COLORADO SPRINGS. When a parish sends a young man to seminary, it’s an occasion for rejoicing. When a parish sends two, it’s a special blessing. Currently, Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Colorado Spring’s Old North End has eight (!) young men in various phases of seminary formation.

COLORADO SPRINGS. The Office of Permanent Diaconate for the Diocese of Colorado Springs announced that 19 men have been accepted into the formation program for the permanent diaconate. The new cohort began their formation in August, with a target ordination date of May 2028. 

COLORADO SPRINGS. Parents of men and boys who are discerning the priesthood or who would like to learn more about the discernment process, application process and seminary life are invited to attend a Parent’s Night at the St. John Henry Newman Center, located at 4785 Stanton Rd., near the UCCS campus on Oct. 25 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. No RSVP is required.  For more information, send an email to mlehnertz@icloud.com.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Parents of men and boys who are discerning the priesthood or who would like to learn more about the discernment process, application process and seminary life are invited to attend a Parent’s Night at the St. John Henry Newman Center, located at 4785 Stanton Rd., near the UCCS campus on Oct. 25 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. 

COLORADO SPRINGS. When Jarrod Waugh first offered his life to God in prayer, God said no. “It’s kind of hard to explain,” said Father Waugh, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Colorado Springs. “But nearing the end of high school, I perceived that negative signal very clearly.  God did not want me to enter the seminary at that time.”

COLORADO SPRINGS. Long before the news of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster’s apparently incorrupt body electrified the Catholic world last April, a local woman was discerning whether to enter the Benedictine monastery she founded in 2006 in Gower, Missouri.

Once upon a time in the Diocese of Colorado Springs, there were only two seminarians studying for the priesthood. Whenever a young Catholic male expressed interest in learning more about a vocation to the priesthood, there was great rejoicing in all the land, even if he never applied to the seminary. Ordinations were rare but joyful occasions. The likelihood of a priest shortage seemed more real as more and more priests neared the age of retirement.

This summer, I have an incredible opportunity to do a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James.  The Camino de Santiago in Spain is a pilgrimage that Christians have walked for hundreds of years.  With many starting points all around Spain, France and Portugal, pilgrims walk for several days across the countryside to reach the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of St. James the Greater, one of Jesus’ original twelve apostles, is buried. Pretty exciting right? 

COLORADO SPRINGS. In addition to their work in youth and young adult ministry, faith formation and other activities in the diocese, the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco have made themselves available to guide young women who are discerning vocations to religious life or consecrated virginity.