Our faith is affirmed as we praise and thank God that a Jesuit will be ordained to priesthood on Friday, June 9, in Omaha. He is Neal Wilkinson. You may recall that Neal lived in our Jesuit Community at Gesu Parish for two years, from 1996-1998. He served as a chaplain at the Milwaukee County Jail. He also assisted at Fox Lake Correctional Institution and got some of our parishioners engaged in ministry there.
Prison ministry is very challenging but also rewarding.
It opens one's eyes to suffering and hope more than many other ministries do. Neal Wilkinson is from Oconomowoc and is a 1973 graduate of Marquette High School. He is the only member of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus to be ordained to priesthood this year. After his ordination Neal will continue serving at St. Francis Mission in South Dakota. There is an acute shortage of priests on the Rosebud Reservation as there is many other places.