Lisa, We will say a Rosary as a family tonight for Bishop Steinbock - he was a great Bishop and we will miss him!  We welcome our new Bishop and will pray for him!

I want to thank you for a gift you gave to me. You came to St.Joachim’s to give a talk on your “handbook” book an there gave me a medal of St. Gerard. We had just found out we were having baby #7. Throughout the pregnancy I would have nagging worries that something was wrong and he would not make it. At these times I would grab a hold of the medal and pray to St. Gerard and he baby’s patron St. - St. Paul. Little Paul is now 1 month old and is perfect. Thank you for finding me saint to help me!

Come up to St. Anne’s chapel in Raymond sometime - it is really nice!

We are waiting for a new bishop too, as our Archbishop Buechlein had to retire earlier this year for health reasons.  We are being ably served by Bishop Coyne who was our auxiliary bishop and is now our “Apostolic Administrator”.  Yes, that is too long a title for the “new Mass” so pray that we get a new Archbishop here in Indy soon!

Don’t want to be a downer, but as a native El Pasoan please be prepared for… well, heresy. Bishop Ochoa recently exiled the only priest in EP willing to stand up for the Church’s teaching on homosexuality, citing the tax code as his “real reason.” He also did not back up Fr. Michael in the city newspaper, and Fr. Michael just wrote a letter stating that the next bishop of El Paso must be prepared to discipline the rampant homosexuality among priests in the El Paso diocese that was allowed to flourish under his episcopacy, along with other huge problems to numerous to name.
Check some of it out at Fr. Z’s blog: http://wdtprs.com/blog/tag/el-paso/ And with all due respect to his office as bishop, I am so sorry for you, Lisa.

Lisa - I saw your post and while happy for you, I am a little sad that Bishop Ochoa is leaving El Paso, my hometown.  I no longer live there, but have family there so I do keep up with the Catholic happenings there.  I am happy to see that your diocese will have a new shepherd, and Bishop Ochoa is a wonderful person to have leading your diocese.  He is a wonderful communicator and will hopefully inspire the faithful in your diocese.
While he does leave El Paso soon after a difficult and unfortunate incident…you will find he is a good man. It is disappointing that a previous post labels Bishop Ochoa as a heretic…I don’t think Pope Benedict XVI would appoint such a person to such a large and vibrant diocese.  While I was disappointed in the events described by a previous post, I know that we don’t have all the information regarding what happened with Fr. Michael…that is handled within the diocese…and therefore we don’t have adequate means with which to make a judgement.  Keep your enthusiasm and when he arrives, greet him with open arms and you will be able to experience for yourself what kind of shepherd he is to your community!

Here’s a link to a letter written by Fr. Michael Rodriguez, a diocesan priest of the Diocese of El Paso regarding Bishop Ochoa’s departure: http://www.remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/2011-1130-rodrigues-el-paso-bishop.htm