For information on the Diocese of Belleville vocation
opportunities, please click on the link below:
https://www.diobelle.org/vocations
Very Reverend Steven Beatty, V.F.
618-697-2632
frsteven.beatty@gmail.com
Reverend Nicholas Fleming
618-974-9184
nickfleming91@gmail.com
Reverend Carl Schrage
618-234-1166
carlschrage@illinoisalumni.org
Reverend Joel Seipp
618-244-1559
frjoel@stmarymtvernon.org
DIRECTOR OF SEMINARIANS
Reverend Nicholas G. Junker
618-722-5035
njunker08@hotmail.com
Robert Dodson - Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology
James "Luke" Fitzgerald - Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology
Pictures:
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Casmir Cozzi - Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
Joshua Elmore - Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
Levi James - Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
Thomas Lugge - Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
Pictures:
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Please click on the link to find out the ways that you can "Adopt a Seminarian!"
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"Vocations Corner" is distributed monthly and provides a weekly thought or meditation for that particular month on vocations.
April, 2021
April 4
Hallelujah!! He is Risen! All our souls have been redeemed. What a wonderful legacy! We need to share this Redemption story with others – our Calling as Catholics. This is what we commemorate through each celebration of the Eucharist which allows us to receive our Lord in Holy Communion. We need to witness to this fact through our daily lives – talking with our classmates, taking care of our spouses and children, engaging with our friends and family, with our co-workers – in all we do! This is our vocation - a Call to Holiness.
April 11
Today’s readings offer so many lessons on our Call to Holiness. The reading from Acts tells of the community being one in sharing their possessions with everyone. What a wonderful response to the call. The Gospel tells of Thomas’ doubt in the Risen Christ. This doubt can creep into our lives with us wondering if God is really present in our daily lives. It is even more challenging for those discerning a religious vocation. Let us pray for our proper response to community and for the discerner’s doubt to be relieved.
April 18
“I was 7 years old when I first thought about becoming a priest. But by the time I moved to the United States from Mexico at age 15, the priesthood was not in my plans. ..I pursued a career in criminal justice instead. God had other plans for me, though. The decision to enter seminary was not an easy one. I struggled with my own desires and with what other people thought would be best for me. Ultimately, I ran out of excuses and could no longer ignore the call that God had planted in my heart. If I had to do it all over again, I would answer the call without a doubt in mind.”
Fr. Francisco Javier Onate Vargas; Diocese of Charleston, S.C. Columbia Magazine September 2019
April 25
Today we acknowledge the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. We implore our Blessed Mother to intercede for us, asking the Lord to grant us more men and women who answer the call to a religious vocation. To quote Pope Francis, “Each one of is called – whether to the lay life in marriage, to the priestly life in the ordained ministry, or to a life of special consecration – in order to become a witness of the Lord, here and now.”
"The Veil Removed is a short film that reveals the coming together of heaven and earth at Mass, as seen by saints and mystics, revealed by Scripture and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church."
Our Belleville Diocese is currently blessed with five (5) seminarians. Meeting the needs of their formation -- tuition, books, room and board and other expenses -- is approximately $47,000 per year for each seminarian. Your contribution to seminarian education is truly an investment in our faith and the life of the Church here in southern Illinois.