Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity share a few more memories and words of support for Bishop Daniel J. Felton, newly consecrated as the Bishop of the Diocese of Duluth. If you missed our Franciscan ‘good news’ yesterday, click here.
An Impromptu Vocation Message
Sr. Catherine Gilles, OSF recalls: “The setting is St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Marshall in Manitowoc at a 4:30 p.m. Saturday Mass. Coincidentally three or four of us Mackville Sisters happened to be attending. And though we had arrived separately we were seated together towards the front of the Church. The pastor, who is now Bishop Dan Felton- also from Mackville, was the celebrant and there was some kind of small youth group in front. So Dan took advantage of the situation to have us stand and be introduced as all from his home parish, Mackville. He followed that with the challenge of “shouldn’t there be even more vocations from this large parish than there are from little Mackville?”
Diocese of Green Bay Ministry
Sr. Pam Biehl shares her own connections with bishop elect in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and again in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in this interview with The Compass, the Diocese of Green Bay official newspaper.
Read more: Friends: Bishop Felton’s ‘heart of a pastor’ will serve him well | The Compass (thecompassnews.org)
In these latter years, our Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Sponsored Ministries Inc. was also blessed with the presence of Fr. Dan on the Holy Family College board. He assisted the organization with his many gifts, one of which was being a skillful auctioneer at more than one fund raising event. God uses all our talents.
Franciscan Sisters Celebrations
When our Community celebrated our 125th and 150th founding anniversary, Fr. Dan was also gracious to come and be with us encouraging us to provide present and future generations with reasons for living and hoping. (At the 150th celebration he and Bishop David Ricken were kind to offer hospitality to Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre when he accepted our invitation for Community liturgy. (We feel this was a significant moment then and now.). Indeed, we continue to pray, that Bishop Dan, too, will ever be a generous and loving herald of Christ’s message in his new ministry to the people of God in the Diocese of Duluth.