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Hello fellow bloggers! I wish to apologize for not writing for so long. I have been very busy studying and preparing for my Ordination. I am very happy to announce that I will be Ordained to the Transitional Deaconate on Tuesday, May 22nd. I have worked very hard for this day. I can remember as a child going to Mass and picture myself as a priest one day.  This dream is finally becoming a reality.  I will have one more year of Seminary left and then, God willing, the Holy Priesthood will be confered upon me.  The journey has been filled with mixed emotions.  I can only imagine what my heart will be feeling on May 22nd as I assume the role of Deacon in the Roman Catholic Church.  Please continue to pray for me as I journey foward. 

Good morning fellow bloggers.  Yesterday began my Spring Break from the Seminary.  Hooray! 

The title of, Canonical Retreat may be causeing you to ask what is it?  A canonical retreat simply means that it is a retreat required according to the canon or law of the church.  Monday, I will be going on my canonical retreat.  The purpose of this retreat is to allow the ordination candidate the opportunity to commune with God in the quiet of his heart.  IT allows the opportunity to stop and listen and prepare onesself for ordination.  I look foward to having this precious time.  I pray for my fellow retreatants that the lord will speak to us all.  Please remember us all in you prayers this week. 

Richard

Hello fellow bloggers!  Sorry for not writing in quite a while.  I have not had any internet service here for two weeks.  It has been horrible. 

Today was a most wonderful day within the church.  Here at the seminary the Bishop ordained a man to a Deacon, who please God will be ordained a Priest Mrch 24th.  The was a very special day, because this man is fighting a very bad cancer.  He has fought so hard that it is amazing he is still with us.  God is good!  It was a joy to be present among the ceremonies. 

Please God soon I will feel the same emotions that were felt here for Deacon Adam. 

Richard 

Hello fellow bloggers and friends!  Today I have begun a new venture in my priestly formation.  I have become a member of the friend for friend program.  This is a program offered my the Connecticut State Department of Health.  It takes people who are recovering from addidction and re-enters then onto society.  Three hours each week, I will meet with someone and spend time with this person as a way of helping them to interact within society.  This is also ministry.  Ministry because is will be preparing me for the priesthood.  As a future priest I may be asked to listen and assist someone who is dealing with addictions.  This can enrich my role as a minister and I look foward to seeing the fruits of it. 

Good Evening everyone!  I am sorry that I have not written, please forgive me.  Over the last week, I have been very busy.  On Monday I wrote my petition to the Bishop requesting to be ordained a Deacon.  It was a very emotional thing to do.  Then on Tuesday, I took my oaths of Fidelity to the Church and to the Deaconate.  This was also very emotional.  I professed my faith and expressed that I believe all that the Church teaches.  I also professed my obedience to my Bishop and superiors as well as promised to live out my life in the celibate state.  I was holding back tears as I placed my hand on the Holy Gospels Next in March I will take my Canonical Oral Exams and then in May all this preparation will culminate with, please God, ordination. 

Please continue to pray for me.

It is impossible to exaggerate the close relation between the Holy Eucharist and vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

This is only to be expected once we realize that every vocation is a special grace from God, and the greatest source of grace we have is the Eucharist as Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion.

Faith tells us that Christ is really present on our altars, that He really offers Himself in the Mass, and that we really receive Him in Holy Communion. In each case, the Living Christ is now inspiring men and women to give themselves to Him with all their hearts and follow Him in the extension of His Kingdom.

The Eucharist, therefore, is the best way to foster vocations. This means that persons who attend Mass, receive Communion and invoke Christ in the Blessed Sacrament obtain light and strength that no one else has a claim to.

The Eucharist is also the best way to recognize vocations. Show me a man or woman devoted to the Eucharist and I will show you a person who is an apt subject for the priesthood or the religious life.

The Eucharist is finally the infallible way of preserving one’s vocation. This is especially true of devotion to the Real Presence. Is it any wonder that saintly priests and religious over the centuries have been uncommonly devoted to the Blessed Sacrament? They know where to obtain the help they need to remain faithful to their vocations. It is from the same Christ Who called them and Who continues to sustain them in His consecrated service.

Vocations begin with the Eucharist; they are developed through the Eucharist; and they are preserved by the Eucharist. All of this is true because the Eucharist is Jesus Christ, still on earth, working through men and women whom He calls to share His Plan for salvation.  (Fr. John Hardon)