Bishop Joseph L. Coffey

THE HARVEST CONTINUES...

(ARCH)DIOCESE / RELIGIOUS

COMMUNITY: Archdiocese of Cincinnati

ARMED FORCES BRANCH: Army

RANK: 1LT

COLLEGE(S) / UNIVERSITY(IES) / SEMINARY(IES) ATTENDED (DEGREES AWARDED):

Xavier University, BA (Classics), Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary of the West, MA (Theology) in progress.

HIGH SCHOOL(S) ATTENDED:

Homeschooled

HOBBIES: Hunting, fishing, and reading

WHEN WAS THE FIRST TIME YOU THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE A VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD?

A few weeks after my conversion, at Mass on Good Shepherd Sunday.

WHO OR WHAT EVENTS INFLUENCED YOUR DISCERNMENT JOURNEY?

My older brother, Brother Henry Hoffmann, CO (Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri), was a source of inspiration to be open to God’s calling.

WHAT WOULD PEOPLE BE SURPRISED TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?

I am a relatively recent convert to the Catholic Faith; I grew up a Protestant, and converted a few years after my older brother. After God’s grace, the second cause for my conversion was reading the Church Fathers.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SCRIPTURE PASSAGE, WHY?

1 John 1:1 and following: “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and 32

touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life...Jesus Christ.” This verse is a beautiful introduction to contemplation, capturing the immense grandeur of our Lord – the Word of life from the beginning – while dwelling on his intimate love for us, such that our lowly eyes may see him and our unworthy hands handle him.

HOW DID YOU COME TO KNOW JESUS CHRIST PERSONALLY?

Briefly, holy Mass. I pray daily for an ever deeper encounter with His merciful love in the Eucharist.

WHAT SPIRITUAL EVENTS OR ACTIVITIES HELPED YOU DEVELOP AND SHARE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH?

Fraternity with a group of strong friends in college and now with my seminary classmates has helped me to grow into a more mature relationship with the Lord.

WHAT SAINTS OR CHURCH LEADERS INSPIRED YOUR DISCERNMENT JOURNEY?

St. Catherine of Siena and St. Edmund Campion.

WHAT WAS YOUR BACKGROUND BEFORE APPLYING TO BE A SEMINARIAN?

I went straight from college to seminary.

WHAT WAS THE NEXT TO LAST BOOK YOU READ, AND WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

Next to last was Convergences: To the Sources of the Christian Mystery, by Hans Urs von Balthsar. Currently, I’m (re)reading The Lord of the Rings.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPIRITUAL BOOK?

Heart of the World, by Hans Urs von Balthasar

WHO ARE YOUR HEROES OR PEOPLE YOU SIGNIFICANTLY ADMIRE?

Saints and sinners, factual and mythical: St. Ignatius of Loyola, Hector (from The Iliad) and Pope Benedict XVI.

HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE YOUR PRAYER LIFE?

I try to let the liturgy guide my prayer life, meditating on the daily readings for spiritual sustenance. Mental prayer is life. I pray the Liturgy of the Hours and serve daily Mass. Other prayers I love are the Rosary and the Litany of the Sacred Heart. V

Archbishop Broglio Joins in Re-Consecration of U.S. and Canada to the Blessed Mother

BY TAYLOR HENRY

Archbishop Timothy Broglio virtually joined his brother Catholic bishops throughout the United States and Canada on 1 May 2020, in renewing the consecration of the two nations to the care of the Blessed Mother in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 3:00 p.m. (EDT) re-consecration was led in Los Angeles by Archbishop José H. Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, with U.S. and Canadian bishops joining in their respective dioceses. Archbishop Broglio took part in the prayer of consecration from the main chapel of the Edwin Cardinal O’Brien Pastoral Center in Washington, D.C., home base for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS). The AMS live-streamed Archbishop Broglio’s participation on its Facebook page, and some of the faithful took part online.

The consecration renewal began with an opening prayer asking God, “the Father of mercies, whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross, chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother, to be our Mother also,” to grant “with her loving help” that the Church may be more fruitful and “draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples.” There followed a reading from John

19:25-27, wherein Christ told his mother from the Cross, “Woman, behold your son,” and the Evangelist, “Behold, your mother,” before the disciple “from that hour” took her into his home. After the reading, the faithful joined in reciting a decade of the Rosary and saying a formal Prayer of Renewal of Our Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary, entrusting to her all who are infected with the coronavirus, those who have lost loved ones in the pandemic, all caregivers, all who are suffering in any way from the pandemic, those working to find a cure, and all leaders and policymakers who are dealing with the health crisis. Following a concluding prayer and blessing, participants ended with the singing of Regina Caeli.

According to the USCCB’s 23 April announcement of the event, “an act of consecration is meant to be a reminder to the faithful of the Blessed Mother’s witness to the Gospel and to ask for her effective intercession before her Son on behalf of those in need.” The bishops recounted that “Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, the first bishop in the United States, promoted devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, and placed the United States under her protection

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Re-Consecration

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in a pastoral letter of 1792. The twenty-one bishops attending the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1846 determined to name the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, as the Patroness of the United States, and Pope Pius IX approved this decision the following year. More recently, the dedication of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., in 1959 was the opportunity for the bishops once again to consecrate the nation to the Blessed Mother. Several popes have likewise consecrated the world to Mary on various occasions.” V

ARCHBISHOP GOMEZ CONSECRATES US TO MARY, TELLING CATHOLICS TO “TRUST GOD’S PLAN”.