Dear Parishioners,
“We’re looking for a few good men.” That was an old recruiting slogan for the U.S. Marine Corps. But it’s not just the Marine Corps looking, so, too, is God and the Church. Both are looking for a few good men to serve as priests. Today, in the United States, the need is greater than ever as recruiting is not keeping up with retirements and deaths. Here, in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, half of the priests in active ministry will be eligible for retirement in the next fifteen years. Furthermore, the priests we have in parishes are increasingly being asked to pastor several parishes at the same time. So let us pray for more vocations and encourage suitable candidates to consider following Jesus to be fishers of men, women and children. Let us also pray for the priests we have that they become holier servants of God and their people.
- Father Carl
Rev. Stephen Hook is Pastor of the Pastorate of the Visitation which includes the Catholic Churches of Pasadena, Maryland: St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Riviera Beach) and Our Lady of the Chesapeake (Lakeshore). He is assisted by Associate Pastor Rev. John Belinki, Deacon Howard Klohr, and Deacon Rick Clemens. To learn more about our pastorate, please visit www.catholicpasadena.org.
