FROM OUR PASTOR.....

Dear Parishioners:

This past Saturday Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski ordained one young man to the priesthood. Having Michael Lagermann answer the call to service in the Church is a wonderful gift to our local Church community. He has promised to pledge his life in dedication to the Lord and to the people of God. As he begins his priestly ministry let us keep him in our prayers.

This week Msgr John Leykam will celebrate the Fifty-Fourth anniversary of his ordination and I celebrated the Forty-Third anniversary of my ordination. Being a priest in service to God has enabled me to be with his people at important times and places in their lives. I have also been blessed to lead the Eucharistic celebrations whereby we are all feed in Christ. I have also been blessed by being a part of some wonderful parishes and I continue to be blessed both at Annunziata and at Ste Genevieve du Bois. As you pray for our newly ordained, I would ask that you also pray for the priests that have served here and for all priests throughout the world that we may continue in our ministry to bring the face of Christ to those we meet.

Let us pray that young men may consider a call to the priesthood, as our Church needs more priests to minister to its people. Right now, there are less than 180 diocesan priests actively serving in the archdiocese. As you can see while we have been blessed with a number of vocations the number of retiring priests (this year 10) still outnumbers those entering the priesthood. The archbishop told me that our seminary Kenrick-Glennon is alive with new vocations, which is very encouraging, but as we know both at Annunziata and at Ste Genevieve du Bois more are still needed to answer the call. Perhaps a young man in your family is waiting to hear a call to the priesthood? Thank you for all your present and past support to me and to all priests and seminarians, please continue your prayers for vocations, the Church and its priests.

Blessings!

Msgr. John Shamleffer

Please remember to return your donation for the ACA (Archdiocesan Annual Campaign) so far only about one-fourth of our parishioners have responded. This collection helps the neediest in our Archdiocese, if you have any questions about this collection please contact me.