Ascension & Assignments - May 21, 2023

Happy Ascension of the Lord! I usually think of mission when I think of the Ascension. Jesus ascends to Heaven, but gives us the command to carry on His mission of saving souls, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19–20)

The mission is for all of us. However, the clergy of the Church have a special role, and we do have to “go” where the mission takes us (where we are assigned) and it is that time of year. So here is the latest news:

Fr. Greg Hammes, me, will remain in his assignment as pastor of Prince of Peace (and associate director of the permanent diaconate). I am happy about this. I have been here 3 years and truly hope to stay for many years.

Fr. Andrew Gaffney, remains here at Prince of Peace, but he will be shifting to full time here as associate pastor, and will discontinue as chaplain for St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Those were two huge assignments, so it will be great to have Fr. Andrew here full time.

Fr. Francis Hund, remains as well. His main duty is Minister for Priests. His role here at Prince of Peace is senior associate in residence, which I think means he helps here, but he can do as he wants and not as the pastor wants—at least that is how he expresses his role to me :) However, you may not see Fr. Francis as much this summer. For June and July he will be covering weekends at Sacred Heart, Emporia, so he won’t be around POP much.

Benjamin Reinhart, our seminarian intern, will be completing his time with us in about one week. Benjamin has discerned the Lord is calling him to do special needs ministry, and that he will be leaving diocesan priesthood formation. We are immensely grateful for Benjamin’s time and faithful service here. Please pray for him.

Andrew Cunningham, a son of the parish, son of Steve and Lisa Cunningham, has been accepted in seminary formation for the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Kansas City, KS. This is wonderful news! Andrew grew up here and has been involved in many ways here. Please pray for him.

Jarrad Condreay, is a current seminarian of the Archdiocese, and he will have a brief summer internship with us, June 23rd - July 23rd. We look forward to hosting him. More to come!

Fr. John Muriungi, is a priest of Kenya and a friend of mine. I’ve hosted him twice in the past elsewhere. He will be coming to visit and staying here at Prince of Peace - June 10th - July 13th. He will be doing some ministry here, but also looking for a little recreation and experience of the U.S.—so if you have any field trips planned during that time, I’d be grateful if you’d consider inviting him.

In other news, Aaron Waldeck, will be ordained a deacon for the Archdiocese this weekend at Sacred Heart, Shawnee. He will, God-willing, be ordained a priest next year. And, next week Saturday, May 27th, POP will be hosting the ordination of three new priests—Dcns. Colm Larkin, Timothy Skoch, and George Rhodes. The new Fr. George Rhodes, a son of the parish who grew up here and went through our school, will be having his first Mass here Sunday, May 28th at 11am. So exciting!!!

Of course, I’d be amiss to not mention our wonderful permanent deacons. Deacons Dan Ondracek, Mike Denning, and Justin Reuter remain at POP in active service. I am so grateful for their help.

That is a lot of mission going on. But do not forget that this is just a handful of clergy-ish folks, whereas POP has MANY faithful parishioners who go on mission everyday in the home and outside the home. Thank you for bringing the Gospel to the world.

 

Peace,
Fr. Greg