Archdiocese of Cincinnati Vocations Prayer

In the January edition of Clergy Communications, the internal newsletter for priests and staff of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archbishop Schnurr has penned the following prayer for use in the parishes and institutions of the Diocese as a way to promote a culture of Vocations in the Archdiocese:


Almighty Father,
You have created us for some definite purpose.
Grant us the grace to know the path
You have planned for us in this life
and to respond with a generous “Yes.”
Make our archdiocese, parishes, homes and hearts
fruitful ground for Your gift of vocations.
May our young people respond to Your call
with courage and zeal.
Stir among our men a desire and the strength
to be good and holy priests.
Bless us with consecrated religious and those called to a
chaste single life, permanent deacons,
and faithful husbands and wives,
who are a sign of Christ’s love for His Church.
We commend our prayer for vocations to You, Father,
through the intercession of Mary our Mother,
in the Holy Spirit,
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Where do Priests Come From?

"Do they grow on a farm? No. Are they made in a factory? No. Priests come from God's people. They once were young boys, just like you.

"As children, some of these boys played baseball. Some of them climbed trees. Some of them were altar servers, helping out at Mass. They may have dreamed of becoming an astronaut, a doctor or a fire fighter. But somewhere along the way, these young boys also thought about being a priest."

(from the Introduction)

With this short intro, Elizabeth Ficocelli begins her short children's book: 'Where do Priests Come From?' Sensing a need to address this question among young readers, she walks through the discernment and training of a priest from the time he is the age of the intended readers up through his ordination and the beginning of his priestly ministry. Everything is explained in very simple terms even the youngest of readers should be able to grasp, maybe with the help of a little explanation by the parents. It is also nicely illustrated by Shannon Wirrenga, showing the priest in his day to day life, serving the people of God, but also the reality that priests do take time off to recharge their batteries and reconnect with Our Lord through the taking of his yearly retreat.

I often receive many questions about resources for young families to help form their boys for a potential vocation, or at least open them up to the idea that God might be calling them to something different and unique. (Which is true in every case!) This is a very nice resource to begin these conversations, after all, 'maybe the next young man God calls will be you!'

A special note of thanks to Elizabeth for sending me a review copy, which I will gladly pass along to my nephews.

A gracious thanks to Bezalel Books for publishing this short work, may it bear much fruit both now and in the future!

Papal Events

Ok, we're home, resting, catching up on news and stuff, and finally getting around to posting events from last week, please forgive the delay!

Monday evening saw a portion of our group journey to the residence of the US Ambassador to the Vatican for a short reception in honor of the Archbishops receiving the pallium the next day. I got to meet a few of my brother priests from around the country as well as the members of the NAC class of 1975 who were in town for their 35th anniversary. I lost track of the number of bishops in the class, alas.

From the Janiculum Hill, we traveled down to St. Paul's Outside the Walls for Evening Prayer with His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.

At first, I was seated fairly far back because I was talking to some folks and didn't get a spot with our group (a common occurrence), but Fr. Hadden, a fellow pilgrim, called me forward for spots for priests. (How Biblical! (Ah, Rome, where clericalism still lives...))

Evening prayer was quite beautiful, but alas I don't speak Italian, so I didn't understand the homily. I have yet to look it up and print it off, but I have time this week for that.

We heard about the US Supreme Court case at the end of Prayer, too, so something extra to pray about.

Afterwards, we journeyed by bus back into the city for dinner on our own. I took a group to Abruzzi's, which any Casa Santa Maria alums would recognize, as it's right around the corner. Yummy!

Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear and a short jaunt over to St. Peter's Square for admittance to the Pallium Mass. I waited for Archbishop Schnurr, as he was 'passing me off' as his secretary for the Mass, all so I could get a better seat, :)

It WORKED!

I was a Communion Minister for the Mass (note: NOT a concelebrant, on the honorees concelebrated, everyone else, bishops and Cardinals alike, attended in choir) which means I was seated right by the choir, to the rear of the Confessional Altar, ie Main Altar that only the Holy Father gets to use.

