Encourage Priests

Dr. Valella Encourages Fr. John!

EnCourageYvonne — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 21:24:41 +0000

“The main priest in this video was mentored by Cardinal Dolan and studied at the Pontifical North American College in Rome when Cardinal Dolan was the rector. Note: The video starts with a black screen and 14 seconds of sound only. “Celebrating God’s Call” was created on August 3rd, 2012 by Dr. Michelle T. Valella to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of ordination of Fr. John D. Fleckenstein, Pastor of St. Philip Roman Catholic Church in Battle Creek, MI. It is a 5 minute video highlighting the call to religious life for men and women and how beautiful and wonderful it can be to say “yes”. The commentaries are excerpts of a homily given by Fr. John Fleckenstein in June of 2008.” -Dr. Valella, Battle Creek, MI *Click “this video” to go to the video presentation.

Ricky Encourages Fr. Davis Chackaleckel!

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:35:39 +0000

Father Davis has touched me in ways that I never could have thought possible. When my wife and I was looking for a church Father Dav! is brung a presence of GOD into our life that we had been looking for. I have been off my path for over 10 years and did not know what to believe anymore. Thank GOD for Father Davis, I know I am on the right path to GOD because of him. Every single mass I feel the Holly Spirit come into the room as Father Davis blesses the bread and wine during the Eucharist. That is one of the stunning and awesome feelings I have experienced. Please, everyone pray that he will continue to touch peoples lives as he did mine.
-Ricky, Columbia, TN

Madelyn Encourages Fr. James Downs!

EnCourageYvonne — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:12:07 +0000

Thank you for being my spiritual leader for many many years. I want to apologise to you for being a person that has brought you so many burdens. The truth is you have touched so many lives in the city of new castle. You are recognized for your acceptence! of everyone for who they are, and though your homilies the spirit comes alive in those that hear them.
-Madelyn, New Castle, PA

Frank Encourages Fr. Bill O’Malley!

EnCourageYvonne — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:31:54 +0000

A quick word of thanks for your wonderful, dedicated service to all of us at St. A’s. Your gentleness, humor, and encouragement help us to grow in Christ’s love!
- Frank, Bergenfield, NJ

Frank Encourages Fr. Dan O’Neill, O’Carm.!

EnCourageYvonne — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:28:09 +0000

Just want to express my gratitude for your generous sharing of faith, your honesty, your tireless dedication to God and to God’s people.
- Frank, Bergenfield, NJ

Dean Encourages Fr. John Beveridge!

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:12:56 +0000

I have been lost for a while and struggling with my faith, which church, spiritual hunger that I had that was not being fulfilled, etc. I stopped by the SSPP church one Friday evening and Father John happened to be! there. He is not usually there at that particular time. He was/is extremely kind and you can tell he is filled with the Holy Spirit and truly loves what he does. He gave me words of encouragement and direction and armed me with two books to start me off. He has already helped me more than he can know. May God Bless you for opening my eyes and the eyes of all who come to you for your help. And may God Bless the staff and volunteers at SSPP for their love and direction and helping me as I continue my journey towards becoming a catholic. I have felt welcomed by you all every day I have been in church. I thank God for you all.
- Dean, Maryville, IL

Rose Encourages Rev. Jean Hughes Desir!

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:08:05 +0000

I really an not good at expressing my feelings but I would like to say there is something unbelievablly special about Father Jean, just looking at his smiling face you can feel the presence of God and feel the love in his heart. I feel closer to God everytime I celebrate mass with him. I truly love him. He is the example of true love for God and love for all. I feel so blessed for him to come into my life. The light of Christ radiates from him. I love him very much!
- Rose, Davenport, FL

Randy Encourages his son, Fr. Jason Brooks LC!

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:04:55 +0000

Our son, Fr. Jason Brooks LC, is blessed with a beautiful vocation to the priesthood. That call came from God, we saw that, and only God can bestow that blessing. We were blessed to have the faith and grace to encourage that vocation. We continue to pray daily for Fr. Jason and all priests so that they are good, holy, and strong priests every day of their lives. We all need to be prayer warriors for our priests. Our priests need to devote time to daily prayer, including the daily rosary. Mother Mary is the Queen of the rosary and she can be the protector for all priests, we just need to pray and ask her for that intercession. God bless all our priests and please give us more vocations and holy seminaries.
- Randy, Hamden, CT

It’s a Great Time to Be a Priest

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:46:16 +0000

Check out Fr. Robert Barron’s excellent article on the joy of being a priest over his 25-year priesthood. He gives beautiful encouragement to the seminarians and priests today, who are serving during a trying time in the American church.

