WASECA, MN – The Reverend Mr. Joshua G. Miller, (CPT) USAR, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, and candidate for the Catholic priesthood and U.S. Military chaplaincy, was ordained a transitional deacon on Friday, Sept. 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in his home Diocese of Winona-Rochester, MN. The new deacon is on track to be ordained a priest next year and hopes eventually to serve as a Catholic chaplain in the U.S. Army providing pastoral care to Catholic soldiers and their families with endorsement and faculties from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS).
The Rev. Mr. Miller’s diaconal ordination was celebrated at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Waseca, MN, through the laying of hands and the prayer of consecration invoking the Holy Spirit by Bishop Robert E. Barron. Their Excellencies, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services and President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and the Most Reverend Chad Zielinski, Bishop of New Ulm, MN, and a retired U.S. Air Force chaplain, concelebrated the ordination Mass.
Among other priests also concelebrating were current and former military chaplains the new deacon considers mentors: Father James J. Peak, CH (LTC), USA (Ret.), of the Diocese of Spokanne, WA; Father Matthew P. Pawlikowski, CH (COL), USA (Ret.), of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ; Father M. Paul Weberg, CH (COL), USA, of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester; and Father Paul Lippstock, CH (BG), USANG (Ret.), of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, IA. The Rev. Mr. Miller’s parents, Gregory and Karen Miller of Clear Lake, IA, were among those in the congregation.
The Rev. Mr. Miller, 33, is a 2008 graduate of Waseca High School in Waseca, MN. In 2012, he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geospatial Information Science from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He went on to serve five years on active duty as a field artillery officer, completing deployments to Japan and Korea among other places, before going on reserve to pursue priestly formation.
The new deacon is currently enrolled at Saint Paul Seminary in St. Paul, MN. He is on track to be ordained a priest next year, after which time he will serve in his home Diocese of Winona-Rochester for three years before going back on active duty—this time, as a chaplain—under that diocese’s co-sponsored seminarian agreement with the AMS.
Commenting on his diaconal ordination, the Rev. Mr. Miller said, “The graces of Ordination are amazing. I was very excited to be ordained but it was not until I served my first Mass and preached my first homily that I realized how awesome Jesus is for calling me to this ministry and letting me Proclaim the Word! I am very excited to preach the Good News to the People of God, especially those in the Military.”
The eventual service of the Rev. Mr. Miller and other Catholic chaplain candidates is greatly anticipated by the Army, which, like all other branches of the U.S. Military, continues to suffer a chronic shortage of Catholic chaplains. Currently, the Army has only 82 Catholic priests on active duty, serving more than 120,000 Catholic soldiers and their families spread worldwide.
Young men interested in discerning a priestly vocation, and the vocation within a vocation to serve those who serve in the U.S. Military, can find more information at www.milarch.org/vocations or may contact the AMS Vocations Office at vocations@milarch.org or (202) 719-3600.
Gifts in support of AMS Vocations are gratefully accepted at milarch.org/donate.