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OFFICE OF VOCATIONS: WELCOME!
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LAST WEB SITE UPDATE: 06/12/2013
- We are currently in the process of updating all of the clergy profiles to reflect their new assignments.
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Welcome to the Diocesan Office of Vocations!
 The Diocese of Madison welcomes Fr. Greg Ihm to the Vocations Office as Director of Vocations. Fr. Greg was ordained for the Diocese of Madison in 2010. He attended major seminary at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. For the past three years, Fr. Ihm has served as parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist Parish, Waunakee, and St. Mary of the Lake Parish, Westport. In addition to his duties as Director of Vocations, Fr. Ihm will continue to serve as Master of Ceremonies to Bishop Morlino. We offer prayers of thanksgiving for Fr. Paul Arinze, outgoing Director of Vocations, who will assume a new assignment as pastor at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Beloit. May the Lord continue to bless our seminarians and all those who assist in their formation.
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Our hope is that this web site will help to foster further appreciation for our diocesan seminarians, as well as to invite the Spirit of the Lord into the hearts of men and women who may feel a calling to serve our Lord in priesthood or religious life.
Please spend some time, looking over all of the material that we have to offer. If you'd like to discuss questions that you may have or to seek further assistance in discerning a vocation to priesthood or religious life, please feel free to contact me. God bless you and grant you perseverence in your vocation.
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What's new on the vocations office web site?
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TODAY'S SEMINARIANS, TOMORROW'S PRIESTS
by: Fr. Michael Radowicz
As a priest, it is a great joy to support those studying to serve in the person of Jesus Christ. We have reaped a great bounty of men who have stepped forward, courageously and faithfully answering our Lord's call to love Him and to serve His people in a way that only a priest can. Since my ordination in 2005, I have been a witness of this great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and have seen first-hand how seminaries are preparing our young men to be good pastors, good shepherds and faith-filled leaders. Our bishop is committed to providing a sound future for our Diocese through his constant urging of inviting men to consider the possibility of priesthood. Those who adore before our Eucharistic Lord with our seminarians upon their minds and hearts are united with them in their journey toward priestly ordination. Our seminarians are not alone - they are supported by the love and prayers of so many. It was that constant support that carried me through my years of seminary and has made me the priest I am today.
This year, we will be 32 men strong in college and theological formation for the 2012-13 academic year. God is so graciously providing for His Church in Madison, and this is clear evidence that the Spirit is alive and working in the hearts of our good men. Please join with me in praying every day for our seminarians, and those considering a vocation to priestly, religious and consecreated life. Our prayers, our support and the outpouting of God's grace upon these men will help the seminarians of today become the priests of tomorrow - strong, faith-filled and obedient to Christ. They will be His servants, shephering His people and leading them to the glory of eternal life. Mary is at the center of every priestly heart, and she guides our young men through their formation by her constant prayers and urgings, helping them to possess the heart of her Son. May the Spirit continue His great work, and bless our Diocese with many men who will possess the true heart of Christ, and bring newfound faith and hope to the people they will be called to serve!
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God bless you, and thank you for visiting our web site.
Please continue to pray for our seminarians, our priests and religious,
for more vocations in our diocese, and throughout the Church.
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New Video on Priestly Vocations!
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Recently, the Midwest Theological Forum finished production on an excellent video, entitled "The Catholic Priest Today: A Man of Faith, A Man of Tradition, A Man of God. The video is designed to speak to anyone who may have an interest in the priesthood.
The video features one of our own priests, Fr. Eric Nielsen, pictured at left, who is pastor at St. Paul University Catholic Center in Madison. In his remarks, Fr. Nielsen reminds viewers that  when discerning a vocation, there are more things to discern than the vocation itself. Saying yes to the priesthood reveals God's grace in many new ways, but it is also important to discern what sacrifices must be made in order to pursue a priestly vocation. In priesthood, sacrifice becomes blessing, and this theme is beautifully illustrated in this film.
