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KC in TX
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| Posted: Feb 27 2007 at 1:26pm | IP Logged
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Ladies, we need some prayers for some young men who will attend a retreat to discern a vocation--specifically becoming a military priest. Here's a IRL friend has sent me:
Quote:
On March 8 -11 the Archdiocese for the Military Services will conduct a Discernment Workshop, in cooperation with all of the Military Services, for military men who are thinking about the Catholic priesthood. This weekend will be at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, CA. We do two of these weekends a year, roughly fall and spring, East Coast and West, to bring men together in the environment of a Catholic seminary to find out more about the priesthood, to pray and celebrate the Sacraments, to meet chaplains and chaplain assistants, seminarians and vocation directors. We typically have about thirty men attend these weekends total The Army will have seven men this time.
These weekends are terrific vehicles for these men to get information, encouragement and lasting support for their discernment. I know it would mean a lot to the participants if they knew that they were being lifted up in prayer by military faith communities, praying for them on this weekend and beyond in discerning the Lord's will.
If the MCCW ladies at Fort Hood would like to support this weekend and these men in prayer, it would mean a lot. I know the men would be moved to get an encouraging card or note, indicating that they are being prayed for. For any note that is written, may I suggest that the writer mention specifically what is being offered to support the man, e.g., a rosary, fasting, a work of mercy. In my own experience, when I am told that someone is making an offering particularly for me, it has a profound impact.
If you mail cards or notes to me, I will carry them to the weekend. I depart on Thur, Mar 8. So I would need anything you send by Mar 7. Otherwise, if that is a difficulty, I suppose we can mail to the St. Patrick's Seminary, ATTN: Chaplain Studniewski. I can provide the address if it comes to that.
Here are the Soldiers attending this weekend:
1. Stephen Cotter
2. Raymond Groves
3. Luis Gonzales
4. Chris Martin
5. Nicholas Mosher
6. James Secriskey
7. Ben Watson
Please call me with any questions regarding this or any other vocations initiative that I can assist with.
In Christ, Fr Gary |
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Now for as to why it's so important that we have military priests, my friend Jennifer sums it up:
Quote:
Background information on why the need for deployable Army priests is critical:
Why Army Priests?
There are (very) roughly 450,000 active duty Soldiers in the army, and around 95-100 priests to serve them all. What's more is that the ratio of Catholic Soldiers to priests is approximately 800:1; however, consider that the ratio of Southern Baptist Soldiers to Southern Baptist Chaplains is about 40:1.
When Catholic Soldiers are in a war zone, there is a tremendous need for the Sacraments. Not every Soldier has access to a priest at his or her convenience--or even necessity. Unfortunately, when they don't have ready access to a priest, they may seek out Chaplains of other denominations. Many Evangelical chaplains joined the Army to save Catholics, Jews and Muslims...just imagine what can happen when a Catholic Soldier runs into a Chaplain who doesn't believe that their Faith has any merit in Heaven. Pair that with Catholics of the Kumbaya Generation and it's not pretty. We give our Soldiers state of the art weaponry, body armor and communications--but leave them stranded when it comes to the Sacraments.
To be fair, there are many Soldiers who have regular access to the Sacraments; my hubber is “lucky,” as they have a priest visit every other week and they are able to celebrate Mass and they love it – other units in his area see the priest once a month (compare that with another post who has their own full-time priest: they have 20 soldiers in RCIA). But as soon as the priest leaves, so does our Lord. The Eucharist is not allowed to be anywhere that a priest is not—EME’s are not allowed by the Bishop of the Military Archdiocese to transport or store the Consecrated Host because of past abuses by a few poorly trained EME’s.
What happens when a Catholic soldier is KIA? If he or she is lucky and blessed (as was hubber's Soldier), they are wounded first and end up at the big Army hospital over there where there is a priest on the post (of tens of thousands of soldiers). When his Soldier entered into his eternal life with, by all accounts, a very holy death, he had a priest by his side with all the Sacraments, and received the Prayers of the Dead upon his passing. Not everyone is so fortunate. In our unit, it's nearly 50% Catholic out of 4,000 Soldiers and not a single priest assigned to them; with that ratio, whenever there is a KIA, there's a 50/50 chance that the Soldier was Catholic.
What happens when a Catholic Soldier is memorialized by a non-Catholic chaplain? Most times it's ok; sometimes, it's not so good. If someone is thoroughly convicted that Catholics have absolutely no hope of Heaven, how much comfort can their convictions possibly be to the Faithful? Memorials are performed by the unit’s Chaplain – regardless of denomination of Soldier or
Chaplain. Imagine attending a memorial service for a Protestant Soldier and the Chaplain stating how he looks forward to meeting the Soldier again in the
Kingdom of Heaven. Now imagine attending the memorial service for a Catholic Soldier being led by the same Chaplain and having no mention of the Soldier’s place in Heaven.
