Joy, humility and service are qualities that many who attended the episcopal ordination of Bishop Michael Izen said they have seen him live out.
Bishop Izen, 56, was ordained April 11 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul with the support and presence of his family, friends, fellow bishops, priests and religious, and the faithful who traveled from throughout the state to pack the pews or who watched via television or livestream at home.
Joni Polehna, 69, a member of St. Mary in Stillwater for the past 43 years, was aboard one of the two full buses transporting St. Michael and St. Mary parishioners to the ordination. Bishop Izen most recently served as the pastor of the two churches in Stillwater. People on the bus were filled with excitement, Polehna said. “People are overjoyed for Bishop Izen.”
The joy comes, in part, from deep appreciation of Bishop Izen’s ability to relate to people. Reflecting on Bishop Izen’s preaching, Polehna said, “His humanness brings the message of God and Jesus to the people because everybody can relate … it’s the little stories that he gives that are so human; you stop and say, ‘Yeah, that’s happened to me before, OK, got it. Now I can turn that into prayer. I can turn that into an offering.’ And so, his examples are just so beautiful. He’s got a lot of them and they’re all wonderful.”
Patty Hooley, 60, a parishioner of St. Michael in Stillwater for the past 37 years, expressed her fellow parishioners’ shared excitement over Bishop Izen’s ordination. “We’re very happy, very proud. We’re going to miss him, so there’s a bit of sadness in that, but I just think for the greater archdiocese, it’s going to be a really great thing. He’s going to bring a lot of great gifts. I spoke to somebody last night (at a vespers service at St. Michael) and I just said that the joy … just the deep joy of loving Christ that he brings to people, it affects people. It makes people want to be a part of the Church even more.”
Hooley attended the ordination at the Cathedral with her husband, Tom, 60, who has been a lifelong St. Michael parishioner. In the process leading up to the ordination, Bishop Izen has “stayed very humble,” Patty said. “He really is a servant. He serves and he does it very quietly and very joyfully.”
Michael Gerads, 53, and his wife, Sarah, 50, knew Bishop Izen when he served their parish, St. Raphael in Crystal.
“He is just such a humble soul and a good shepherd to everyone in the parish,” Sarah said. She said Bishop Izen “made me feel welcome so much in the Catholic faith, and he had so much to teach and is just a really awesome gentleman,” she said. “I’m so happy for him.”
Stephanie Eckerman, 47 — a St. Michael parishioner for 13 years along with her husband and two daughters, ages 13 and 16 — also expressed the joy she felt at the ordination.
“We’re all just so happy and so proud of him,” that there’s excitement “to see what he’ll do for the greater community, now.” Eckerman said both her daughters were students at St. Croix Catholic when then-Father Izen joined their parish. “We got to know him and have so much affection for him.” She went on to say, “He took pride in the fact of learning everyone’s name, but it was so much more than just knowing your name; he knew your family, he knew where you belonged, he knew your story. And I just know he’s going to continue that love and that genuine care and interest for his new flock here in the archdiocese.”
Marie Droske, a fifth grader at St. Croix Catholic School in Stillwater, said not only would Bishop Izen know students’ names, but he would also give them nicknames. “He’s really funny,” said Droske, who has known Bishop Izen for eight of her 11 years. “He jokes around.” She added that she liked when Bishop Izen would visit her classroom.
Molly Gallagher, 34, who now works for NET Ministries in Ohio, recalled meeting then-Father Izen the summer before her first year teaching at St. Croix Catholic. She mentioned his comments at a golf tournament fundraiser at which he spoke briefly. “He said, ‘A lot of people send their kids to a Catholic school for different reasons, to be good students,’ and he listed reasons,” Gallagher said. But then-Father Izen said, “We want your kids to leave here and become saints.” Gallagher said, “as a new teacher at that school, I thought, ‘I want to follow this guy.’ … this is exactly where I’m supposed to be, and this is a mission I want to be on.
“So now to see him become a bishop, knowing that’s where his mind is … that it’s not just about a good education or a nice way to pray, or a nice church to be part of — it’s about being saints.”
Dan Fury, a teacher at Chesterton Academy of the St. Croix Valley in Stillwater, brought to the ordination the more than 40 students at his school, most of whom he said were St. Michael or St. Mary parishioners.
“This is great for them to witness (Bishop Izen’s) elevation to bishop, and to see their pastor elevated to this position,” said Fury, 28. “We’ve had the fortunate opportunity to hear from him over the past few months since he’s been named bishop,” he said, sometimes in homilies, sometimes when stopping in at classes. “He says Mass for us occasionally, so many (students) have a relationship with him,” Fury said.
Many school families had planned to attend the ordination, taking their children out of school because it was important to them, Fury said, “so we decided that, well, if it’s really important, then we should just bring the whole school.” He went on to say, “We’re very lucky to be able to witness this as a school community.”
Before the ordination Mass started, clusters of seminarians gathered in the Cathedral’s common areas. Nicholas Deutsch, 21, a member of Most Holy Redeemer in Montgomery, and Martin Gawarecki, 22, a member of Holy Family in St. Louis Park — both archdiocesan seminarians — were among those gathered.
“I think it’s amazing to see Pope Francis pick a bishop from this diocese … all the priests know him and it’s just amazing to see all the priests get together,” Deutsch said. Gawarecki added, “It’s just a beautiful experience to be able to attend the ordination, to come together as a diocese to celebrate the gift of Bishop Izen and just witness his consecration.”
Also waiting with anticipation was Josephine Lohnes, 69, a member of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony. “I’m excited, I love being with Catholics.” Her decision to attend the ordination comes from her prayer for vocations, she said. “I am a Serran, so I support vocations, that is our apostolate, to support vocations, so that’s why I’m here, to be a support.”
Bishop Izen, newly ordained, walked up and down the aisles of the Cathedral, bestowing an episcopal blessing on everyone present, with a smile on his face and exuding the joy for which he’s known.
Barb Umberger contributed to this report.
