Seven Priests, cont'd from pg. 12
Together We Rise By JEANETTE FORTIER
�lease come and be a part of the Winona-Rochester Diocesan Council of Catholic Women’s Annual Fall
Convention, on the theme Together We Rise, on Saturday, September 28, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Bernard Parish in Stewartville (166 4th Avenue SE). It will be a wonderful day! Our gathering together will empower attendees to reach out through prayer, education, and service to help all women rise to the dignity that is ours as daughters of Christ. We’ll do it with laughter, friendship, and dialogue under the loving guidance of Mary, our Lady of Good Counsel. Our three speakers for the day are:
�by atholic Charities of Southern Minnesota was notified Charity Navigator on July 1, 2019 that it has attained
the coveted 4-star rating for demonstrating strong financial health and commitment to both accountability and transparency. Four star rated charities, in the judgment of Charity Navigator, use their resources efficiently, sustain their programs over time, and practice good governance and transparency. Charity Navigator, which was founded in 2001, evaluates over 9,000 charities in the United States. Its mission is to provide donors with essential and objective information to give them confidence in the charitable decisions they make. As part of its commitment to objectivity, Charity Navigator accepts no contributions from the charities that it evaluates. One hundred percent of its revenue comes from donations. Visit its website at www. charitynavigator.org .
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In the Diocese
youth group at some point is seriously asked to consider this. And our parish is very supportive,” Mann noted. Samide said he was also given a personal invitation to consider the priesthood. He also noted that a personal invitation can sometimes be the confirmation a young man has been looking for in his discernment. “...members of the parish were not afraid to approach me and other young men and ask us if we had considered the option of priesthood. That boldness was invaluable to me,” he said. “A young man might be thinking about the possibility of priesthood, but often he is too afraid to articulate it to anyone else. When someone else approaches him and says that he/she sees gifts in him that could make him a good priest, it serves to reassure him that what he is perceiving in his heart is real and merits more discernment,” he added. The priests also each mentioned specific prayer for vocations as a key aspect of their parish. There were prayers for vocations during the parish’s daily rosaries, during weekly holy hours, at Mass and on other occasions. But ultimately, Mann said, there’s not necessarily a 5-step program that will ensure the fostering of vocations - it’s about making disciples of Jesus, he said. “It’s very tempting and alluring to say, ‘Give me the five steps to have vocations at my parish, and you could probably write a book and make a lot of money with that, but it doesn’t work that way,” he said. “Those steps tend to put everything in our control... like its a vending machine. If I do these 5 things, the output has to be vocations. But really it’s much more biblical, what happened here,” he said. “When people have a living and active relationship with Jesus Christ, and seek to do his will in their lives, vocations will develop organically,” Samide noted. “As parish communities seek to grow as disciples, they will encourage younger members to consider ways that they might serve the Lord. Discipleship is the key.”
Catholic Charities Recognized for Excellence
This is the second year in a row that Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota has received a 4-Star rating. Only 32% of charities evaluated ever receive two consecutive 4-star ratings. This indicates that Catholic Charities exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in Minnesota and in the United States; thereby setting the agency apart from its peers. Commentating on the rating, Robert Tereba, Executive Director, said, “We are very pleased to have attained this rating from Charity Navigator for the second year in a row. It tells our donor community that their expectations for accountability, transparency, good stewardship, and concrete results that change lives have been independently confirmed. Donor investments in our mission are not only valued; they are in good hands.” For the fiscal year that began on July 1, 2019, contribution revenue is expected to make up 25% of Catholic Charities operating budget. Donation revenue last year helped Catholic Charities’ staff and volunteers serve over 7,900 people residing in over 3,700 households; 63% of which had annual incomes at or below $25,000. Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota serves children, families in crisis, vulnerable adults, seniors, refugees, the uninsured, the poor, the homeless, and the unborn - regardless of ethnicity, age, gender, faith tradition or ability to pay.
Note: Forbes, BusinessWeek, and Kiplinger’s Financial Magazine, among others, have profiled and celebrated Charity Navigator’s unique method of applying datadriven analysis to the charitable sector. They evaluate ten times more charities than the nearest competitor and attract more visitors to their website than all other charity rating groups combined making it the leading charity evaluator in America. Cathy Nelson is a gifted musician and composer from Rochester. An NPM grant winner, Cathy will speak to how music affects us. She will also sing for and with us as we raise our voices in songs of faith.
The schedule for the day is as follows:
Registration, Rosary & Confessions - 8 a.m. Convention Convenes - 9 a.m.
Kathy Bonner Speaks - 9:30 a.m.
Mass, followed by Installation of Officers - 11 a.m. Lunch follows Mass & Installation Carrie Berran Speaks - 1 p.m. Cathy Nelson Speaks - 2 p.m.
Closing Prayer & Raffle Drawings - 2:50 p.m. Adjournment - 3 p.m.
Also included at this convention are: a truckloading for the Haiti Mission and Rochester Medical Mission, Purse and In-the-Bag drawings, religious and NCCW items for sale. The morning of the convention, eight lucky women will have their names drawn to sit at a delightfully decorated table and be served their noon meal. Don’t consider yourself a member of W-RDCCW? No problem! Come and experience three great speakers, Eucharist, good food, and more. The Executive Board of the DCCW will be rising early on the 28th and our spirits will rise when we see your smiling face. Rise up and join us! Registration is due by September 14, 2019. The registration fee includes the noon meal. To register, please fill out and detach the slip below, and send it to: Dianne Vangness 706 Bullis Street Kenyon, MN 55946
If you need a gluten-free meal, please attach a note with your registration slip. Jeanette Fortier is the president of the W-RDCCW.
Kathy Bonner is a NCCW Leadership Team member and author of the NCCW program on domestic violence. Kathy will present a handson, dynamic and down-to-earth keynote on our convention's theme.
Carrie Berran was voted the NBA's Youth Coach of the Year. This Twin Cities mother of four will share who inspired her to rise and how she now helps others. She is a woman of faith who has much to share with women of all ages.
September , 2019 w The Courier w dowr.org