On April 18, joy and prayer filled St. Mary Cathedral as Brian Wojtkowiak knelt before Bishop Jeffrey Walsh and was ordained to the permanent diaconate.
“My path unfolded through years of quiet faith, generous listening and trust in God’s unexpected call,” reflects Brian. “I felt God calling me to serve in ways I never expected.”
contemplative prayer has helped strengthen Deacon Brian’s spiritual
life. Here, he silently prays the rosary while visiting the Shrine of the
Most Blessed Sacrament in Alabama.
A Call in Prayer
During Eucharistic adoration, Brian sensed God speaking directly to his heart, encouraging a call to the diaconate but inviting him at that time to focus his primary energy on his marriage and family.
“This divine guidance became the foundation of my discernment,” Brian offers. He devoted himself to his wife, Susan, and their family, finding faith strengthened through ordinary acts of love and service.
Over the years, however, the idea of diaconate ministry resurfaced with renewed clarity.
“I asked God that if the call was genuine, that it be affirmed by my wife and a priest,” Brian reflects. The answer arrived at an unexpected moment.
One day after Mass, Susan shared that Father Matthew Wigton, rector of St. Mary Cathedral, had asked her if Brian had considered becoming a deacon. Her excitement and support, coupled with the priest’s encouragement, felt like the sign.
“The diaconate became a way to love God by serving others,” he explains. “This turning point demonstrates how vocation is discerned within community and relationship.”
Service and Stewardship
Brian’s readiness for ministry was deepened by his formation and spiritual growth through the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites. Contemplative prayer strengthened his interior life and his understanding of service.
Now ordained, Brian assists at Mass and with faith formation, helping others encounter Christ, at St. Mary Cathedral in Gaylord.
“I want people to know God’s love and the joy of saying yes,” he reflects.
A Lifelong Rhythm of Grace
“I hope my journey reminds the faithful that ordinary acts of faith can transform lives,” says Brian. By saying yes, he invites others to consider their own calling and to respond with courage and generosity.
His ongoing spiritual formation leading to ordination—spiritual direction and virtual study programs at the University of Dayton, the University of Notre Dame and the seminary program at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake—embodies a living Gospel: grace entrusted, received and shared in daily acts of love.
In this way, Brian’s witness illuminates how the Gospel can permeate family life, parish life
and beyond.
contemplative prayer has helped strengthen Deacon Brian’s spiritual
life. Here, he silently prays the rosary while visiting the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Alabama.
