Today Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing celebrates his 73rd birthday. Happy birthday Bishop Boyea! Have a great day. Ad multos annos. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, eternal shepherd, you tend your Church in many ways and rule us with love. You have chosen your servant, Earl, to be a shepherd of your flock. Give him a spirit of courage and right judgment, a spirit of knowledge and love. By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care, may he build your Church as a sign of salvation for the world. Amen.
Bishop Earl Boyea was born April 10, 1951 in Pontiac, Michigan, as the eldest of the ten children of Earl and Helen Boyea. He was raised in Waterford. He studied at Sacred Heart Seminary High School and College from 1965 to 1973. He then studied at the Pontifical North American College and Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome 1973 to 1977 before being ordained to the sacred priesthood on May 20, 1978. In 2002, the then-Monsignor Boyea was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit. Pope Benedict XVI then named him the fifth bishop of Lansing in 2008.