NOTE: Article taken from Orlando Diosece: https://www.orlandodiocese.org/e-scroll/archive/bishop-installs-four-new-pastors/
Two weekends in December mark the installation of four pastors in the Dio-cese of Orlando. Each pledged their commitment with one hand on the Book of Gos-pels, and signed oaths alongside Bishop John Noonan, who finalized the ceremony by giving the new pastors the “keys”, “not to the parish, but to the kingdom of heaven.” Bishop John Noonan installed Father Luis Osorio as pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Lake Wales at the start of the vigil Mass Dec. 10, 2022.
What is the difference for these pastors? Parochial administrators are generally a temporary position while pastors have more responsibilities under canon law and are often appointed for longer term. Both serve in the formation of God’s
people and the administration of the parish. Prior to serving Holy Spirit Parish, Father Osorio served six parishes in North Carolina, and in the Diocese of Orlando at St. Mary Parish, Rockledge and Centro Guadalupano Mission in Wahneta. The Colombian pastor has a particular love for serving multicultur-al communities.
Father Matthew Hawkins’ pastoral installation at St. Paul Parish, Leesburg, took place on Gaudete Sunday, Dec. 11. Ordained to the Priesthood in 2018, Father Hawkins served St. James Cathedral as parochial vicar and later as parochial administrator of St. Paul. He said the past 18 months of his assignment in Leesburg have been a time of “tremendous growth in the priesthood and in the caring for souls”.
The fourth week of Advent welcomed Father Mark Wajda as pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Clermont, Dec. 17. Father Wajda
said the appointment humbled and filled him with gratitude as parishioners desired a pastor for some time. “Being ordained for the Diocese of Orlando was the fulfillment of my long overdue vocation for which I am very grateful; being named pastor is an honor, a little “icing on the cake” as it were,” Father Wajda said.
Father Martin Nguyen, who once was an altar server in his home parish of Holy Family in Orlando, gratefully accepted his appointment as pastor. His spiritual home since arriving from Vietnam in 2006, he said it has been a blessing to return as its shepherd. “The installation is a celebration of the sacred relationship between a pastor and the faithful entrusted to his care,” he said.
“We pray with gratitude for these priests whose service to God’s holy people brings the Eucharist into our daily living, God with us,” Bishop Noonan said. “I ask you to pray for all of our priests and seminarians that by their growth in faith, they will lead as God ordained them.”
See more information on these installations at: http://www.orlandodiocese.org/e-scroll/current-issue/
