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Posts Tagged ‘04 VOCATIONS’

Brooklyn Bishop at St Mark’s Parish

090830-1207_Brooklyn-Auxiliary-Bishop-Octavio-Cisneros-at-St-Mark-ParishMASS — today at St Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church (in Southwest Ranches, FL), a visiting friend of Fr Whyte presided the Mass.  Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros of the Diocese of Brooklyn celebrated Mass.  Even though the Deacon did a good homily, I wish the Bishop shared his wisdom over the readings.  There was also a long announcement encouraging involvement in ministries, especially Religious Education.  The Bishop supplemented both talks with great insight into tapping into our Baptism to be instruments of the Holy Spirit evangelizing wherever we can.  Catechesis is a critical part of our faith that we should all be involved in … whether on the receiving end to grow in our intimacy of our faith or the giving end as catechists to our own families or to others.  He also shared gratitude for the parish to having the weekly tradition of families taking home a Vocation Cup to pray for the response to God call in all our lives, whether it be priesthood, the religious life, or marriage.  He’s a very personable and holy man.

Mass @ St Agnes

Tonight we were invited to the evening Youth Mass at St Agnes Catholic Church in Key Biscayne, FL nearby.  A beautiful parish with a loving faith community.  We lectored, ushered the collection and spoke to several parishoners after Mass.  — afterward, Doral Ale House  : )

 
     

TV show idea: new “Big Brother”

Marketing is super important to vocations. That’s why I started this blog in the first place (even though it goes against by personality — a friend noted).  As we encourage vocations and make them more “transparent” to everyone, we risk exposing ourselves.  If we have to make ourselves more vulnerable to scrutiny from others, than that’s a risk we must take (isn’t that what we’re called to do anyways?).  The marketing needs to be done by the whole church, but begin with the clergy, religious and seminarians (the newbies).

God or the GirlWe need better marketing! Take more pictures and videos, make more relevant websites and blogs, present the “reality.”  The cable special “God or the Girl” was a good start, but what about a reality show like “Big (Seminarian) Brother (or Sister).”  I think lots of people would watch that, especially non-believers.  Even if you have some bad examples on the show, it would just be an opportunity to evaluate, grow and demonstrate our humanity.  — Am I the only one who sees this?  Kermit? Anyone?

Priest Ordination Today

2007 Miami OrdinationToday, I was at the Cathedral for the ordination of 4 new priest to the Archdiocese of Miami.  It was AWESOME!  Since I’ve never been to one, I thought it would just be a long Mass with the Archbishop and lots of people that I’ve never met before.  Well, it was all of that, but way cooler!  The organ music, choir, 150+ priests, layout of the Mass, the applause, the families, the … EVERYTHING was a emotion-filled worship experience that can’t be put into words.  It was surreal.  I didn’t feel worthy to sit in the 5th pew (behind immediate family with other seminarians) to participate in such a celebration with all those priest and faithful united in the Eucharist.  I especially liked Archbishop’s homily and how each of the 150+ priest laid hands in prayer on each new priest followed by a hug.  It was powerful!