What happens when Catholic Soldiers are grieving the loss of their fellow Catholics? Well...<sigh>...in the absence of a priest, you don't have much of a choice, you go to your unit chaplain. If the Chaplain believes that Catholics aren't even Christians, you have a tremendous problem. If a grieving Catholic Soldier approaches him or her for counseling, no doubt that Chaplain's priority is to convert that Soldier so that they can be saved. And some are ill-equipped to defend the Faith against a skilled minister.
When a Soldier is out there, laying everything on the line, not knowing if this patrol or that convoy will be his last...you want that Soldier to know who he is...you don't want that Soldier to be wondering where they fit in The Grand Scheme of Things. We absolutely want our Brothers and Sisters to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are part of Christ's *own* Church, His beautiful Bride, and that they stand on a Rock. Should they fall, there must be no doubt in their minds that they have the fullest possible knowledge of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That knowledge, of course, is conveyed through the frequent reception of the Eucharist and Confession. "Remain in Me, as I remain in you."
I am *passionate* about Catholic Soldiers having access to the Eucharist and Confession--especially in a war zone, where they need it most. Please join us in praying for these seven very special young Soldiers who will be discerning their own vocation to become Army priests.
Thank you so much for your love and prayers--it's absolutely *tangible* and keeps us all serving each other. |
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If y'all got down to here, thank you!!! Anyway, this is such short notice, but if you will post a prayer here I will print out this entire post and send it along to my friends so they can give it Father Gary. I don't know the names of the other men attending this retreat. These particular men are from Ft. Hood.
__________________
KC,
wife to Ben (10/94),
Mama to LB ('98)
Michaela ('01)
Emma ('03)
Jordan ('05)
And, my 2 angels, Rose ('08) and Mark ('09)
The Cabbage Patch
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ladybugs
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| Posted: Feb 27 2007 at 1:30pm | IP Logged
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KC,
I've been to St. Patrick's Seminary - it's not too far from me! I'm wondering if Father Gary is the same Father Gary that I knew from my Bay Area days...
You have our prayers for this intention! Adding them to our family rosary!
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Love and God Bless,
Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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amyable
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| Posted: Feb 27 2007 at 1:41pm | IP Logged
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Praying! I had no idea...
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Feb 27 2007 at 2:46pm | IP Logged
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I will pray...and also, I would like to mention that nearly every Protestant military chaplain I have met, regardless of denomination, has very willingly reached out to Catholic soldiers/sailors/airmen/marines and considered them fellow Christians, saved by Jesus and deserving of a place in Heaven. One of my Baptist chaplain friends even learned to pray the Rosary and carried extra rosaries so he could comfort Catholic marines in Iraq.
This doesn't, of course, replace the need for receiving the Sacraments from a priest. Catholic chaplains are indeed needed. Catholic Navy chaplains need to have stomachs of iron, because they spend so much time flying by helicopter between ships (often one priest ministers to six or more ships!) to say Mass and hear confessions onboard.
Another thing to pray for is that the priests who feel truly called to serve as chaplains are allowed to do so by their bishops. Once a diocese has trained and ordained a priest for service there, the bishops are often reluctant to release him for military service.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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stefoodie
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Praying for them, KC!
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stef
mom to five
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KC in TX
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| Posted: Feb 27 2007 at 4:38pm | IP Logged
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guitarnan wrote:
I will pray...and also, I would like to mention that nearly every Protestant military chaplain I have met, regardless of denomination, has very willingly reached out to Catholic soldiers/sailors/airmen/marines and considered them fellow Christians, saved by Jesus and deserving of a place in Heaven. One of my Baptist chaplain friends even learned to pray the Rosary and carried extra rosaries so he could comfort Catholic marines in Iraq.
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Yes, Nancy, I agree. I had a difficult time deciding whether or not to edit and decided to leave as is.
__________________
KC,
wife to Ben (10/94),
Mama to LB ('98)
Michaela ('01)
Emma ('03)
Jordan ('05)
And, my 2 angels, Rose ('08) and Mark ('09)
The Cabbage Patch
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JennGM
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Praying, KC! Thanks for passing this on...
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: Feb 27 2007 at 5:33pm | IP Logged
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Praying here. Thanks for the info, KC!
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 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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Rebecca
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Praying, KC.
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Dawn
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| Posted: Feb 27 2007 at 7:26pm | IP Logged
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KC, I will pray ...
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
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Carole N.
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Praying. Thanks for making us aware of this situation.
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Carole ... in Wales
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guitarnan
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KC, I think it's good you didn't edit. The writer really, passionately stresses how hard it is - and how rare - for our military Catholics to receive the sacraments...and I know all too well from my dh how difficult that is.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Ruth
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I'll be praying, KC.
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Ruth
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4Real Forums : We Pray to the Lord
Topic: Prayers needed for vocation discernment
