Three weeks out from the Jan. 5 announcement of his appointment as auxiliary bishop-elect for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Bishop-elect Michael Izen said Jan. 24 that spiritually preparing for his role is the most important thing, but there is a need for prudential management of the details.
“I would say overwhelming,” Bishop-elect Izen said of the many things to be done. “Really, just because there is so much going on.”
And with each decision, more decisions seem to follow.
A public vespers service will be held 7 p.m. April 10 at St. Michael in Stillwater, where he is pastor of the Churches of St. Mary and St. Michael and parochial administrator of St. Charles in Bayport. Details yet to be ironed out include those who might offer a spiritual reflection or homily. “I’m excited that it will be in Stillwater” with friends and family, visiting bishops, leaders in the archdiocese present, Bishop-elect Izen said.
He knows his ordination and installation Mass will begin at 1 p.m. April 11 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Around both events are decisions on dinners, brunches, receptions and guest lists, he said.
Another decision made: Bishop-elect Izen planned to travel to Chicago Jan. 27 with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams to The House of Hansen to be measured for his cassock, surplice and other vestment needs. He is grateful his family is gifting him with his bishop’s ring. How that should be fashioned has been on his mind.
Gratitude is on his mind as well, Bishop-elect Izen said, as he tries to answer the many cards, letters, gifts and emails he has received offering congratulations and prayers. Also of tremendous help, for which he is grateful: Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Bishop Williams, Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, a former auxiliary bishop in St. Paul and Minneapolis, and others in the archdiocese, he said.
He will enjoy a canonically required retreat March 19-25 as he centers all the activity around prayer, Bishop-elect Izen said. Grateful for the people of the archdiocese, he said he seeks their intercessory prayers.
“I ask for their prayers as I prepare spiritually for the ordination day,” he said. “That’s the most important thing.”
