Parochial Vicar Letter: June 25, 2023

Parochial Vicar Letter: June 25, 2023

23 Jun 2023 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Phil’s Parishioner,

You may remember me from last summer as the transitional deacon tagging along with Fr. Dave. But now, I have the privilege of returning as the new parochial vicar! In May, I finished my final year of seminary formation and on May 27, I was ordained a priest for this diocese (along with one of your very own, Fr. Pat Wille). Although I am now calling St. Phil’s home, I am originally from Bloomington, where both of my parents still live. I also have an older sister, who lives in Texas, and a younger brother, who is a FOCUS missionary at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

It is rather fitting that my first assignment as a priest has such a great school, because I have been in Catholic schools my entire life. I went to Holy Trinity grade school (now Corpus Christi) and then graduated from Central Catholic high school in 2015, both of which are in Bloomington. After high school, I spent two years at Marquette University in Milwaukee and it was there that I first felt that God was calling me to be a priest. It took two years of wavering back and forth about whether to enter seminary until I finally said “yes” to what I had to admit was an undeniable call to be a priest. This decision was greatly aided by my two summers as a Totus Tuus teacher, which immediately preceded my entering seminary. These summers were incredibly formative for me due to the environment of prayer and the public witness to my faith. It was also during these summers that I fell in love with the Diocese of Peoria after visiting many different parishes throughout our diocese.

Six years later, I am finally a priest of Jesus Christ in a diocese that I love and in a parish that I am overjoyed to call home. I look forward to meeting all of you and know of my constant prayer for you all. I ask that you too keep me in prayer, that I may be a faithful and fervent priest.

God Bless,

Father Daniel Dionesotes