A lay Catholic organization announces the formation of a new movement to support Catholic priests called EncouragePriests.org™ . This announcement comes on Holy Thursday, the day Christians celebrate the anniversary of Christ instituting the priesthood and the Eucharist.

Throughout the centuries, over a billion people around the world have witnessed the service and dedication of Catholic priests. Some recall the heroic and sacrificial example of military chaplains, priests who serve in nursing homes and hospitals, fathers who feed the poor, pastors who serve as peacemakers during marriage counseling, or priests who have celebrated a family wedding or funeral Mass.

View the full press release at: CatholicsComeHome.org blog: Catholic Priests Supported by Emerging Grassroots Effort

The Boston Pilot reports:

As Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley often says: “Vocations are everybody’s business.” At St. Bridget Parish in Framingham, Francis and Mary Jesch have taken that call to heart. Four years ago, the couple became the parish’s Vocation Awareness Program coordinators.

In order to create a community of people all praying for an increase in vocations, the Jesches have set up posters inviting everyone to pray for vocations. The parish has also recently celebrated Priesthood Appreciation Sunday, where parishioners were given prayer cards and spiritual bouquets for the Year for Priests.

Read the full article, which contains several other ideas for promoting the priesthood, at: Boston Pilot: Living the Faith: Francis and Mary Jesch

Everyone at the Serra Club of Boston is very proud of Mary and Francis, and grateful to all they do for the club and to promote vocations in the Archdiocese of Boston.

“Father McKnight brings extraordinary background to the position,” Monsignor David Malloy, general-secretary of the episcopal conference, said. “In addition to parish work, his experience includes years in seminary formation, education of deacons, college chaplaincy and membership on his diocesan presbyteral council. I am grateful that Bishop Michael Jackels of Wichita is permitting him to serve the U.S. bishops in this national position.”

Read the full press release at: ZENIT – US Bishops Name Leader for Vocations Secretariat

You can read the full text of the August 28, 2009 article here: LA Times: Junipero Serra needs just one more miracle

Listen to the talks online at: Fr. Michael Najim: Gift & Mystery

Enrollment at St. John’s Seminary has doubled over the last two years, a stunning turnabout for an institution that seemed to be spiraling toward closure in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

The stone hall in Brighton, where two generations ago hundreds of young men prepared for the priesthood, is still strikingly quiet, but the pews of the Romanesque chapel are now about one-third full, as fresh-faced young men from around the world help to revive a 125-year-old institution that teetered on the brink of extinction just a few years ago.

The article discusses several strategic decisions made by Cardinal Sean O’Malley to improve the image of the seminary.

Full article at: Stunning turnaround for St. John’s Seminary

Where:
St. Patrick’s Convent
18 Sheldon Street
Roslindale, MA
Google Maps

When:
Sunday, November 9

Schedule:

• 9 AM – Presentations on Discernment & charism
• 9:45 AM – Liturgy of the Hours & Meditation
• 11:30 AM – Mass
• 12:30 PM – Lunch
• 2-4 PM – Adoration & individual meetings
• 4 PM – Holy Hour & Reposition

Contact:
Sr. Mary Cora, RSM
(617) 325-3612

You can also visit the official web site for the Religious Sisters at: www.rsmofalma.org

The Catholic Church has always seen the contemplative life as the “Air Force” in its spiritual struggle, as the Rev. David Toups of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commented—a conduit of spiritual power.

Though the number of young people entering monasteries, convents, and the priesthood has drastically dropped from the mid-20th century, some new approaches to religious vocations have inspired some young people in America to embrace this idea, replenishing several of the older religious orders and filling new ones.

More at: Slate: A Monastic Kind of Life

You can also view a similar site to the ones referenced in the article at: www.carmelitemonks.org

Thanks to Mr. Dan Kennedy for sending us this article.

You can see the Cardinal’s video at: www.vocationsboston.org.  Click on the “play” icon in the lower left corner of the web site to start playing the video.

When Chase Hilgenbrinck bounced from Chile to Colorado to New England this spring, his eyes were already on another path. Not toward another MLS club or Europe. Toward the priesthood.

MLS fans might have been startled to read the New England Revolution’s announcement this week that the defender was ending his career in midseason to enter a seminary at Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland, but the decision wasn’t abrupt

Full article at USA Today: MLS player Hilgenbrinck has a new goal: priesthood

The USA Today blog offers Chase’s commentary on his calling:

Why?
Because I feel called. I’ve actually had my calling. I’ve been discerning this decision for several years now. I had a chance to go play professional soccer in Chile. For a long time, I felt called to something greater, and I didn’t know what it was. I thought maybe it was professional soccer. In playing soccer, I realized that wasn’t it. I continued searching.

Full blog at: From soccer to seminary