The Mass was better than I could have hoped, and while I didn't have a view of the pallium conferral itself, we did get to see the freshly donned pallia as the Archbishops walked back to their seat. Above, you can see Archbishop Schnurr holding his new pallium after the Mass.

During the Eucharistic Prayer, us poor Eucharistic Ministering Priests (yeah, really 'poor'!) were to stand at the bottom of the steps while holding a ciborium of hosts to be consecrated by the Holy Father. We then went down the main aisle to minister Holy Communion. I guess it worked as smooth as Communion for several thousands can be? Still, a true thrill! Again, the music was unbelievable!

After Mass, up to the North American for a reception and that was that.

Wednesday, General Audience time. Archbishop Schnurr was able to snag us some 'reserved tickets,' in which we were seated immediately to the Holy Father's left, up on the same level. Again, three days in a row to be in proximate locale to the Holy Father! A true blessing!

Prior to Pope Benedict's arrival, we had an epic 'Battle of the Bands' as an 'oompa' band from Switzerland staged off against a bagpipe and drum corps from Saragossa, Spain. I thought the Swiss had it, but the votes were still out by the time we left.

The Holy Father showed and took the tour around the square in the Pope Mobile and made his way up to the dais for the address. Again, no Italian, gotta find the English text somewhere. (I'll post the links when I get the time/energy to look them up.)

By the time it was over, I would say it was at least 90 degree F in the square by the time it was over, and in the black suit, HOT HOT HOT! Alas, a good reminder of where I'll be if I don't change my ways!

Afterwards, Fr. Hadden and I toured a bit of the city before returning to the Hotel Cicerone (near Castle San Angelo) for dinner.

So, three days, three papal experiences. Can't ask for much more than that!

More soon to come.

Who's making the trip?

The Vatican Information Service Blog has released the names of the 38 metropolitan archbishops who will be receiving the pallium at Mass with the Holy Father on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul next week. It will truly be an experience of the universal Church, with reps from all five continents.

On the list are three Americans:

Archbishop Listecki of Milwaukee
Archbishop Wenski of Miami and
Archbishop Schnurr of Cincinnati

(There might be some joke about two Poles and a German going to the Eternal City, but I'm not sure....)

Ok, I am officially getting rev'ed up to go, and working this week is becoming increasingly difficult.

Deacon Ordination today

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West joyfully celebrate the ordination of three men to the transitional diaconate: Timothy Ralston of St. Michael's in Georgetown and Robert Muhlenkamp of Holy Trinity in Coldwater for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Matthew Rader for the Diocese of Toledo; Coadjutor Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr will preside at the 11:00 Rite of Ordination at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral.

Please keep these men, and Deacon Kevin Kahmann of the Diocese of Covington, in your prayers over their last year of study and formation for the priesthood.

world Day of Prayer for Vocations

The Pope's message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

Today's Moment of Catholic Whimsy

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Very cool icons for download.

Fun with Statistics!

From a combox below, barb asks:

Perhaps you have mentioned this before and I've missed it, but how many priests and parishes do we have in our archdiocese in comparison to the 34 seminarians?

From the 2007 Catholic Directory and Buyer's Guide, which cites statistics from 2006 Official Catholic Directory:

Archbishops: 1
Auxiliary, now retired: 1
Priests, active in Diocese: 177
Active outside Diocese: 7
In foreign missions: 1
Retired: 101
Number of Diocesan Priests: 286
Religious priests in Diocese: 229
Total priests in Diocese: 515
Extern priests in diocese: 8

Permanent deacons: 149

Parishes: 222
with resident Dio Pastor: 159
with resident religious priest pastor: 20

Without resident pastor:
admin by priest: 37
admin by deacon: 1
admin by women religious: 2
admin by lay people: 3

Total seminarians, as of start of 2007-08 school year: 34
Seminarians within diocese: 30 (all at Mount St. Mary's Seminary)
outside diocese: 4 (in college at Josephinum)

Just for fun:

One seminarian per 6.5 parishes, roughly
One seminarian per 8.33 diocesan priests, roughly

Total Catholic Population: 498,493
One seminarian per 14,661.56 Catholics

Anything else that I should include?

That Catholic Show

has a new episode on the priesthood: