MONONA — Earlier this month, parishioners of Stella Maris Parish joyfully welcomed Fr. Eric Sternberg as their new pastor.

On July 13, Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison installed Father Sternberg as pastor over the faith communities of Cottage Grove, McFarland, and Monona during a Mass held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona.

Parochial Vicars Fr. Mark Foley and Fr. Matthew Pearson joined in celebrating the Mass alongside Bishop Hying and Father Sternberg. Permanent Deacon Jeff Bond and Transitional Deacon Casey Cooney assisted with the Mass.

Stella Maris Parish’s canonical merger was announced in late May, and the new parish is made up of St. Patrick Church in Cottage Grove, Christ the King Church in McFarland, and Immaculate Heart of Mary Church and School in Monona.

About the Mass

Numbering around 300 people, the Installation Mass was attended by parishioners of every age and from each church in the parish.

Blending into the crowd, but noticed by Bishop Hying, were Father Sternberg’s parents, who came to celebrate their son.

In his final remarks, Bishop Hying thanked them, saying, “Thank you for bringing Father Eric into life and forming him in the Faith.”

To the congregation more generally, the bishop continued, “I commend to you this wonderful team of priests.

“I know every single one of them quite well, and I know that every one of these three priests seeks to be holy, seeks to love Christ, and seeks to serve you, God’s holy people.

“Please pray for them and support them as they pray for you and support you,” the bishop asked.

Also seen in the crowd were a sizeable number of UW-Madison students and alumni.

They came to celebrate Father Sternberg, since before this appointment he had been pastor for two years at Saint Paul’s Catholic Student Center near the UW-Madison campus.

After the Mass, Father Sternberg commented on the “most moving aspects” of his installation, saying that “joy and zeal” were “put into my heart when I renewed the promises I made at my ordination and made the Oath of Fidelity”.

Continuing, he said, “I have been a priest for 20 years and have had vastly different assignments: University chaplaincy, academic study, building a new church, being an ordinary pastor.

“[But they] all have had one common thread: Spreading the Gospel.”

“Making the sacraments available and giving good formation so that the faithful can confidently and competently share the Gospel among their families, friends, and coworkers and form small groups that share faith and life is the guiding star of my life as a diocesan priest,” Father Sternberg said.

Parishioner voices

After the Mass, a reception was held to honor the new pastor and celebrate the parish’s Into the Deep journey.

For Jacob Terneus, who attended with his family and is a parishioner at St. Patrick Church, the Into the Deep transition “has gone smoothly here”.

Now that Stella Maris Parish has been canonically joined, “I’m glad that we are a parish,” Terneus said.

“It’s kind of weird to be administratively joined but canonically disparate,” he explained, and now  that Stella Maris has a pastor, “It feels a little more like home”.

Thelma Quiambao-Mazer serves the parish as an office assistant and attends Christ the King Church.

Her daughter, a chef at Epic Systems in Verona, cooked and served the hors d’oeuvres at the reception.

Quiambao-Mazer said that since Into the Deep began, “It’s a normal reaction to feel kind of sad when a change comes” and said that she tries to “look at the bigger picture”.

By looking at the bigger picture, she explained, “then you know that a change can be for the good,” and added that “If it’s already good, then it’s for the better”.

Working at the parish, Quiambao- Mazer said, “The merge process has been challenging, but it’s been a learning experience.”

“It was a lot of work, but the merger progressed [and] you see things getting accomplished.”

Now, “there’s that sense of accomplishment, fulfillment here, and everything’s finalized.”

Quiambao-Mazer also thanked Fr. Chad Droessler, who served Stella Maris Parish as a parochial administrator during the Into the Deep transition, for his leadership, adding, “Janesville is very lucky to have him.”

Beginning July 1, Father Droessler was just assigned as parochial administrator of St. Jane Frances de Chantal Pastorate in Janesville.

For Carrie Jarmusz, the parish merger has “been exciting to integrate and get to share resources”.

Jarmusz attends St. Patrick Church, and since the merger began, she’s been inspired by “how deep and committed a lot of the parishioners are with the Into the Deep process”.

Jarmusz has also been inspired by the parish’s patron, Stella Maris (Our Lady, Star of the Sea).

“I think she helps navigate the seas, the water.

“I feel like she’s just perfect for the Into the Deep process and what it embodies,” she said.

About Father Sternberg, Jarmusz shared her first impression.

“He made the red-eye flight from Rome,” Jarmusz remembered, explaining that Father Sternberg had recently led a pilgrimage there.

“The next morning, he came to greet people at a funeral and to introduce himself before a team meeting, so that’s when I first met him,” she said.

“The fact that he was willing to do that on probably little sleep was commendable.”

Besides hosting Father Sternberg’s Installation Mass and reception, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona is home to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Green Scapular and for the 2025 Jubilee Year has been designated as a diocesan pilgrimage site.