Also included in the film are commentaries by His Eminance, Francis Cardinal George, Cardinal-Archbishop of Chicago, Ill., and Dr. Scott Hahn, a well-noted scripture scholar and author.
There is a web site dedicated to the video, located at http://www.thecatholicpriesttoday.com You may also order a DVD from the web site as well. Click on the link below to view the video.
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Is our Lord calling you to be a fisher of men?
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 "To preside at the Lord’s Supper is, therefore, an urgent invitation to offer oneself in gift, so that the attitude of the Suffering Servant and Lord may continue and grow in the Church. Dear young men, nurture your attraction to those values and radical choices which will transform your lives into service of others, in the footsteps of Jesus, the Lamb of God. …Do not be afraid to accept this call. You will surely encounter difficulties and sacrifices, but you will be happy to serve, you will be witnesses of that joy that the world cannot give. You will be living flames of an infinite and eternal love. You will know the spiritual riches of the priesthood, divine gift and mystery."
These are the words of our previous Holy Father, John Paull II, and they so eloquently express the joy and gift of serving God's holy people in priesthood. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's Vocations and Priestly Formation committee embarked on an effort to try and address the need of discerning a vocation amidst the world we live in today. What resulted was an award-winning video entitled "Fishers of Men".
We have made this video available to you here on our web site. To view the video, click on the appropriate link below. Running time is approximately 20 minutes. Dial-up users may wish to save the video to their computers first by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Save As...". Viewing via streaming video is recommended only for our broadband visitors.
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Ever thought about how you can be a part of the New Evangelization, begun by our previous Holy Father, John Paul II, and continuing with Benedict XVI? Some of our seminarians for the Diocese of Madison reflected on this very question. What did their prayer and reflection yield? A new and exciting program sponsored by the Office of Vocations!
Being a good evangelizer means bringing the true faith of Christ to those who have questions, or who might be wondering about different aspects of the Catholic faith. That's just what some of our seminarians did this past summer! They set out for the streets of downtown Madison to solicit questions from people about the Catholic Church. From seminary studies and prayer to celibacy and the ordination of women, it's all covered!
These questions were brought to the air of Relevant Radio, and are discussed from a variety of perspectives. How will an issue affect the lives of Catholic Christians? What are the pastoral implications? What are some fundamental reasons for why the Church teaches what she does? Feel free to listen to some of the radio broadcasts on topics that were discussed by clicking on the link at the right.
Every time we help someone to grow in their faith, we not only bring them closer to Christ and His Church, but we ourselves grow in faith as we more deeply understand what it means to be an authentic disciple of the Lord Jesus.
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On Charity
On Eucharistic Adoration
On Seminary Studies
On Married Clergy
On Transubstantiation
On Papal Infallibility
On Salvation Outside of
the Roman Catholic Church
On the fundamental differences
between Catholics and Lutherans
On the Ordination of
Females to the Priesthood
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The fruit of silence is prayer.
The fruit of prayer is faith.
The fruit of faith is love.
The fruit of love is service.
Lord, open our eyes,
that we may see you in our brothers and sisters.
Lord, open our ears, that we may hear the cries
of the hungry, the cold, the frightened, the oppressed.
Lord, open our hearts, that we may
love each other as you love us.
Renew in us your Spirit. Lord, free us and make us one.
Prayer of Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)
Founder of the Missionaries of Charity
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Prayer for Vocations
Lord, we believe that You are present in the Holy Eucharist. Please watch over your Mystical Body, the Church, and send it shepherds to guide it. Grant our Diocese of Madison an increase in vocations to preisthood, deaconate, religious life, and sacramental married life. Help us to be instruments of your will in guiding young people through our teaching of the Catholic faith and the example of our lives. Instill in parents a desire to offer a child to priesthood or religious life, and sanctify priests, brothers, and sisters to be models of virtue and love. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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