Monsignor Michael Colwell To Note Silver Jubilee

Amarillo—Monsignor Michael P. Colwell, JCL, Rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral, will note his Silver Jubilee with a Mass of Thanksgiving Sunday, May 26 at 9:15am at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1200 South Washington.
 
The Mass of Thanksgiving is the second celebration of Monsignor Colwell’s Silver Jubilee—a reception honoring him took place on May 18.
 
Monsignor Colwell, 58, was ordained to the priesthood on May 28, 1994 by then-
Bishop Leroy T. Matthiesen at St. Laurence Cathedral (now St. Laurence Church). An Amarillo-native, Monsignor Colwell was baptized at St. Laurence by Father (now) Monsignor Norbert Kuehler in 1961.
 
After graduating from West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M University) in 1986 with a degree in social work, Monsignor Colwell was employed with the Texas Department of Human Services for three years before he entered Assumption Seminary in San Antonio on Jan. 4, 1989. He was ordained to the transitional diaconate on Dec. 11, 1993 by Bishop Joseph A. Galante.
 
His assignments in the Diocese of Amarillo include:
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Cactus;
• St. Joseph’s Church, Stratford;
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Amarillo;
• St. Vincent de Paul Church, Pampa;
• St. John the Evangelist Church, Borger;
• St. Ann’s Church, Stinnett;
• St. Anthony of Padua Church, Dalhart; and,
• St. Mary’s Church, Texline.
 
Monsignor Colwell was appointed Chancellor of the Diocese of Amarillo by then-Bishop John W. Yanta on June 1, 1997. He also served as Vicar General for the diocese from Aug. 2003 to Nov. 2008 and Vocation Director from 1999 to 2008.
Monsignor Colwell was named a Prelate of Honor with the title of Monsignor by Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 8, 2008. He has been rector at St. Mary’s Cathedral since Feb. 1, 2018.
 
“Any anniversary, especially a Jubilee anniversary, that is recognized and celebrated, whether in the priesthood, religious life, permanent diaconate, or Holy Matrimony, is truly a celebration of God’s grace, working in and through the individual or couple, and their cooperation with that grace, that has sustained them, nurtured them, come what may, throughout the years,” said Monsignor Colwell.
 
Monsignor Colwell is the son of Dick Colwell, a retired policemen and the late Kathleen Colwell, who passed away in 2009. He has three sisters, Mary Porubsky, Erin Bergin and Kathie Harbison.