Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.

From the moment of Jesus' conception in the womb of Mary until his Resurrection, he was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In biblical language, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit and thus established by God the Father as our high priest. As Risen Lord, he remains our high priest. . . . While all the baptized share in Christ's priesthood, the ministerial priesthood shares this through the Sacrament of Holy Orders in a special way. 

"Here I am, send me." (Is 6:8)

Ordination to the priesthood is always a call and a gift from God. Christ reminded his Apostles that they needed to ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest.  Those who seek priesthood respond generously to God's call using the words of the prophet, "Here I am, send me" (Is 6:8).  This call from God can be recognized and understood from the daily signs that disclose his will to those in charge of discerning the vocation of the candidate.

~from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults | en español

PLEASE PRAY FOR VOCATIONS! 

We currently have three vocations from our parish: 

Parishioners Joseph Lewis and Dylan Emerson departed for their respective seminaries in August, 2023.  Joe is attending St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore and Dylan is attending St.  Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia.  Please keep them both in your prayers as they continue their formal studies for the priesthood.  

If you'd like to keep in touch with Joe & Dylan, here are their addresses: 
Mr. Joseph Lewis                                    Mr. Dylan Emerson 
St. Mary's Seminary & University              1400 Evans Road 
5400 Roland Avenue                               Ambler PA  19002
Baltimore MD  21210                                              

Sr. Amanda Marie de Jesus is a novice with the Little Sisters of the Poor.   Click here to read all about Sr. Amanda Marie's vocation journey.   Click here to read a great article about Sr. Amanda that appeared on the Catholic Review website in November, 2020.    Click here to read an article about Sr. Amanda that appeared in the December 27, 2022 edition of The Dialog newspaper in the Diocese of Wilmington.  

Sr. Amanda recently attended the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, IN and wrote about her experiences in the October edition of Serenity, a publication of the Little Sisters of the Poor.  You can read the article here.  

Visit the Diocese of Wilmington Vocations website by clicking here.   
Visit the website for The Little Sisters of the Poor by clicking here.   

OTHER VOCATIONS NEWS 
Parishioner, Dylan Emerson, who is a seminarian at St. Charles Borremeo Seminary in Philadelphia, PA was recently featured in a Heed the Call vocation video from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.  You can view the video here.