by John Sorce
john.sorce@theleaven.org
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Good Shepherd collection will be taken up at parishes across the archdiocese the weekend of May 11.
The collection goes towards funding both the diaconate and seminarian programs for the formations of deacons and priests in the archdiocese.
Funding for both programs has long been a tradition in the archdiocese through the Archbishop’s Call to Share. But the Good Shepherd Collection was introduced last year as another way to raise funds.
“It’s an investment in the future priesthood and the sacramental life of the church,” said Father Dan Morris, vocation director for the archdiocese. “Jesus promises that he will give us shepherds after his own heart, but that involves a real cooperation and participation amongst his chosen people.
“So, you’re helping young men respond to God’s call to be a shepherd after his own heart. And that’s a gift in and of itself.”
The average cost of a seminarian is about $50,000 per year, which includes tuition and room and board, and also summer assignments.
Father Morris likened the support of the church supporting their priests to a parent sending their child off to college.
“It’s a dedication of a man’s life and he must be so singularly focused and can’t have a regular paying job,” Father Morris said. “In a sense, the church needs to support their future priests just like parents would support their own children in sending them to college. This gift comes back to serve not only you, but hopefully your children and your grandchildren.”
One of the beneficiaries of the collection is Deacon Daniel Mauro, who is one of three deacons transitioning to the priesthood this year.
“At the end of eight years of formation in seminary, I cannot express enough how grateful I am to have ahead this opportunity,” he said. “For me, being mentored by top-notch professors, having had the blessing of studying Spanish while on immersion in Spain and Mexico and having been given the time set aside to dive in deeply to this spiritual, intellectual, human and pastoral growth stand out as huge gifts that I know will continue to bear fruit for many years to come.”
From the diaconate side, the first cohort was ordained in the archdiocese in 2011, and the fourth cohort was ordained just last year.
“There’s only one sacrament of Holy Orders, and while there’s degrees of deeper configuration to Christ within that sacrament, we’re all brother clergy and we are all learning to be conformed and configured into the image of Christ when we are ordained,” said Deacon Curtis Keddy.
Deacon Keddy is grateful for the support that comes from knowing that all the men in formation are receiving financial assistance from the people they will soon be ministering to.
“We are profoundly grateful for this kind of financial support, as are all those men in formation,” he said. “They feel so well loved by the archdiocese, knowing their room and board and tuition is all being covered not just by some scholarship fund, but by the actual people they are going to be serving.”
To learn more about how to support the collection, please reach out to Lisa McKelvey, director of stewardship and development at lmckelvey@archkck.org.
