The Church today celebrates a World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In the U.S., of course, this is Mother’s Day. I think this is a nice melding of two events. This is particularly a time to remember the beautiful vocation of mothers. Mothers are the first to nurture their children and mothers are instrumental in raising children and bringing them to Christ. Today is a day to pray for our mothers. May God bless them for the many gifts they have shared in that beautiful vocation.
We also need to continue our prayer for vocations to the priesthood and to the religious life. Our two parish seminarians will begin their final year of studies in the fall. Once they are ordained priests, we have no one else in the seminary lineup from St. Charles. We are also very aware that Sr. Genevieve left St. Charles this year. While we have sisters who are part of our parish, we don’t have sisters on our parish staff or in our parish school. Let us continue to pray and to encourage our young people. Vocations to the priesthood and to the religious life are wonderful callings from God.
Mark your calendar for the Diaconate Ordination of our two parishioners, Noah Isch and Sam Martinez. The ordination Mass will be held at the Fort Wayne Cathedral at 11:00 on Saturday, May 24. On May 25, Deacon Sam will preach at the 9:00 Mass and Deacon Noah at the 11:00 Mass at St. Charles, with a reception after both Masses.
Because of the deadlines for printing and shipping the bulletin, this bulletin is at the printers before the beginning of the papal conclave. As you read the bulletin, it is likely that we will already have a new pope. Or, the deliberations and voting may still be going on. In any event, we keep our Church in prayer. We trust that the Lord will work through our new pope and guide us in His will.
