12
Ten Active Years
Diaconate
With the Permanent Diaconate Class of 2009 Deacon Bob Yerhot
Assistant Director of the Diaconate byerhot@dowr.org
This photo of the newly ordained Class of 2009 appeared on the cover of the Courier's September 2009 issue. Credit: Bruce Defries
Deacon Richard Aho is assigned to St. Augustine Parish and St. Edward Parish in Austin. Deacon Aho is active in various parish and community ministries as he is able, and is particularly active in prayer and witness ministry.
Deacon Vern Behrends is assigned to St. Mary's parish in Worthington. Deacon Vern's varied ministries include: preaching on a regular basis; coordinating RCIA; pre-marriage preparation; baptism preparation; planning and officiating funeral liturgies; committals; visiting the sick; mentoring diaconate candidates; officiating at weddings and baptisms; working at the local food shelf as a volunteer and a board member; and training ushers, lectors, and communion ministers. He also, on request, has assisted other parishes in the western part of our diocese as needed. Deacon David Blake was formerly assigned to Queen of Angels Parish in Austin; he is now on assignment in the Diocese of Orange, CA, where he serves at St. Norbert Parish in Orange. He ministers at the altar and is very active in jail ministry, which includes communion services, counseling, RCIA, baptism and confirmation preparation of inmates. He conducts wake services at several funeral homes and presides at graveside internments. He is a spiritual advisor for the Knights of Columbus.
October, 2019 w The Courier w dowr.org
Deacon David Dose is assigned to St. Mary of the Lake Parish in Lake City and St. Patrick Parish in West Albany. Deacon Dose's ministries have included: assisting at Masses on weekends, preaching monthly, baptism preparation, marriage preparation, RCIA, visiting the sick and homebound, assisting widows with household needs, assisting the local CCW, serving on the parish volunteer team, communion services at a nursing home, officiating at baptisms, and occasionally officiating at weddings. He also is a groundskeeper at St. Patrick's and assists retired priests in their transportation needs. Deacon Dose serves on the pastoral council of his parishes as an ad hoc member.
Deacon Preston Doyle is assigned to Sacred Heart Parish in Waseca, where he helped start a new St. Vincent de Paul conference, which he now serves as a spiritual advisor and conference moderator. Deacon Doyle assists Fr. Gregory Leif at liturgies at Sacred Heart Parish and preaches at Mass. He also visits weekly the homebound and residents of the Mapleton Community Home, where he also occasionally presides at communion services. He serves as the treasurer on the board of directors for Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota. Deacon Eduardo Fortini serves in the Diocese of Lexington, KY, as the coordinator of Hispanic ministry and director of a diocesan formation program, Discipulos M i s i o n e r o s . Partnering with the McGrath Institute, the University of Notre Dame, and the diocesan lay ministry program, Discipulos Misioneros is a prerequisite to the permanent diaconate program.
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his August 22, the Diocese of WinonaRochester's Permanent Diaconate Class of 2009 celebrated 10 years as deacons. Here is how they've been living out their vocation: Deacon John Hust is assigned to St. Felix Parish in Wabasha and St. Agnes Parish in Kellogg, where he celebrates baptisms and weddings outside of Mass, funeral rites outside of Mass, and graveside interments. He has a preaching ministry on a monthly basis in the parishes. Other parish responsibilities include organizing homebound ministry, teaching Confirmation classes, visiting the elderly and sick, leading a couples' group, marriage preparation and a charismatic prayer group. He is an associate chaplain at St. Elizabeth Hospital, where he offers weekly meditations on the Sunday scripture readings. His diaconal ministry also occurs in the Faribault State Prison and the Federal Medical Center in Rochester. He is the moderator for charismatic renewal in the diocese, a member of the planning committee for Unbound Ministry and active in St. Paul Street Evangelization, and he has taken mission trips to Kenya with Renewal Ministries for several years. Deacon Chris Orlowski is assigned to Pax Christi Parish in Rochester. His ministry experiences include preaching on a regular basis; visiting the sick; and serving as spiritual director for Christian Experience Weekends, Sunday Meal Ministry at a neighboring parish, and the Knights of Columbus. Deacon Orlowski is among those who have helped establish and maintain the Pax Christi Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society for the past eight years.
Deacon Christopher Walchuk currently serves in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis at St. Andrew Parish in Elysian and Holy Trinity Parish in Waterville. As a deacon, he visits the
sick in area hospitals and nursing homes, brings Holy Communion to shut-ins, and provides adult education classes. He serves at liturgies including Mass, baptisms and weddings. Deacon Walchuk has a regular preaching schedule. He teaches in the Institute of Lay Formation in the Diocese of WinonaRochester and has speaking engagements at various parishes for teen and adult education.
Deacon Joseph Weigel is assigned to Holy Spirit Parish in Rochester. Deacon Weigel is a spiritual advisor and active member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a FOCCUS facilitator, a prayer minister and facilities team member for the Steubenville North Catholic Youth Conferences, and a 40 Days for Life coordinator. He also regularly offers Word-Communion services at Homestead Senior Rehabilitation and Living Center in Rochester, wakes and graveside services, and he preaches frequently at daily and weekend Masses at the parish, and celebrates baptisms and weddings.
Deacon Bob Yerhot is assigned to Crucifixion Parish in La Crescent, St. Patrick Parish in Brownsville and Holy Cross Parish in Dakota. He is also the assistant director of the diaconate for the diocese, responsible for post-ordination formation of deacons and their wives. Deacon Yerhot sits on the editorial board for the Josephinum Diaconal Review and is active in the National Association of Diaconate Directors in Region VIII.