“…And this is why I would like to say to seminarians and to young priests just starting out: this is your time and it’s a good time. I’m not engaging in wishful thinking here or whistling in the dark. I’m reminding them that this time of crisis—and it is the worst crisis in the history of the American church—should call forth their greatest creativity, energy, imagination, and evangelical enthusiasm. They should revel in the fact that they’ve been chosen by God, precisely at this moment, to be part of the solution.”

Read more here!

Michael Encourages Rev. Russell Roetzer!

EnCourageYvonne — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:37:15 +0000

“I would like to thank Russell Roetzer for his life of service to young people in the Performing Arts, especially those from St Catherine’s High School. The patience that he showed to budding, and not-so-budding talents was profound and enabled those of us in the Theater to find our way onto the boards without stumbling. My childhood and high school friends Jim K. and David B. and my high school friends Keith M. and Steven E. are amoung the many others I can remember being part of the Musical Theater community at SCHS in the mid-70′s. I write this on Valentine’s Day, 2011, and so a Big Red Heart Shoutout goes to Fr. Russ, the “organist with chubby fingers”, as he once described himself, for all his guidance and direction, (literally!)”
~ Michael, Madison, WI

Mary Encourages Fr. Neil Wack, CSC!

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:04:52 +0000

“This is my youngest brother (the youngest of 10). What a blessing and privilege it is to be graced with such an inspiring and hardworking priest, who gives his all for his parishioners. Ever since he was ordained, he has been a priest first and a brother second.”

Click here to see Today’s Catholic News article celebrating Fr. Neil

- Mary, South Bend, IN

Hilda Encourages Fr. Ken!

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:50:35 +0000

“Father Ken is the previous Pastor of St. Thecla Catholic Church. He left the church in late 2010 to accept another position within the Archdiocese of Chicago. Through my life I have participated in the church but not as actively as I am now. Through Father Ken my faith was renewed and I am now a more active member in my faith and in my parish. Thank you Father Ken for your support and generosity.”

- Hilda, Chicago, IL

Margaret Encourages Fr. Tom Shoemaker!

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:47:25 +0000

“Fr. Tom Shoemaker has encouraged me to stay the course with my faith. Currently going through some sort of Dark Night of the Soul has, at times strained my faith commitment. Fr. Tom has encouraged me through these times to continue on with prayer, sacraments, etc to grow closer to God even if I don’t see/feel/touch him. Thank you Fr. Tom for your commitment as a Priest – one of the best!”

- Margaret, Highland, MI

Words of Wisdom…from a holy woman who loved the priesthood!

EnCourageYvonne — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:13:47 +0000

“We must know that we have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in the world, not just to go or diplomas and degrees, this work and that work. We have been created in order to love and be loved.” -Blessed Mother Teresa, No Greater Love

Pray for your priests today, that they may live in recognition of the fulness of God’s love for them and share that love with others.

You and your priests are in the prayers of our EncouragePriests.org team!

Fatherly Advice from Pope Benedict XVI

EnCourageYvonne — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 19:31:41 +0000

“She [Mary] stands there as the woman in whom what is humanly impossible has become possible, through God’s saving mercy. And thus she becomes a symbol for us all. For if it is up to us, if it depends on the feeble flame of our goodwill and the paltry sum of our actions, we cannot achieve salvation. However much we are capable of, it is not enough for that. It remains impossible. Yet God, in His mercy, has made the impossible possible. We need only to say, in all humility, ‘Behold, I am a servant of the Lord.’” -Credo for Today

Are you heading our Holy Father’s advice to open your heart to God’s service?

