I want to take time to thank those of who attended our eighth Seminarian Fundraising Dinner on Saturday, June 8, and for ALL who donated to the seminarian fund -- whether you were able to come to the dinner or not. And, of course, a big THANKS to our Knights of Columbus Council 10208 who sponsored this dinner in an ongoing effort to support our seminarians in a monetary way. Special thanks to Murray Claassen, his wife Kim, and all those whose who put forth effort before, during and/or after the event to make it a great success (as it raised around $31,000) for the seminarian fund to form and educate the future priests of our diocese.
For those who didn't come, I want to give a recap of the evening, in part to inspire new people to join us next year -- as well as our "every year" faithful participants.
We enjoyed music and singing from Larry Womack as we gathered and socialized before dinner. We then had a delicious meal prepared and served by Home Plate, with my homemade ice cream for dessert. A short video by the diocese that included reflections from (now) Father Jon Misken that was taped just shortly before his Ordination. We then viewed parts of his Ordination Mass. We also heard some encouraging and thankful words from Monsignor Scott Friend, the vocation director of the diocese, who spoke after he introdued the 11 seminarians who were with us at the dinner, including our own "home-grown" seminarian, Jonathan Semmler. Transitional deacon, Joseph Friend, spoke of his attendance to our fundraising dinner multiple times (the earliest being six or seven years ago), and how grateful he is for all our support that has led him to be less than a year away from his Ordination to the priesthood (May 23, 2020).
Six lucky people had their names drawn during a raffle and each left with over a gallon of my homemade ice cream.
It was once again a memorable evening as our ongoing support of the seminarians of Arkansas has led to an historic number of priests being ordained in our state in these past eight years (and more on the way to Ordination soon).
Those who have contributed and are contributing monetary support, and, of course prayers, for our seminarians are responsible, in part, for a legacy of priests who will serve in our diocese for many years to come!
For those who didn't come, I want to give a recap of the evening, in part to inspire new people to join us next year -- as well as our "every year" faithful participants.
We enjoyed music and singing from Larry Womack as we gathered and socialized before dinner. We then had a delicious meal prepared and served by Home Plate, with my homemade ice cream for dessert. A short video by the diocese that included reflections from (now) Father Jon Misken that was taped just shortly before his Ordination. We then viewed parts of his Ordination Mass. We also heard some encouraging and thankful words from Monsignor Scott Friend, the vocation director of the diocese, who spoke after he introdued the 11 seminarians who were with us at the dinner, including our own "home-grown" seminarian, Jonathan Semmler. Transitional deacon, Joseph Friend, spoke of his attendance to our fundraising dinner multiple times (the earliest being six or seven years ago), and how grateful he is for all our support that has led him to be less than a year away from his Ordination to the priesthood (May 23, 2020).
Six lucky people had their names drawn during a raffle and each left with over a gallon of my homemade ice cream.
It was once again a memorable evening as our ongoing support of the seminarians of Arkansas has led to an historic number of priests being ordained in our state in these past eight years (and more on the way to Ordination soon).
Those who have contributed and are contributing monetary support, and, of course prayers, for our seminarians are responsible, in part, for a legacy of priests who will serve in our diocese for many years to come!