Denver Catholic

DENVER CATHOLIC | NOVEMBER 2023 sacrifice of the Mass and the other sacraments, through preaching, and many other means. I often hear from people that we are blessed in the Archdiocese of Denver because we have so many priests. I am incredibly grateful for every man who has said yes to the call to the priesthood and for every man who has honestly discerned that call. While we may be in a better position than some other dioceses, we are still experiencing a shortage, especially when we consider where all the priests who serve in the Archdiocese come from. Less than 40% of priests currently serving in the Archdiocese of Denver entered seminary to be ordained here as diocesan priests. Many of our active priests are from religious orders, the Neocatechumenal Way, priests who have incardinated here from other religious commu- nities or dioceses, and priests who are sent from other countries to serve. I am deeply thankful for these priests, but we must acknowledge that many of them could be sent to other locations for ministry at any moment. It is my desire to promote more vocations to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Denver. St. John Vianney was born in and grew up in the Diocese of Lyons in France. He was ordained a priest of the diocese and spent his life in service to the people of his parish. The Church thrives and is most herself when she has an abundance of holy priests. We will never see that if we do not vigorously promote voca- tions and earnestly pursue the highest qualit y of formation for our seminarians. On a more practical level, the operation and continual improvement of the seminary costs money. Please consider donating to our annual seminary appeal, for it is through your generosit y that we can educate and form our seminarians locally. The work of the seminary is close to my heart as the archbishop, and I hope close to yours. Many of the priests serving in our parishes have been powerfully impacted by the ministry of our seminaries. I appreciate your generosit y and ongoing support. Let us follow the Lord's invitation to us: "The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest" (Mt 9: 37-38). Let us fervently pray that the Lord would call more young men from northern Colorado to priestly ministry and that our seminaries would continue to form men to lead others into an encounter with Jesus Christ, who alone shows us the way to Heaven. We would like to thank everyone that has made the last 25 years possible. A special thank you to Archbishops Chaput and Aquila for supporting our independence; and to our past and present board members; current and former staff; our collaborative partners; pastors and priests; and YOU, all our individual supporters. Because YOU have supported this mission, we are confident our future Church is better because of YOU. YOU can also be grateful knowing that God is never outdone in generosity. God bless you, The Catholic Foundation team With Gratitude 303.468.9885 • TheCatholicFoundation.com Call us to learn more Deacon Steve Stemper Lisa Kukura Joshua Gideon

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