Mooresville parish, Knights host dinner in support of vocations
Seminarians from Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis, accompanied by Father Joseph Moriarty, the seminary’s rector, pose with members of Saint Thomas More Knights of Columbus Council 7431 after a March 27 dinner to support vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life at St. Thomas More Parish in Mooresville. The Knights organized the dinner. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)
By Sean Gallagher
MOORESVILLE—Father Joseph Moriarty, rector of Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis, was glad to bring 15 of the young adult men in priestly formation at the seminary to a March 27 dinner in support of vocations at St. Thomas More Parish in Mooresville.
“It’s tremendously encouraging,” Father Moriarty said. For him, the dinner was a sign that vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life are “in a deep level of the hearts” of St. Thomas More’s parishioners.
“They allow their faith, what they believe about vocations, to issue forth in action,” Father Moriarty said. “This dinner is a sign of that action.”
Parishioners also attended the dinner, many of them bringing their children, something Father Moriarty appreciated.
“They can look and say, ‘These aren’t people I only hear about or read about in Sunday school class. These are people I get to visit with,’ ” he said.
The dinner was organized by Saint Thomas More Knights of Columbus Council 7431 at St. Thomas More Parish in Mooresville.
Larry Janeczek, a member of the council and of the parish, noted that the dinner took place two days before the anniversary of the founding of the Knights of Columbus, which was started in 1882 by Blessed Michael McGivney, a diocesan priest at the time in Connecticut.
“Being founded by a parish priest defines a main reason why the Knights are committed to supporting and helping with vocations so strongly,” said Janeczek.
Donnie Miller, a member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Richmond and the vocations chairman for the Indiana State Council of the Knights of Columbus, was in Mooresville for the dinner.
“It’s great,” he said. “We’re always trying to encourage vocations. I enjoy coming to these events and seeing what each council is trying to do to support vocations. We need to encourage as many young men as we can to become priests.”
Several of the seminarians from Bishop Bruté spoke at the dinner, sharing with attendees how they came to know God’s call to the priesthood in their lives.
Seminarian Randy Schneider, a member of All Saints Parish in Dearborn County, was one of them. Growing up in southeastern Indiana, he knew little of St. Thomas More Parish before visiting it last year for its vocation dinner.
Meeting parishioners who are supporting him without any previous outward connection to him impressed Schneider.
“It’s humbling in a way to know that they’re praying for me and willing to put on this dinner for us to show their support,” he said. “It inspires loyalty in me to the archdiocese. I can see more of the people that I’m learning to serve.”
Schneider also feels bolstered in his formation and discernment by the support of the Knights of Columbus.
“Knowing of their origins with Father Michael McGivney and knowing the history of their support for priests is awesome,” he said. “The Knights from my parish and the area around it are very supportive. They’re like surrogate fathers in a lot of ways.”
Father Michael Keucher, archdiocesan vocations director, spoke at the dinner.
“The power of a ‘yes’ doesn’t just transform one young man’s life,” he said. “It transforms a whole parish. It transforms the whole world, and it effects eternal salvation. So just join me in thanking our seminarians and in praying for them every day.
“What you seminarians are doing is heroic. Souls depend on it. The fact that you are laying down your life for Jesus and the salvation of souls matters. That’s why we have this dinner.”
(For information on a vocation to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, visit HearGodsCall.com.) †
