At the Mass closing the Year for Priests in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict said this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word, “priesthood.” He was referring to the utter boldness of God in entrusting himself to the men of the priesthood.  He gave himself over into our hands, even despite our many weaknesses.

The hammer blows of old sexual abuse cases that we heard in these last few months did not ruin this year of reflection, he said.  What happened was precisely the opposite:  we grew in gratitude for God’s gift, a gift concealed in “earthen vessels.”

So let us look on all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task we bring to the future, and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God.

A summons to purification.  A work for the future.  God wants us, as priests, in one tiny moment of our history, to share his concern for his people. This is our work in the days and the months after the Year for Priests.

I am thus pleased to invite you, in one tiny moment of our history, to take your concerns about the priesthood and the Church to one tiny parish in our Diocese.

I have designated St. Francis Xavier Church in Seward, KS, with its splendid new statue of St. John Vianney, as a place of pilgrimage for all in the Diocese.  You can go there for prayer and devotion in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament:  to pray for the sanctity of priests; to pray for the needs of the priests currently serving in our Diocese; and to pray for vocations to the priesthood.

In that way, we might respond to the Holy Father’s summons to purification, and we might marvel anew at the boldness of God in giving us the gift of the priesthood.

+ Most Reverend Ronald M. Gilmore

	View more pictures View the ordination video

Following the reception after his Rite of Ordination of a Deacon May 29 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Rev. Mr. Don Bedore stood surrounded by family; When requested by a family member, he gladly offered them a blessing “…in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit….”
Then, breaking out in a wide grin, he said, “That was so cool!”
The simple event lends insight into the future priest -- quick to smile, eager to laugh, ever thankful that God has led him to this place and to this time.
The Rite of Ordination of a Deacon is a significant step along the road to the priesthood, during which the candidate takes a commitment to celibacy and a promise of obedience to the bishop. Bedore, who will be ordained to the priesthood in 2011, will now be able to serve as a deacon at Mass and other celebrations.

Ordination Class of 2010 Highly Educated and Experienced

• The vast majority (92 percent) of men being ordained to the priesthood report some kind of full-time work experience prior to entering the seminary, most often in education.
• Three in five (60 percent) ordinands completed college before pursuing the priesthood, with one in five (20 percent) also receiving a graduate degree.
• One in three (34 percent) entered the seminary while in college.
• The median age of ordinands is 33. The youngest member of the Class of 2010 is 25; 11 men are being ordained at the age of 65 or older.
• On average, men were 18 when they first considered their vocation.

“One important trend evident in this study is the importance of lifelong formation and engagement in the Catholic faith,” said Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. He noted that, along with their education and work experience, half to three-quarters of the Class of 2010 report they served as an altar server, lector, Eucharistic minister or other parish ministry.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops launched a new website dedicated to the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.

ForYourVocation.org

Resources for discerners, parents, educators, and youth leaders.

A Spanish-language site will be available this fall at www.PorTuVocación.org.

The Dodge City connection is...

Seminarians Don Bedore and Andy Soukup met with young men and their dads August 2, 2009 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dodge City where they shared how to discern a vocation and what life is like as a seminarian. Click to Listen

Visit, For Your Marriage, an initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, for resources on:

Dating & Engaged

Parenting & Family

For Every Marriage

Marriage Resource Center

About Catholic Marriage