Newark’s parishes to pray for new priests and deacons
In the coming weeks, the Archdiocese of Newark will receive thirty men into the service of the Catholic Church as ordained ministers. On Sunday, May 18, eight men will be ordained as transitional deacons and nineteen as permanent deacons. The following Saturday, May 24, three men will be ordained as priests.
In thanksgiving for this grace, the Office of Priestly Vocations has invited all parishes to join together in prayer for our diaconate and priestly ordinandi on the Fridays before their ordinations.
Archdiocesan-wide Holy Hours will be held on Friday, May 16 at 6 p.m. for diaconate ordinandi and on Friday, May 23 at 7 p.m. for priestly ordinandi. A list of participating parishes can be found by visiting @newarkpriest on Instagram or Facebook.
According to Father Patrick Seo, Director of Priestly Vocations, the men who will be ordained have a rich array of backgrounds and experiences. “The Church does not want cookie-cutter clergy,” he told Jersey Catholic. “We want to embrace the wide variety of gifts and talents that the Holy Spirit wants to share through the people of God. Imagine a world where everyone in the Church embraced their vocations and used their gifts for the building up of the Church!”
Father Seo believes it is important for the people of the Newark Archdiocese to come together in prayer for those who will minister to them, as he explained:
“Christ commands his disciples: ‘Beg the Master of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest’ (Luke 10:2). Christ wants to share his life with us in our vocations, but he wants us to want our vocations. This is why we are having Holy Hours of Eucharistic Adoration across the Archdiocese at the local parishes to have parishioners praying to Jesus, the Master of the harvest, to send out laborers into the harvest.”
This past Sunday, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV stressed the need to support those pursuing vocations. “It is important that young men and women on their vocational journey find acceptance, listening, and encouragement in their communities, and that they can look up to credible models of generous dedication to God and to their brothers and sisters,” the Pope said.
The Office of Priestly Vocations told Jersey Catholic they plan for the Holy Hours to become an annual event. For more information contact newarkpriest@rcan.org.
Featured image: Photo by Julio Eduardo Herrera for Archdiocese of Newark.
