Father Derek Sakowski has been a priest for the Diocese of La Crosse since his ordination in 2003. After devoting the first five years of priesthood as a chaplain and high school teacher, he spent four years in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he completed a Licentiate and then a Doctorate in Sacred Theology, with a specialization in Ecclesiology. Since his return to Wisconsin in 2012, he has been pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Altoona and St. Raymond of Peñafort Parish in Southern Eau Claire County. Prior to ordination, his nine years of seminary studies took him through the early years of the Catholic Studies program at the University of St. Thomas, the Basselin program at The Catholic University of America, and the M.A. and M.Div programs at The Pontifical College Josephinum. Over those nine years and during the first year of priesthood, he also got to know his bishop quite well – now the world famous Raymond Cardinal Burke. While Father is grateful for his background in theology, philosophy, and languages, he is even more grateful for the healing and transformation he has begun to experience during the last four years. As he describes it, he wore himself out after more than three decades of shame-fueled perfectionism. He began to see the age-old truth and goodness and beauty of his Catholic faith in a radically new light. His blog, Abiding in Love and Truth, bears witness to the profound connection between love and truth, and the importance of subjectively receiving objective truth as a whole person. His blog can be found at www.abideinlove.com