February 17-18, 2024
Dear parishioners,
You might recall that last year we had a special occasion one Sunday on which we took time as a community to pray specifically for vocations to the priesthood within our diocese. We did this by exposing the Blessed Sacrament for 20 minutes after each of the weekend Masses that weekend so that we could pray together for this particular intention. This time in prayer for vocations hardly needs any explanation, as our diocese currently has 76 active priests providing the pastoral care for 122 parishes. Furthermore, and more importantly, this is something that Jesus himself commands us to do! This is recorded in Matthew 9:36-38 as well as Luke 10:1-2; “After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”
After we did the Sunday adoration for vocations this past summer, we received a lot of good feedback and helpful comments; as such, I am glad to continue this practice. At that time, I informed everyone that I would like to start by repeating this practice quarterly so that we can do it on a somewhat regular basis. Once we get this established, we can determine whether doing this more often would be possible or whether quarterly is sufficient. However, I forgot to plan one for this past Fall, and would like to get back to making this happen. Therefore, our next Sunday adoration for vocations will take place after each of the weekend Masses on March 2nd and 3rd. Please consider staying a few minutes after Mass that weekend and say at least one prayer for the young men of our diocese whom Jesus is calling to be his priests, so that through them, he can continue to provide the sacraments in our parishes!
Lastly, I would like to offer one final invitation to attend our Lenten Day of Reflection next Sunday, February 25. Please come to listen to Patricia Oedy-Murray as she provides us with a reflection on “The Cross and the Eucharist.” As I explained in previous bulletin articles, Pat is a professor of theology at Lourdes University in Toledo and she hosts “The Virtuous Life” on Annunciation Radio, our local Catholic radio station. As an added bonus, Pat’s brother is Fr. Oedy, whom some of our parishioners will remember from his time as the pastor in Antwerp. If you come to Pat’s reflection next Sunday, you might be able to convince her to tell some stories about her brother afterwards, but there are no guarantees on that!
Blessings,
Fr. Ammanniti
