I hope you have enjoyed getting to know our seminarians over the past several issues of the Mississippi Catholic, we still have two more men to feature, starting with Will Foggo this week. Our seminarians are getting back to their academic commitments this month as they return to study at St. Joseph Seminary College and Notre Dame Seminary. St. Joseph is where most of our men start out their studies and then everyone goes to Notre Dame for their graduate work in Theology.

But this summer our men were spread throughout the diocese engaging in pastoral work and getting to know priests around the area. This was one of the greatest gifts of the “Tour de Priest.” I was able to spend time with a few of our men as they engaged in a different part of their formation. I spent a good while in Starkville with Carlisle Beggerly and listened as he delivered a very impressive reflection in the context of evening prayer and did the same in Jackson with Andrew Bowden.

Prior to their return to the seminary, our seminarians and I gathered in Natchez for some time to build community amongst ourselves. I am so pleased with the men who are in formation for our diocese as I believe they are authentically seeking God’s will in their lives and only that. In my mind now the calendar turns over and I look to the future. Who is the next young man who wants to respond to the mysterious call the Lord has placed on his heart? That call that says: “you need to see if priesthood is for you, I want you to go and see.” I’m in the midst of scheduling out the rest of my year. I’ll be visiting schools in person and via Zoom/YouTube/WhateverElseINeedToUse and traveling to parishes and campuses around the diocese. But I could always use more help. The best thing you can do is pray for more vocations, but if you want to do one more thing, tell a young man you admire that they would make a good priest, and encourage them to get in touch with me. They can go to www.jacksonpriests.com to find out all they need to know and send me an email or give me a phone call.

We have six men in the seminary, and they are a great gift, let’s continue to call forth more men to consider this path, a path that leads to answers, a path that leads to challenge, a path that the Lord could be calling them to take.

Vocations Events

Friday, October 9, 2020 – First annual Homegrown Harvest Gala and Fundraiser (virtual)

Email nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org if interested in attending this event.