This weekend I sent out letters to the Bishops of the Dioceses through which we will be biking. With their blessing we feel we can then contact the individual parishes where we will stop. On Monday, September 26 we received our first response. Special thanks to Archbishop Thomas Rodi from the Archdiocese of Mobile. And of course, St. Cosmas and Damian whose feast day it is today. We are grateful and humbled by such a show of confidence and the quick response. That quick response and endorsement serves as a kind of gateway. What will follow? We really don’t know except we are now aware of a cause and effect that has been initiated.
Our intention now is simply to contact the parishes now in the Archdiocese of Mobile (and as other bishops endorse) where we will bike through or stay the night and seek to simply spend some time in prayer. Whether it is in front of the Eucharist or praying a Rosary or just praying together with the Parish and petition Our Lord for priests and consecrated men and women. And then we will move on. Perhaps a little like Forest Gump who just decided to run well except my wife is doing the biking through the country. I think there will be a few stories in the making. And I will record them here.
So we pray in Thanksgiving for this special blessing hidden in the endorsement by Archbishop Rodi who serves as the threshold of grace that hopefully will see us at the finish in Seaside, Oregon. His Coat of Arms reads: Caritas Christi Urget Nos. We should all be compelled for love of Christ and Our Church to seek the missing ministers in the best way we can.
His response also serves as an event to kick off this blog. But mostly, may the Lord prepare the hearts of those to hear and sense and articulate their calling and vocation as we endeavor to complete this offering to Our Lord. We confess that there’s a little holy apprehension here for we really aren’t the kind to do this kind of thing or call attention to ourselves. But the need to call attention to vocation crisis trumps any apprehension when you look at the statistics. Please pray for us and for holy men and women to join orders.
