Dear Friends,
Recently I visited St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach (which we pray produces only the finest of Priests!) for a meeting of the Board of Trustees. Many may not be familiar with our Regional Seminary, which is owned by the seven Dioceses of the State of Florida. A few unique points of interest about St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary include: it is the only major seminary located south of Washington, DC and east of New Orleans, graduates are expected to have a pastoral capability of the Spanish language, and students are enrolled from around the state as well as Dioceses outside of Florida including some countries of the Caribbean. In recent years, our parish has been assigned Priests who graduated from St. Vincent’s including: Fr. Bill Gohring (1984), myself (1998), Fr. Scott Circe (2005), Fr. Mark Wajda (2008) and Fr. Benjamin Lehnertz (2013). Our Pastoral Year Seminarian, Edwin Cardona (scheduled to be ordained in 2017) and also Matthew Hawkins (a parishioner of Annunciation in I Theology) also attend the St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary. Thank you for your prayers for the mission and ministry of Clergy Formation, and especially for the faculty, staff and seminarians of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.
Next weekend is our Fall Festival! I hope that you have made plans to attend and participate in this great weekend. The Fall Festival is an opportunity for our parish to celebrate the gift of our community with fellow parishioners and also with the larger community of Central Florida. Please invite a friend, neighbor or co-worker to enjoy the great food, fun and fellowship. I look forward to seeing you there!
As you come before the Lord this week, please pray for the Priests, Religious Sisters and Staff of our parish. Know that we will remember you, your loved ones and your intentions in our prayers. We may not see each other each day but may we meet each day in our prayers!
In Christ,
Very Rev. Stephen D. Parkes, V.F.
Pastor