Pilgrims are joined by the Sisters of Mary Morning Star, Bishop Zielinski, and artist Damien Walker on the walk from Marshall to Ghent.
by Bishop Chad W. Zielinski
On December 29, 2024, Pope Francis invited all bishops to launch the Jubilee of Hope in their respective dioceses with a celebration of Mass in their Cathedral Church. Our Holy Father had no idea that during this Year of Jubilee of Hope God would call him to his eternal rest.
Pope Francis has preached countless times that our Hope is in the person of Christ, risen from the dead, from whom we encounter and receive a pouring forth of mercy and forgiveness. Christ draws close to us most intimately in the sacramental life of the Church, urging us on with hopeful confidence that he passionately desires that we share eternal life with him. Our Hope as Christians is in the Risen Christ – in his rising from the dead, in his continual rising in each one of us, transforming us and his Mystical Body, filling us with great confidence when all may seem darkened, abandoned, and lost. It is a hope like no other hope that has triumphed over sin and death, a hope that stands victorious. It is a hope that pierces through the locked doors of fear, breathing forth the very person of the Holy Spirit, “peace be with you,” with the command to forgive sins. The disciples, who were confused, lost, and fearful, encountered peaceful and courageous hope that filled them with a holy order.
The same Holy Spirit came to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was bathed in prevenient grace, opening her entire body, mind, and soul to receive the Word made flesh. Her encounter with the Holy Spirit ignited a new order, a holy order with an unstained “Yes” – the New Eve. This movement and new order launched her into action. In haste, Mary, the living Tabernacle, moved on a pilgrimage to Elizabeth. Her maternal greeting, as the new Mother of All the Living, stirred deeply, rousting John the Baptist in the womb. He rejoiced before the Ark of the New Covenant, our Tabernacle of Hope.
Mary has come to our diocese in a most unique encounter as Our Lady of the Prairie. Her maternal beauty reflects that she is the Mother of all peoples, of all cultures. She holds her Son, raising his hand in blessing to our diocese. It is he who offers himself on Holy Thursday, united to the Sacrifice on Calvary, risen to be represented here today as the Bread of Life, the Apostolic Church held firmly in the right hand of Our Lady of the Prairie.
During the 27-weeks leading up to the recent Pilgrimage of Hope, we were invited to intensify our prayers for vocations to the priesthood and for our priests, who recently claimed Mary, Our Lady of the Prairie, as their Mother. I ask for your prayers to Our Lady for both me and our priests. Pray that her Son transforms our hearts to his priestly heart, that it be rightly ordered leading the flock in a newly ordered holiness brightly shining with God’s beauty, goodness and truth.
During the Pilgrimage of Hope, Our Lady of the Prairie led seven dedicated young adult pilgrims for nine days. Young men and women! Thanks for your “Yes” to Mary and Jesus. Thank you for your “Yes” to move forward in haste in this new Holy Order in the Diocese of New Ulm. As disciples, witnessing the holy and healing presence of her Son you courageously moved with Our Lady of the Prairie who has come to this diocese to usher in a new era of Hope, Healing, and Peace as well as a new season of grace. She will lead some young men to hear the words of her Son, “Come follow me; I will make you disciples, fishers of men,” to serve at the sacrifice of the Mass through Holy Orders, unleashing a new order through the river of grace flowing from the Sacred Body and Blood of Jesus. She will lead young women to consecrate themselves to a particular religious charism in serving and making holy the Mystical Body of Christ. Through poverty, chastity, and obedience, their consecration will transform a world, filling hearts with renewed joy. A holy joy!
Brothers and sisters, we have the pearl of great price buried deeply in the hearts of the faithful in this diocese. Our Lady will fan the flame of the Holy Spirit to identify, invite, and ignite a thirst for vocations.
Please join Our Lady of the Prairie in this holy awareness, a joyful shout to increase the awareness of vocations through prayer, invitation, and igniting a thirst within.