Next Wednesday, January 25, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary hosts her annual Vocation Night, welcoming men, college age and older to join the community for Mass, Dinner and a short presentation on the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.  The evening runs from 5:15 and should conclude by 8:00.

In order to seek the clarity of a possibly vocation, it is a vital experience to visit the seminary, meet the men who are already there, and experience the life of prayer that forms the core of the priesthood and which seminary life is built around.

If you are interested in attending, please call the Vocation Office at 513-421-3131, x2890, or send an email to vocations@catholiccincinnati.org.

Yesterday, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati, issued this letter to be read during all Masses this coming weekend within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

A snippet:

We cannot – we will not – comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second-class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build Arnerica’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always (more…)

Today’s vocation story comes from Sr. Carolyn Marie Betsch, CDP. Sister Betsch is a sister of the Congregation of Divine Providence in Melbourne, KY. She is a daughter of Assumption in Mt. Healthy and is currently serving as Principal of Our Lady Star of the Sea Elementary School in Solomons, MD.

My vocation story started in the grade school where I was taught by the CDPs. Just about every other year, my teacher was one of these mysterious, joyful women whom I admired from a distance.

When I got into the 5^th or 6^th grade, I started to stop by the church after our Girl Scout meetings. Sometimes the Sisters would be in church with their arms extended in the form of a cross. Later I realized that they were praying. Silently, I felt a connection…

In the Spring of my 8^th grade, I joined a group of girls who were (more…)

Today’s Vocation Story comes from Mark Berwanger, a seminarian studying for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is in his first year of seminary studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum. Mark is a son of St. Andrew parish in Milford, OH.

My name is Mark Berwanger, I am 24 years old and a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in my first year of collegiate studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.

I first felt called to the vocation of the priesthood when I was a young man through grade school at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton/St. Andrew. At the time I would talk about desiring to become a priest, inspired by the positive models of good and holy priests I either served for or knew as friends of the family. I wrote often that when I “grew up” I wanted to be either a priest, an author, or a teacher. Throughout high school (more…)

Today’s Vocation Story comes from Sr. Mary Delrita Glaser, SND, a Sister of Notre Dame in Covington, KY. Sister Glaser is a native of Cincinnati and a graduate of Notre Dame Academy of Covington, KY.

Sr. Glaser stands next to Uganda's national flag. She is currently a missionary there.

What’s my story?  How did I get where I am???  Well, I am the fourth of five children, born into a loving and actively Christian family.  Growing up in Carthage, Ohio, I attended our parish Catholic grade school, St. Charles, and watched my older cousins and then brother and sisters as they dated and eventually married. Life was so full and so interesting – I wanted all of it!   As a child might do, I was gathering interesting names for my future children like Anastasia, Cunigunda, Irmgarde, and at the same time, I was planning on being a Sister.

Well, I finished the eighth grade and wanted to go to OLA – Our Lady of the Angels High School – where all my friends and classmates were going.  But my parents had another idea.  My mother had attended Ursuline Academy (more…)

Today’s Vocation Story comes from Jim Riehly, a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Jim is currently on his internship year at St. Cecilia parish in Oakley. He is a son of St. Gertrude and St. Columban parishes in Cincinnati.

The thought of being a priest first came to me when I was in the first grade.  Of course, at times – as a six year old – I also thought about being a Martian, so needless to say I did not take the call to the priesthood, at that time, very seriously.  As I grew up, and all the childhood fantasies of what I wanted to do with my life fell away, the idea of being a priest got set aside.  Instead, I was going to be a teacher.  All throughout my years of high school (more…)