I’m ready to roll for vocations. Are you?

Last updated on: June 1, 2015 at 11:24 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

I’m ready to roll for vocations. Are you? 2015-06-01T23:24:52-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

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My blog neighbor and FOTB Fr. Mike Duffy is plugging the Biking4Vocations event:

I’ve been following along as two priests and three seminarians travel from St. Augustine Florida to Rockville Centre, New York raising awareness for vocations to the priesthood. They’ve been doing a fantastic job – check out their progress at Biking4vocations.org and make sure to pray for them. Any one that has been to one of my Masses knows that I always add a special intention for an increase of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. We can’t have the Church without the Eucharist and we can’t have the Eucharist without the priesthood. Each and everyone of us has the responsibility to pray for vocations. To help do that, I’m participating in the Biking4Vocations prayer challenge!

He’s challenged me to take part, so I’m doing my bit for the cause: 45 minutes of prayer and/or exercise for vocations, to prayerfully support the guys who are embarking on this journey and to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers into the vineyard!

And now I’m going to throw down the gauntlet to a few other people: Msgr. Sean Ogle, Deacon William Ditewig and Sister Rose Pacatte!

Check out the web page to follow these guys on their journey.

About the project:

As a way of raising awareness in vocations to priesthood and religious life, two Catholic priests and three seminarians will embark on a 29-day,1400-mile journey from Saint Augustine, Florida to Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York.

Reverend Joseph Fitzgerald, Director of Vocations, Diocese of Rockville Centre, who was also a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Handball Team will be riding with Father Marc Swartvagher, academic dean for Cathedral Seminary House of Formation, Douglaston, and with three seminarians (men studying to become Catholic priests) Stephen Rooney from the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Dominik Wegiel from the Diocese of Brooklyn and Steven Diaz from the Archdiocese of New York.

Passing through 11 states, 10 dioceses and 5 archdioceses, the biking pilgrimage will begin on May 17 in Saint Augustine, Florida and conclude on June 14, a week prior to ordination at the Cathedral of Saint Agnes in Rockville Centre, New York.

“The objective of this biking pilgrimage is to give glory to God by encouraging priestly vocations and inviting the local Church to respond to Jesus’ missionary call to ‘make disciples of all nations.’ (Matthew 28 19-20)” said Reverend Fitzgerald.

“Many people are asking why we are biking up the East Coast when we could just drive,” said Reverend Swartvagher. “We believe there is something unique about the physical and sacrificial element of biking to our pilgrimage. Our mission is one with physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions. We feel strongly about our task to promote vocations, and we truly intend to give our all, including physically to this journey.”

The “Biking4Vocations” team will cover a range of 13 to 85 miles each day depending on conditions. In addition to the physical component, there is a spiritual component as well. Priests and seminarians have a commitment to pray the Liturgy of the Hours five times a day. The team will make periodic stops en-route in order to pray this important prayer of the Church. As Catholics, the Eucharist is at the heart of our spiritual lives. The team will ensure the celebration of the Mass is at the center of its daily routine.

And look: video blogs! You never know who these guys will run into…

And some of the group even discovered The Smallest Church in America:

Let’s get rolling for a great cause—the greatest of all, in fact.

Are you in?

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