Go forth and be the Hands and Feet for Jesus - Encourage, Pray, & Support!

Father Vincent Tobin, a monk from St. Meinrad, celebrated Mass for the Feast of the Ascension.   Father Vincent has been sharing the gift of priesthood for 54 years which he celebrated on May 12.   This was also Mothers’ day weekend and he reminded us the special vocation the mothers play in our lives and without them we would not be here.  

The main point I got out of Fr. Vincent’s homily was that we are now to do the work of spreading the good news of Jesus.   Fr. Vincent made the point that the disciples didn’t stand around lamenting when Jesus left.   They got on with the spreading of the Gospel.  They were the voice, hands, and feet of Jesus.  The gift of the Holy Spirit enabled them to do their job which comes at Pentecost, which we will celebrate next week. 

Fr. Vincent spent a few minutes in closing talking about the good work of St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology.  They came to the US from Austria to serve the need educate priests and have been doing so for 154 years. Their education has expanded to serve formation of deacons, lay ministers, and those interested in the study of Theology as well.  They are at full capacity and really need support of the Church, which is all of us.  He asked us for help in three ways:

1)    Encourage those who may show a calling to a vocation to serve the Church as priests, deacons, religious, and lay ministers.
2)    Prayer for those discerning and pursuing a vocation to serve the Church and also those who educate and support the mission of St. Meinrad.
3)    Support the efforts of St. Meinrad through financial support.   

He did not go into details on how to do this, but mentioned a letter would be coming in the mail to each family.    St. Meinrad makes it very easy to donate through their web site, https://www.saintmeinrad.edu/support-us/donate/.    They also offer some free information on how to support St. Meinrad through wills and gifts of life insurance, http://www.saintmeinrad.edu/support-us/request-free-information/.    If you have not been to St. Meinrad I would highly encourage you to make a visit.  It’s located in the beautiful rolling hills of Southern Indiana.  The church there is magnificent.   The grounds are very peaceful to walk and they have many retreat programs.   If you have a family and go to Holiday world it’s a short 15 minute ride to get there.   They even have rooms you can stay at the Guest House, http://www.saintmeinrad.edu/visit-us/accommodations/.

Have a blessed week preparing for the Feast of Pentecost!