“You are the Spirit, and I am
only the trumpet, and without your breath I can give no sound.”
~St. Joseph of Cupertino
It’s National Vocation Awareness Week and we have a lot to celebrate here at the Catholic Church of Jennings County.
We have six men in discernment for the holy priesthood from our three churches of St. Mary, St. Ann, and St. Joseph. The six men are in various stages of priestly formation at the major seminary of St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Ind., or the minor seminary also called the college seminary of Bishop Simon Brute College in Indianapolis.
For each day of this week, we will highlight one of our six seminarians and ask for special prayers for each one. There will also be a link to their vocation story that tells a little bit about them, their favorite saint, and more. This reminder will be sent out via Flocknote.
Our prayers for the week is:
God, our Father, please send us holy priests, all for the sacred and Eucharistic heart of Jesus, all for the sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, all in union with St. Joseph.
We pray and sacrifice for:
Deacon Bobby Vogel: Read more about Deacon Vogel’s diaconate ordination.
Each of these men are in various levels of formation.
Read More About Their Vocation Story
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has 32 seminarians preparing for the priesthood. Of those 32, six of them are from the Catholic Church of Jennings County.
You can read more about our men in formation at the Archdiocese of Indianapolis Vocations Page.
The vocation page gives you an insight into why they felt called to the priesthood.
One of the best things we can do is pray for them. We can also encourage vocations. A fun fact is that if only one percent of students in our Catholics schools entered the priesthood or religious life we w ould have more than 200 new priests and religious.
Asking A Man About the Priesthood Matters
Asking a man if he ever considered a vocation is a sure-fire way to help them in the discernment process. That’s because out of all the men being ordained this year to the priesthood across the nation:
- Most (63%) cited parish priests as those who most encouraged their vocation, followed by parishioners (44%), friends (40%), mothers (37%) and fathers (29%).
As we reflect on this statistic it’s worth asking how we help others discern their vocation through prayer and encouragement.
