Exiit qui seminat

This Sunday, April 30, 2023 is the 60th World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Since 1963, the Church has chosen this day to pray for increase of the clergy (priests and deacons) and religious life in all of its forms. As members of the Christian faithful, we "[p]ray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:38; Luke 10:2). Prayer and action are most certainly needed in terms of priestly vocations in the Diocese of Camden. As current statistics show, the Church in Camden could easily go from almost 90 priests (if every priest retired at 75) to as little as 67 in just five years. While those numbers are certainly alarming, our Lord will not leave us orphaned. It's the job of every single one of us to promote vocations to the diocesan priesthood. We are called to encourage our sons and brothers, our family members and friends and let them know that they have what it takes to serve the People of God.  We are blessed to have seminarians in formation for the priesthood, as well as many retired, religious and international priests who faithfully serve the Diocese of Camden. Our parish (in all of its forms) has been blessed to have so many faithful and faith-filled priests who have ministered to the good people here. I know that while my job as pastor isn't always easy, I am truly blessed to be assigned here at St. Padre Pio and I hope that joy shows as I serve and pray. We have the ability to touch so many lives in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, in visiting the sick and homebound, in praying for the faithful departed, in ministering to our children and so much more! Truly, priests are more than servants of the Lord. They are a sign of the Church's oneness and unity. As ministers of the sacraments and our common celebration of divine worship, as well as the unbroken line that each priest shares going back to the Apostles, priestly life strives to show that all of the Christian faithful, all of the Church, is truly in communion with God and one another (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 815). So on this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, let us pray for the clergy of the parish and of the diocese especially for those whom the Lord is calling to serve His Church and her people!

Fr. Rob Sinatra