John Balthasar Brungardt

JOHN BALTHASAR BRUNGARDT

Born: July 10, 1958 in Salina, Kansas, USA
Deceased:

Bishop of Dodge City, 2010-present

Arms (crest) of John Balthasar Brungardt

Official blazon
English	blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

As common in US episcopal heraldry, the arms show the arms of the diocese impaled with the personal arms of the bishop.

The upper half depicts the sun, with a round disc surrounded by 16 rays, alternating wavy and straight, on a blue field. This "Sun in Splendor' or "In His Glory" is a Messianic symbol of our Lord. The sun symbolizes the light of God, who lights us each individually and lights all of humanity; the light of justice; and the light of faith. "But for you who fear my name, there will arise the Sun of justice with its healing rays" (Malachi 3:20). This passage also prefigures Jesus Christ, "the light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32). The symbol of the Sun is also important to Kansas, "The Sunflower State," and to southwest Kansas agriculture in the growing and ripening of wheat for the production of bread, itself the matter of the Eucharist. The sun rests on an azure field, symbolic of the separation of worldly values from spiritual virtues, as our souls yearn to rise to the Lord and leave the things of earth.

The lower part contains a single rose, significant to Bishop Brungardt's devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The rose is a symbol widely used for Our Blessed Mother Mary, the "Mystical Rose," in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. Rendered with live petals, this celebrated symbol signifies Mary's five joys, the joyful mysteries of the rosary, and the live major Marian feasts. lt is symbolic of the Castilian roses which were given to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac as proof of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is also significant since the patroness of the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City is Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the Cathedral is named in her honor. The rose rests on an argent field, symbolic of transparency, then purity, as that of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

For his motto, Bishop Brungardt has selected the phrase, "Filled With Compassion," from the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). Verse 20 states: "...While he was still a lang way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him." Compassion comes from the Latin "com" meaning "with," and "passio" meaning "to suffer," thus compassion means "to suffer with," especially to suffer with the least of our brothers and sisters. In using this phrase, Bishop Brungardt prays that the Lord will continue to bless him with the virtue of compassion as he ministers with the people of the Catholic Oiocese of Oodge City.

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