Heavenly Father, bless Your Church with an abundance of holy and zealous priests, deacons, brothers and sisters.

Give those You have called to the married state and those You have chosen to live as single persons in the world the special graces that their lives require.

Form us all in the likeness of Your Son so that in Him, with Him and through Him we may love You more deeply and serve You more faithfully, always and everywhere. With Mary we ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Jose Luis Gutierrez - St. Ambrose - $500
Thinh Duc Tran - Our Lady of Loundes  - $500
Primus Bela - St. Marys - $500
Luke Blackburn - St. Mary of Miraculous Metal - $500
Drew Labbe - St. Marys - $500

Below are TWO different Vocation Sponsorship programs. One is our local Arch Diocese Seminarian program and the other is the National Military Priests program. Please read about both and if you can contribute to both.

Founded by a parish priest, the Knights of Columbus has always worked hard to encourage young men and women to consider God’s call to service in the priesthood or religious life.

Under the motto “Keep the Faith Alive,” the Order’s vocations initiative has a number of programs based on prayer and designed to reach the hearts and minds of young people, as well as to provide financial support during their years of seminary training or religious formation.

The Knights of Columbus cherishes and celebrates all forms of vocation as gifts of God. But because of the Church’s urgent need for priests and consecrated religious women and
men, the Order’s vocations program gives special priority to promoting these vocations. Vocations of all kinds arise and are nurtured within families. Thus the K of C vocations program is related not only to the Church Activities program but also to the Family Activities program. This “family” dimension of vocations makes lay involvement particularly important.
Through the Knights of Columbus Refund Support Vocations Program (RSVP), councils, assemblies and Squires circles “adopt” one or more seminarians or postulants and provide them with financial assistance and moral support.

Through the Knights of Columbus Refund Support Vocations Program (RSVP), councils, assemblies and Squires circles “adopt” one or more seminarians or postulants and provide them with financial assistance and moral support.

RSVP money is used by seminarians and those in religious formation for tuition and books, car insurance and maintenance, travel during vacations, emergency expenditures and other living expenses. Knights provide more than financial support, though. Members write letters to students, sponsor dinners for them, invite them to join the Order and, most importantly, pray for vocations.

Qualifying councils and assemblies receive a $100 refund for every $500 donated, up to a limit of $2,000 donated to an individual, while the refund for Squires is $20 for every $100 donated. In the Philippines and Mexico, councils and assemblies receive the equivalent in local currency of $50 for every $250 donated.
 

The following persons are eligible to receive RSVP funds:

• Seminarians attending college seminaries (sometimes called minor seminaries).
• Seminarians who have been accepted by a diocese and are currently in their “spirituality” year.
• Seminarians attending major seminaries (normally four years) in preparation for priestly ordination.
• Seminarians in their “pastoral’ year (most often when they are deacons).
• Seminarians who belong to a religious institute and are currently in formation for the priesthood (religious seminarians often are called “Brother” even though they will eventually be ordained as priests).
• Men and women who are novices or postulants in religious orders or religious communities.
• Those eligible for assistance include foreign seminarians studying in the United States or Canada; U.S. or Canadian seminarians studying overseas; seminarians from your home diocese currently attending a seminary in another diocese, state or country; and seminarians from other states or dioceses attending a seminary located in your jurisdiction.
   

“What a great job the Knights are doing. Thank you so very much for this support for our co-sponsored men! Thank you, too, for all the ways you and your fellow Knights serve the needs of the AMS. Your generosity is a tremendous blessing to us and those we serve. We are very grateful.”
As you know, there is a great shortage of Catholic Priests serving our brave young men and women in our military service. There are 800 positions available yet we have but 210 active duty Priests serving.
Thanks to your generous support we have ordained 5 men and presently have 37 seminarians serving in the co-sponsored program. Of those, two will be ordained in June and will become Navy Chaplains. Additionally, we will have two Deaconal ordinations in May. Both are on the path to becoming Army Chaplains.
As you can see your hard work is paying dividends, although we have a long way to go we are on the right path to providing Priests for our military members and their families.
Our commitment to the AMS is to raise $1.4 million dollars by June 30, 2017 to recruit young men to the Priesthood. As of today we have raise $1,347,737.25.
Brothers, I appeal to you today to commit to raise the balance of $52,262.75 before the June 30 deadline.
State councils, local councils and assemblies, ladies auxiliaries and individuals, your support is greatly needed if we are to meet our goal. Again I ask for a $25.00 donation from all councils and assemblies. I ask those state councils that have funds available to be generous and donate what they can.
Pass the helmet (hat) at your next meeting or event and you will be surprised with the generosity of your members.
Again, thank you for what you do for the Knights of Columbus and the Fourth Degree.  I appreciate each and every one of you.

Sincerely and fraternally,
Dennis J. Stoddard
Supreme Master