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Bishop's Column
In the Diocese of Fargo this year we are blessed to have seven young men apply for the seminary. If accepted, they will join 20 others who are in various stages of formation. While a long path lies ahead of them before they will be ordained, their hearts are open to a possible call that they are hearing from our Lord to serve him and the Church as priests. “The call which comes from the heart of God must always find its way into the heart of man” (Benedict XVI Meeting with the Priests and Deacons in Freising, Germany, 14 September 2006). As they enter into formation “the call from the heart of God” hopefully will gain clarity and the young man will be able to respond with docility and receptivity to our Lord’s invitation. In following our Lord’s command, not only is it important to pray to the Father for vocations, but it is essential to pray continuously for those in formation and for men who become priests and for women and men who become religious. Intercessory prayer is an important element of our faith. As Jesus prayed for his disciples and his enemies, so too are we called to pray for one another. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: “Since Abraham, intercession -- asking on behalf of another -- has been characteristic of a heart attuned to God's mercy. In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ's, as an expression of the communion of saints. In intercession, he who prays looks ‘not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others,’ even to the point of praying for those who do him harm” (CCC 2635). The Congregation for Clergy recently published a letter titled Eucharistic Adoration for the Sanctification of Priests and Spiritual Maternity. The letter encourages Eucharistic adoration specifically for priests, with the laity praying for holiness in their priests. We are blessed in our diocese to have many parishes that have established times for Eucharistic adoration. I encourage all of the faithful when they participate in Eucharistic adoration to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life for the Diocese of Fargo. Also pray specifically for a seminarian or religious in formation or for a priest or sister by name. Offering intercessory prayer before our Lord present in the monstrance or tabernacle demonstrates our union with the Lord in seeking the good of the other. In praying for a specific seminarian, ask the Lord to grant him the particular graces he needs to know his vocation and to live it faithfully. Pray that the Holy Spirit may stir into flame the gifts of knowledge and understanding during his studies and grant him a fervent heart to seek the Father’s will. The same types of petitions may be made for young women who are in religious formation. Prayer for specific graces or gifts of the Holy Spirit is important as you intercede for another person. In praying specifically for priests or sisters you may hold them up by name to the Lord, asking the Lord to guide and sustain them in their particular ministry or charism. Priests and religious are human beings and have the same struggles and weaknesses that every human person has. Sometimes their struggles are greater since they have made the decision to follow the Lord as priests or religious. Intercessory prayer for your pastors, parochial vicars, and for me as your bishop will bear much fruit. For those who participate in Eucharistic adoration each week, I encourage you to take an hour a month to pray for your priests that they may have the heart and compassion of Christ, the Good Shepherd. Pray, too, for religious, for vocations and for our seminarians. In writing about spiritual maternity, the letter from the Congregation for Clergy refers to the unique prayers of women for priests. Referring to Mary’s unique motherhood in forming the heart of Jesus as a child and in her prayer for him and with him at the foot of the Cross, the letter notes that women have a special role in their prayers for priests and for vocations. This is especially true for the mothers of priests. St. Augustine spoke of the intercession of St. Monica for him in his Confessions. “For love of me, she cried more tears than a mother would over the bodily death of her son…My holy mother never abandoned me. She brought me forth in her flesh, that I might be born to this temporal light, and in her heart, that I might be born to life eternal.” Pope St. Pius X went to visit his mother after his ordination as a bishop. She kissed his ring and then said to him, pointing to her wedding band, “Yes, Giuseppe, you would not be wearing that ring if I had not first worn mine.” In speaking of his mother after her death he stated, “Every vocation to the priesthood comes from the heart of God, but it goes through the heart of a mother!” The prayers of mothers can have a profound effect on the lives of their children, even when their prayer remains hidden. Recently during a confirmation Mass, after encouraging the young boys to think about the priesthood, a boy’s mother whispered to me that she and her husband pray each day that one of their sons will be a priest. The life of Eliza Vaughn reveals how powerful prayer can be. She was a convert to the Catholic faith through marriage in 1830. She made a habit of praying for an hour before the Blessed Sacrament for a large family and many vocations. She and her husband had deep confidence in God and she bore 14 children and 13 lived to adulthood. Six of her eight sons became priests and four of her five daughters became religious. The intercessory prayers of mothers, when made with fervor and in accord with the desire of our Lord, can bear much fruit. I especially encourage the mothers of our seminarians and priests to always remember your sons in prayer and to bring them with you to Mass and to Eucharistic adoration. I encourage all mothers to pray for vocations for their children, and I encourage especially the religious women in our diocese and widows to pray for priests and seminarians. You may even want to adopt spiritually a priest, seminarian, or religious and hold their sanctification up to the Lord each day in prayer, imitating the way of Mary our Mother and of so many other holy women who have gone before us with a deep faith and practice of spiritual maternity. While my mother was living she told me that she took me to prayer and Mass with her each day she attended. I know that her prayers sustained me during difficult and joyful times and it gave me great solace to know that she prayed for me unceasingly. Our late holy father, John Paul II, knew, too, of the fruits of the prayers of women. In 1994, he established a cloistered convent in the Vatican, called Mater Ecclesiae – Mother of the Church - where nuns would pray for the intentions of the pope. Every five years a contemplative order of nuns assumes responsibility for the five-year period. The Poor Clares, the Carmelites, and now the Benedictines serve this special mission. A few nuns from the same community, from all over the world, come together to live a life of prayer and sacrifice for the Holy Father. The fruit is evident in the life of Pope John Paul II and now in the life of Benedict XVI and gives witness to spiritual maternity for priests. I encourage all the faithful of the Diocese of Fargo -- clergy, religious and lay -- to pray fervently for vocations to the priesthood and religious life and for the sanctification of our priests and religious. I pray too that more women, lay and religious, will exercise spiritual maternity by praying for priests and religious. For those who are mothers, I ask especially that they pray for their children that they may be open to vocations and the call God may be giving to them. May Christ the Good Shepherd bless you abundantly and may the “master of the harvest” grant the Church of Fargo many vocations! Sincerely yours in Christ, <signed> A copy of the letter by the Congregation for Clergy, Eucharistic Adoration for the Sanctification of Priests and Spiritual Maternity, may be found at http://www.catholicculture.org/library/view.cfm?recnum=7929. A pdf version with additional information may be found at http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2008-01/25-13/Adoration.pdf
April 2008
May 2008
DIOCESE OF FARGO OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, Bishop of Fargo, has made the following appointments and/or decrees:
Reverend Peter Anderl was appointed as ordinary confessor to the Sisters of
Carmel of Mary Monastery at Wahpeton, North Dakota, for a period of three years,
beginning May 30, 2008.
Reverend Lawrence W. Haas’s resignation as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in
Carrington, North Dakota, was accepted with an effective date of June 19, 2008,
due to reaching the age of retirement.
Diocesan reporting policy regarding sexual abuse The Diocese of Fargo is committed to the protection of youth. Please report any incidents or suspected incidents of child abuse, including sexual abuse, to civil authorities. If the situation involves a member of the clergy or a religious order, a seminarian, or an employee of a Catholic school, parish, the diocesan offices or other Catholic entity within the diocese, we ask that you also report the incident or suspected incident to Father Dennis Skonseng, Vicar General, at (701) 356-7945 or Briston Fernandes, Victims Assistance Coordinator, at (701) 356-7965 or VictimAssistance@fargodiocese.org. For additional information about victim assistance, visit www.fargodiocese.org.
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