am not focused on God’s will, how can I in turn teach you how to follow God’s will? If my end goal isn’t heaven to be with all of you, God, and…