On Thursday, May 31st, the Feast of the Visitation of our Blessed Mother to St. Elizabeth, Br. Ricardo Pineda professed his perpetual vows as a member of the Fathers of Mercy during a beautiful Mass celebrated by our Superior-General, Fr. David Wilton. Why is a Vows Mass an important event in the life of a religious community? Why are the vows so important?
Religious life in the Church dates back to the very first centuries, when men and women like St. Anthony the Abbot and St. Mary of Egypt went into the desert to live a life of prayer, mortification and sacrifice, modeling their lives on that of Our Lord Jesus Christ: poor, chaste and obedient. It is, essentially, a life that both imitates the life of Our Blessed Lord, and which is an anticipation and foreshadowing of the life that all of us are called to have with God in heaven — where there is no money or wealth, where there is “neither marrying nor giving in marriage,” and where all live in perfect conformity and loving union with the Most Blessed Trinity.
For the Fathers of Mercy, our first and primary calling to as religious — our calling as priests is built upon this primordial calling! We hope that you will take a few minutes to listen to Fr. David’s homily which he gave during Br. Ricardo’s vows Mass. I think that you will certainly find it enlightening!
On Saturday, June 2nd, our community had the great joy of seeing two of our brothers ordained to the Holy Priesthood, and one to the Diaconate. Please pray for our newly ordained:
Fr. Ken Geraci, who will be serving at St. Mary’s, Whitesville, Kentucky.
Fr. Andy Cravalho, who will serve at our parish, St. Helen’s in Glasgow, Kentucky.
Deacon Ricardo Pineda, who will serve this summer in Glasgow, Kentucky, and then return to Holy Apostles Seminary for his final year of studies before ordination to the priesthood.
May Almighty God be praised for His Mercy!