By A.M. Kelley
Superior Catholic Herald
Joyous family members attend ordination
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(Catholic Herald photo by A.M. Kelley) |
SUPERIOR -- Patty Anderson watched Bishop Peter Christensen ordain Ed Anderson, her son, into the priesthood on June 29. She traveled with her husband Carl, a fragile 90-year-old, from their farm in South Dakota for the ceremony.
It wasn't the first ordination in the Anderson family. Another of their sons has been a priest of the Diocese of Sioux Falls since 1984. One of their daughters is a member of a religious community in Connecticut, the Sisters of Charity of Our Mother of the Church. After seeing her eldest child receive the sacrament of holy orders, Patty Anderson shared some touching words.
"We're so happy to have three vocations in the family," she said. "We're just little farmers, from a little farm. You can hardly believe it."
In spite of her astonishment, the mother of seven did not falter when asked to explain this remarkable accomplishment.
"God calls who he desires," she said.
In his homily, Christensen said that when men are thus called and answer, it follows that they are equipped with five necessary gifts: faith, hope, courage, love and joy.
"To bring joy, the fire of the Gospel must burn within you," he said.
There was no shortage of joy during or after the two-and-one-half hour ceremony at the Cathedral of Christ the King. Anderson, 55, shared the day with fellow Deacon Mike McLain, who was also ordained a priest, and seminarians Bill Brenna, Don Kania and Perry Koeppen, who became transitional deacons.
Even though McLain is 57 years old, he said at a reception afterwards in Kress Hall, that he was sure to have a long career ahead as a priest--at least 43 years.
"I'm going to live to be 100," he said.
Tim McLain, his brother from Sycamore, Ill., was one of the day's readers, and his twin sister, Mary Armond, came from Georgia for the occasion. The McLains' parents are deceased but there were many supporters with him on the first day of his 43-year run.
Several families drove to Superior from their homes in Missouri. A Chicago native, McLain lived in Independence, Mo., for many years. He was married to Chris McDermott for 29 years--she died in 2001 of kidney cancer--and the couple raised two children there, Michael, who now lives in Wisconsin, and Tina, of Kansas.
Missourian Josilynn Weilert and her son, Riley attended the ordination. She said that McLain and his wife were her teachers in confirmation and RCIA classes and wanted to come to the ordination because, "he was also a good friend."
Many family members and friends of both of the ordinands participated in the Mass. They included Joanne Thiel, from St. Joseph Parish in Osceola, and Sr. Mary Jacinta Anderson, SCMC.
Anderson has six daughters, who range in age from 35 to 26 from two annulled marriages . They are Catina Zuelch, Lucia Elmblad (Duane), Brandi Hansen (Jason), Julia Novak (Tony), Laura Hahn, and Shanna Zuelch. He also has seven grandchildren.
McLain celebrated his first Mass, called a Mass of Thanksgiving, on Monday at the cathedral, the day after the ordination. He will serve as a parochial vicar of these five parishes with Fr. Dean Buttrick: Holy Rosary, Mellen; St. George, Clam Lake; Most Precious Blood, Glidden; St. Anthony, Highbridge; and St. Anne, Sanborn.
Anderson traveled home to Redfield, S.D., for three Masses on July 5 and 6 at St. Bernard, the parish of his childhood. The following weekend, he'll celebrate Masses at St. Joseph in Osceola.
On July 15 he will officially begin an appointment as parochial vicar of three parishes: St. Anthony, Superior; St. Anthony, Lake Nebagamon; and St. William, Pattison Park. Phillip Runser, scheduled to be ordained a permanent deacon on Aug. 5, will assist him.
Brenna, 60, Kania, 46, and Koeppen, 27, will resume seminary studies in the fall. Brenna and Kania are enrolled at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wis., and Koeppen at Mundelein in Illinois. The three expect to be ordained priests in 2009.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2008