We all know there’s a shortage of priests. What people perhaps don’t know is that by September we could have more seminarians in training at the same time than we’ve had for fifteen years. This is great news for our Diocese and also quite an expense. It costs £20,000 a year to train a seminarian; that’s about £50.00 a day. Be reassured that once they’re ordained, they’ll cost their parishes much less to keep! In the meantime, we need to meet these expenses and the costs of vocations promotion. The Bishop has agreed that this very important cause justifies special fundraising. To date, the proceeds of the annual collection for the Priests’ Training Fund meets the annual cost of just one seminarian. To meet the shortfall we’ve made available to all parishes small yellow collection boxes. Please look out for them and ask for one if you can’t see them at the back of your church. We ask you to fill it and not with coppers but to collect at least £50.00 before you hand it in to your parish priest or Priests’ Training Fund Box Co-ordinator in your parish.
Please be generous in collecting for this most vital cause. St Jean Marie Vianney, patron saint of the parish clergy, put it very simply. Explaining to his parishioners the importance of the sacraments, he said ‘Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption on earth. … What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of his goods. … The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you’.
Would you help to train a priest?
We all know there’s a shortage of priests. What people perhaps don’t know is that by September we could have more seminarians in training at the same time than we’ve had for fifteen years. This is great news for our Diocese and also quite an expense. It costs £20,000 a year to train a seminarian; that’s about £50.00 a day. Be reassured that once they’re ordained, they’ll cost their parishes much less to keep! In the meantime, we need to meet these expenses and the costs of vocations promotion. The Bishop has agreed that this very important cause justifies special fundraising. To date, the proceeds of the annual collection for the Priests’ Training Fund meets the annual cost of just one seminarian. To meet the shortfall we’ve made available to all parishes small yellow collection boxes. Please look out for them and ask for one if you can’t see them at the back of your church. We ask you to fill it and not with coppers but to collect at least £50.00 before you hand it in to your parish priest or Priests’ Training Fund Box Co-ordinator in your parish.
Please be generous in collecting for this most vital cause. St Jean Marie Vianney, patron saint of the parish clergy, put it very simply. Explaining to his parishioners the importance of the sacraments, he said ‘Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption on earth. … What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of his goods. … The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for you’.