Author: emurtha

Vocations

Do you know a young man who has expressed interest in discerning a vocation to the priesthood? Do you know a young man who you think would make a great priest and might be open to investigating the possibility of this call in his life? As part of our work to help young men discern the Lord’s call for their lives, the Vocations Office is compiling a list of such men with the intent of keeping them informed about various vocations promotion opportunities such as retreats, mission trips, Operation Andrew Dinners, seminary visits, and so on. If you know of someone who we should add to our list, please contact Emma Murtha at emurtha@sfcatholic.org or 988-3772.
SJV Seminary Visit 
Do you know of any young men in your parish who has considered (or should consider) a vocation to the priesthood? There is a seminary visit planned Nov. 17-19 to St. John Vianney in St. Paul. No cost to them. Transportation provided from Sioux Falls and Aberdeen. Please refer anyone interested to Fr. Tony Klein at frtonyklein@sfcatholic.org or Emma Murtha at emurtha@sfcatholic.org. If you have any questions yourself about the trip, please reach out to Fr. Tony or Emma.
Prayer for Vocations
Looking for a good prayer to use for an increase in vocations? Here’s one many of our parishes have been using for years.
Lord Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father and Mary Immaculate, grant to our young people the generosity necessary to follow Your call and the courage to overcome all obstacles to their vocation in life. Give their parents that faith, love and spirit of sacrifice which will inspire them to offer their children to God’s service and to rejoice whenever one of their children is called to the priesthood or religious life. Let Your example and that of Your Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph encourage both young people and parents and let Your grace sustain them.  Amen.

Vocations

Do you know a young man who has expressed interest in discerning a vocation to priesthood? Do you know a young man who you think would make a great priest and might be open to investigating the possibility of this call in his life?
As part of our work to help young men discern the Lord’s call for their lives, the Vocations Office is compiling a list of such men with the intent of keeping them informed about various vocations promotion opportunities such as retreats, mission trips, Operation Andrew Dinners, seminary visits, and so on. If you know of someone who we should add to our list, please contact Emma Murtha at emurtha@sfcatholic.org or 988-3772.
Operation Andrew Dinner
As part of our work to help young men discern the Lord’s call for their lives, the Vocations Office is organizing an Operation Andrew Dinner at St. Thomas More Newman Center in Vermillion on April 21, 2022 from 6-8 p.m. There will be Mass to follow. Bishop DeGrood will be attending.

The night is very simple, we enjoy dinner together and invite the priests present to give a brief witness about their own experience of discernment and their life as a priest.
JP II Vocations Camp 
This is our 6th Annual Vocations Camp for young men 12-16 years old! Young men going into 7th grade or just leaving their sophomore year are welcome. Father Tom Hartman and several seminarians will be leading the camp at Abbey of the Hills July 19-21 in Marvin, SD. Registration is now open on the Vocations page: https://www.sfcatholic.org/vocations/.

Vocations

Do you know a young man who has expressed interest in discerning a vocation to the priesthood? Do you know a young man who you think would make a great priest and might be open to investigating the possibility of this call in his life? As part of our work to help young men discern the Lord’s call for their lives, the Vocations Office is compiling a list of such men with the intent of keeping them informed about various vocations promotion opportunities such as retreats, mission trips, Operation Andrew Dinners, seminary visits, and so on. If you know of someone who we should add to our list, please contact Emma Murtha at emurtha@sfcatholic.org or 988-3772.
Operation Andrew Dinner
As part of our work to help young men discern the Lord’s call for their lives, the Vocations Office is organizing an Operation Andrew Dinner at St. Thomas More Newman Center in Vermillion on April 21 from 6-8 p.m. Bishop DeGrood will be attending.

The night is very simple, we enjoy dinner together and invite the priests present to give a brief witness about their own experience of discernment and their life as a priest.

Vocations

Do you know a young man who has expressed interest in discerning a vocation to the priesthood? Do you know a young man who you think would make a great priest and might be open to investigating the possibility of this call in his life? As part of our work to help young men discern the Lord’s call for their lives, the Vocations Office is compiling a list of such men with the intent of keeping them informed about various vocations promotion opportunities such as retreats, mission trips, Operation Andrew Dinners, seminary visits, and so on. If you know of someone who we should add to our list, please contact Emma Murtha at emurtha@sfcatholic.org or 988-3772.

Vocations

Do you know a young man who has expressed interest in discerning a vocation to the priesthood? Do you know a young man who you think would make a great priest and might be open to investigating the possibility of this call in his life? As part of our work to help young men discern the Lord’s call for their lives, the Vocations Office is compiling a list of such men with the intent of keeping them informed about various vocations promotion opportunities such as retreats, mission trips, Operation Andrew Dinners, seminary visits, and so on. If you know of someone who we should add to our list, please contact Emma Murtha at emurtha@sfcatholic.org or 988-3772.

SJV Seminary Visit 

Do you know of any young men in your parish who has considered (or should consider) a vocation to the priesthood? There is a seminary visit planned February 16th-18th to St. John Vianney & St. Paul Seminaries in St. Paul. No cost to them. Transportation provided from Sioux Falls. Please refer anyone interested to Fr. Tony Klein at frtonyklein@sfcatholic.org or Emma Murtha at emurtha@sfcatholic.org. If you have any questions yourself about the trip, please reach out to Fr. Tony or Emma.

Operation Andrew Dinner

As part of our work to help young men discern the Lord’s call for their lives, the Vocations Office is organizing some upcoming Operation Andrew Dinners. 

Operation Andrew Dinner at St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center in Aberdeen on Tuesday January 31st from 6-8 p.m. 

Operation Andrew Dinner at St. Thomas More Newman Center in Vermillion on February 23rd from 6-8 p.m. 

If you know of a man that would be a great priest and should be invited to one of these dinners please contact your priest.

Prayer for Vocations

Looking for a good prayer to use for an increase in vocations? Here’s one many of our parishes have been using for years.

Lord Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father and Mary Immaculate, grant to our young people the generosity necessary to follow Your call and the courage to overcome all obstacles to their vocation in life. Give their parents that faith, love and spirit of sacrifice which will inspire them to offer their children to God’s service and to rejoice whenever one of their children is called to the priesthood or religious life. Let Your example and that of Your Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph encourage both young people and parents and let Your grace sustain them.  Amen.

Vocations

Dear Pastors and Parish Administrators,
This summer Bishop DeGrood will send a letter to the graduating seniors in our diocese so he can personally congratulate and encourage them to seek God’s will in their lives. To make this possible we are requesting the following information from you: names, cell phone number, parent’s names, addresses, gender and college plans for all seniors.
In conjunction with Bishop’s letter, in the past several years, the Vocations Office has used the college information to help keep our youth connected with their Catholic faith while they are at school. This has been done with the aid of the SERRA Clubs in our diocese through a program called College Connection.
Through this program, letters are sent out to the seniors, encouraging them to get involved in the local Catholic community at the school they will be attending. We also forward the information to the chaplains at the various colleges in our diocese to help them connect with the incoming freshmen.
It is our hope that with this information we can keep more of our young people connected with the practice of their Catholic faith and continue to encourage the growth of their spirituality.
Please e-mail the list in Excel format, if possible, to Emma Murtha at emurtha@sfcatholic.org or mail your list to the Vocations Office by May 1. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for all that you do to promote religious vocations.