As we celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week, questions often arise as to how many seminarians we currently have in our diocese and what efforts are supporting future vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life.
Given our parish closures and mergers, there is concern about how many young people will be available to serve the church in the future. Yet the reality that the church is facing runs deeper than simply calculating available personnel.
Have you been listening to the news about the extreme weather storms in the central and Southern areas of our country?
There has been a huge increase in the number and severity of storms. So far in 2024 the U.S. has had 859 tornados. On the Memorial Day weekend tornados killed 25 people across four states. They have caused billions of dollars of destruction in towns like Valley View, Texas, and Greenfield. These storms bring winds of over 100 miles an hour, causing power outages to millions of Americans, making some air travel treacherous and causing thousands of trip cancellations and delays.