Dear Parishioners:

This Saturday, Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski will ordain one man each to the diaconate and to the priesthood.  Having these men answer the call to service in the Church is a wonderful gift to our local Church community. These new priests have promised to pledge their lives in dedication to the Lord and to the people of God.  As they begin their priestly ministry let us keep them in our prayers.

Last week Msgr John Leykam celebrated the Fifty-Third anniversary of his ordination and I celebrated the Forty-Second anniversary of my ordination.  Being a priest in service to God has enabled me to be with his people at important times and places in their lives.  I have also been blessed to lead the Eucharistic celebrations whereby we are all feed in Christ.  I have also been blessed by being a part of some wonderful parishes and I continue to be blessed both at Annunziata and at Ste Genevieve du Bois.  As you pray for our newly ordained, I would ask that you also pray for the priests that have served here and for all priests throughout the world that we may continue in our ministry to bring the face of Christ to those we meet. 

Let us pray that young men may consider a call to the priesthood, as our Church needs more priests to minister to its people.    Right now, there are less than 190 diocesan priests actively serving in the archdiocese.  As you can see while we have been blessed with a number of vocations the number of retiring priests (this year 7) still outnumbers those entering the priesthood.  The archbishop told me that our seminary Kenrick-Glennon is alive with new vocations, which is very encouraging, but as we know both at Annunziata and at Ste Genevieve du Bois more are still needed to answer the call.   Perhaps a young man in your family is waiting to hear a call to the priesthood?   If anyone wants to talk to me about a vocation, I am always ready to meet.  Thank you for all your present and past support to me and to all priests and seminarians, please continue your prayers for vocations, the Church and its priests.

Blessings!

Msgr. John Shamleffer