Faith Enrichment Day - March 2, 2013

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The Hour That Makes My Day
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

A selection from A Treasure in Clay, the autobiography of Archbishop Sheen.

On the day of my Ordination, I made two resolutions:

1. I would offer the Holy Eucharist every Saturday in honor of the Blessed Mother to solicit her protection on my priesthood. The Epistle to the Hebrews bids the priest offer sacrifices not only for others, but also for himself, since his sins are greater because of the dignity of the office.

2. I resolved also to spend a continuous Holy Hour every day in the presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

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Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

Dear Friends in Christ,

On the Feast of Our Lady Sorrows, we celebrate the great example of Mary's steadfast love for her Son and give thanks for the gift of her maternal companionship as each of us strive to follow in Christ's footsteps.

We are pleased to share that the Dominican Sisters of Mary recently welcomed an extraordinary group of young women into the aspirancy.

Please join us in giving thanks to God for this great gift. We invite you to learn more about them by reading their vocation stories online.

Deborah Irwin, former NFP coordinator for the Rockford Diocese, is one of the aspirants. Click here to go directly to her vocation story.


Seminarian Posters and Flyers
Click here for order form


Totus Tuus Rockford Team at St. Thomas
the Apostle, Crystal Lake.


Pope Benedict on the Priest's Mission to Sanctify
"Every priest is a necessary instrument of the salvific action of God"
Posted by Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P. on May 07, 2010

At Wednesday's General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI reprised his catechesis on the tria munera Christi--the three priestly offices of Christ. His purpose in this series is to examine how the Church's pastors share in and exercise these offices, or tasks, in virtue of their reception of Holy Orders. A few weeks ago, the Holy Father focused on the first of these offices, the munus docendi, the teaching office of Christ, which the Church's bishops and priests exercise through their preaching and teaching. This week he dwelt on the second, the munus sanctificandi, Christ's work of sanctification--of making men saints--which pastors exercise above all by celebrating the sacraments.

Click here for the full text of the Holy Father's address.


Prayer for Vocations

God our Father, we thank you for calling men and women to serve in your Son's Kingdom as priests, deacons, religious, and consecrated persons. Send your Holy Spirit to help us respond generously and courageously to your call.

May our community of faith support vocations of sacrificial love in our youth. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


A Call To Priesthood

Those who are called to the priesthood or consecrated life can welcome the seed of vocation that God has placed in their hearts with a generous openness.

Drawing them to follow Christ with an undivided heart, the Father invites them to be Joyful and free apostles of the kingdom. In the generous response to the invitation they will find that true happiness for which their heart is longing.

Within the framework of this universal call, Christ, the High Priest, in his solicitude for the Church calls persons in every generation who are to care for his people. In particular, he calls to the ministerial priesthood men who are to exercise a fatherly role, the source of which is within the very fatherhood of God (cfr Eph 3,14).

The mission of the priest in the Church is irreplaceable. Therefore, even if in some regions there is a scarcity of clergy, it should never be doubted that Christ continues to raise up men who, like the Apostles, leaving behind all other work, dedicate themselves completely to the celebration of the sacred mysteries, to the preaching of the Gospel and to pastoral ministry.

Pope Benedict XVI, Message for the 43rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations