Eastern Oklahoma Catholic June 2012 : Page 9
T ue ese he ordinations of Sean Donovan and John Grant into the priesthood will be a blessing to the Church in the Diocese of Tulsa. As these men are placed into the priesthood of Christ to serve His Church and the world through the sacramental ministry, they will bear witness to the redemption won by Christ through His incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension. According to the Catechism , the spiritual gift they receive in ordination prepares them “for the fullest, in fact the universal, mission of salvation to the end of the earth, prepared in spirit to preach the Gospel everywhere.” (1565) The importance of this priestly ministry on behalf of, and in the person of, Christ cannot be stressed enough in the midst of this sin-diseased, dying, decaying world. The Office of Vocations for the Diocese of Tulsa does everything in its power to stress the importance of that ministry. Father Matt Gerlach is the director of the Office of Vocations. Fathers Joe Townsend, Bryan Brooks, Brian O’Brien, and Leonardo Medina assist him. Theresa Witcher is the administrative assistant who helps to coor-dinate the program. The Office of Vocations works with the people and parishes of the Diocese to help individuals discern if they may be called to a life in Holy Orders. They do this through prayer retreats, seminary visits and personal visits. Their labors have born fruit. Vocations are flourishing in the Diocese of Tulsa. There are 16 men now preparing for ordination into the priesthood at semi-nary and another five are scheduled to interview for entrance. Moreover, there are several people seeking to live the re-ligious life in different religious orders. For a relatively small diocese, these are remarkable numbers. They certainly bear witness to the Holy Spirit’s gracious work in our midst. If you would like more information about the Office of Vocations and their work, or are considering the possibility of entering Holy Orders, contact your parish priest or Theresa Witcher at vocations.of-fice@dioceseoftulsa.org or 918.307.4936. Taking time from their very busy sched-ule in their last days of studies, Deacons Sean and John have graciously offered insight into their upcoming priestly min-istries. Following are their answers to 12 questions asked of them by the EOC . 28 | Ss. Peter and Paul, apostles June 29 | First Holy Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church June 30 By Mason Beecroft | Photography by Dave Crenshaw 9
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