Words of Wisdom from Fr. Barron

EnCourageYvonne — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:45:24 +0000

Check out this great article from WordOnFire.org by Fr. Robert Baron: The Family is a “Little Church.”
“The paradox is this: precisely in the measure that everyone in the family focuses on God’s call for one another the family becomes more loving and peaceful. John Paul II admirably summed up what I’ve been driving at when he spoke of the family as an “ecclesiola” (a little church). At its best, he implies, the family is a place where God is worshipped and where the discernment of God’s mission is of paramount importance…”

Words of Wisdom: “Thanking and Encouraing Those Who Serve”

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:51:23 +0000

Thanking and Encouraging Those Who Serve
Very Reverend Richard M. Erikson, Ph.D., V.G.
Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia
Archdiocese of Boston

A few weeks ago, I had a very encouraging experience as I flew on an overnight trip to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. For the first time in many years, in my service as an Air Force Reserve Chaplain, I was on a commercial airline in military uniform. I was inspired and humbled by the thanks offered to me throughout the trip by total strangers. At Logan Airport, for example, as I headed to the baggage claim area, I heard someone calling out to me, “Excuse me, sir.” I turned around, thinking perhaps I had dropped something, to be greeted by a young woman, with her hand extended to shake my hand, saying, “I just want to thank you for your service to our country.”

The people who greeted me did not know me personally; it was seeing the uniform that I was wearing that prompted them to offer their words of support and gratitude. Consistently, I am struck how strongly the people of the United States support and encourage our troops who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country. Indeed, in numerous churches, liturgies and parish bulletins, prayers of support and care are offered regularly for our young men and women serving overseas. Viet Nam veterans will tell you this was not always the case. I am delighted that we make a special effort today to express our gratitude to veterans who were not often thanked during the time of their service. Thankfully, our Veterans Day honors all veterans…

Click to continue reading:TheBostonPilot.com.

Patrick Encourages Msgr.Seamus Doyle!

EnCourageYvonne — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:14:51 +0000

“My Story is very simple. I say the Rosary for all the Priests and Seminarians and for more Vocations to the Priesthood.”

- Patrick, Miami Shores, FL

Catherine Encourages Fr. Joseph Kraker!

EnCourageYvonne — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:10:31 +0000

“On Priesthood Sunday I would like to encourage Fr. Joseph Kraker, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Akron, Ohio. Our parish is 175 years old and I’m sure everyone would agree that Fr. Kraker is the best loved priest we have had. Fr. Kraker celebrated the TV mass for the diocese of Cleveland for twenty years before coming to St. Vincent. He is the author of two religious books inspired by his Labrador retrievers, a weekly column printed in the church bulletin and the Catholic Universe Bulletin, and is also an accomplished musician, who sings to his congregation every Sunday. Father always seems to enjoy saying mass, even at 6 :30 a.m. Monday through Saturday. On certain Saturdays he might offer the morning mass, confessions, a wedding or two and maybe the vigil mass all done cheerfully. His homilies are amazing and are inspired by his early morning meditations. They should be recorded, written and even televised. as short thoughts on the liturgy. But all this is not what makes Father so well loved. It’s his charm, wit and caring about people that’s been his greatest contribution to the parish. When his dog Vinnie passed away last summer, his eulogy to the congregation was so touching that he moved some people to tears with his honest heartfelt emotions. By the way, Father Kraker didn’t retire at age 70. I think he knew we would miss him too much.”
- Catherine, Cleveland, OH

2010 Georgia Catholic Men’s Conference

EnCourageYvonne — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:18:09 +0000

Catholic Men of Georgia and surrounding areas: Join hundreds of other men for the 2010 Georgia Catholic Men’s Conference on Saturday, November 6th! It’s a day of motivational speakers and spiritual enrichment. For information and to register, go to: www.gacatholicmen.org. Tom Peterson, President and Founder of CatholicsComeHome.org will be the lunch time key note speaker! Don’t miss this great event!

Words of Wisdom from Fr. Lombardi

EnCourageYvonne — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:00:05 +0000

Check out this article from Catholic News Agency.

“The saints are ‘fascinating guides’ to faith, hope and love who show that ordinary people bring God’s comfort and light to the world.” -Fr. Lombardi

‘Fatherly’ Advice: Adore Jesus!

EnCourageYvonne — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:58:11 +0000

“Receiving the Eucharist means adoring Him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with Him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself.”

Pope Benedict XVI – Sacramentum Caritatis 66
from an address to priests in Poland, May 25, 2006

Kerry Encourages Father Corapi!

EnCourageYvonne — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:20:13 +0000

“I thank God so much for Fr. Corapi! I love to listen to him on EWTN and Relevant Radio. He is never ashamed or fearful of telling the faithful the truth. I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful influence in my life and pray that he remains faithful to God and all His teachings.”
- Kerry, Romeoville, IL