Giving Thanks
November 2018
Life at Saint Meinrad
This year as part of the Catholic Services Appeal donors have the option of making an additional gift to support the Seminarian Education Fund. This fund supports the fifteen men that are in formation to become future priests for the Archdiocese of Louisville. In the 2017 Catholic Services Appeal, 2,680 donors contributed $299,232 to support these men on their journey of formation and discernment to the priesthood. Kenny Nauert is a Pre-Theology I student at Saint Meinrad School of Theology. In his reflection, he shares about daily life in seminary and the joy of his vocation. To learn more about the Seminarian Education Fund and the other ministries supported by the Catholic Services Appeal, please visit www.archlou.org/CSA .
By Kenny Nauert

I am asked all the time, “What is it like to be a seminarian? What do you do?”

The seminary is a place where I am able to discern more fully what God is calling me to do. It is an active participation in the pursuance of God’s will over my own.

While seminary is a place of discernment, it is also a cooperation in the numerous aspects of formation: intellectual, spiritual, human, and pastoral. You can liken seminary almost to a graduate level Catholic school, except when you graduate you hopefully become a priest!

On an average day at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, I take classes, I attend Mass and pray, and I perform ministry during the week and on the weekends.

On Sundays, we reinforce our community and purpose through the celebration of the Mass and praying the Liturgy of the Hours together. Every morning we pray the Morning Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours in common, and afterwards classes start.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday we have classes throughout the day, with Mass at 11:30 a.m. On Wednesdays, Mass is at 8  a.m. and the day is reserved for ministry in the local communities and parishes. We pray Evening Prayer in common at 5 p.m. almost every day, and our afternoons, evenings and Saturdays are free for studying and community fellowship and service.

Ultimately, seminary formation is an active “Yes!” to God’s call to the priesthood while simultaneously making sure that God is calling me to this “Yes!”

In doing so, I am opening my heart to His heart, imploring that my desires become His desires, and hoping that I can be the man God wants me to be for His greater glory and for the good of His holy Church.

This article originally appeared in a special section of The Record on vocation awareness.
Victim Assistance
See Archbishop Joseph Kurtz interview Martine Siegel, Victim Assistance Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Louisville, about her outreach to victims of sexual abuse and her work in fostering a safe environment in the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Click here to find more information and resources about the Archdiocese of Louisville’s commitment to reporting child abuse and to ensuring a safe environment for our children and youth.
A Family Prayer Service for Thanksgiving
Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, 1914,
Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts
(Alternate reading verses among those present.)

Reader: A reading from the Book of Psalms: Psalm 65: A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
Praise is due to you in Zion, O God.

Reader: Blessed is he whom you choose and call to dwell in your courts. 
We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.

Reader: You visit the earth, give it water; you fill it with riches. 
God’s ever-flowing river brims over to prepare the grain.

Reader: You crown the year with your bounty. 
Abundance flows in your pathways;
in pastures of the desert it flows. 

Reader: The hills are girded with you,
the meadows clothed with flocks. 
The valleys are decked with wheat.
They shout for joy; yes, they sing!

As an option, each family member may express gratitude for something or someone for which he or she is personally grateful before saying together:

All: Father, all-powerful,
your gifts of love are countless
and your goodness infinite;
as we come before you on Thanksgiving Day
with gratitude for your kindness,
open our hearts to have concern
for every man, woman, and child,
so that we may share your gifts in loving service.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

(From the Third Edition of the Roman Missal , “Opening Prayer for Thanksgiving Day,” Copyright 2011, International Commission on English In the Liturgy, Washington, DC.)
Archbishop's Tweets
Follow @ArchbishopKurtz on Twitter for more of his tweets.

November 9
@ArchbishopKurtz:
At Louisville Airport with St Xavier Lacrosse team - they’re off to Delaware for tourney and I’m on to Baltimore for US Bishops’ meeting. Wish us both good luck!

November 5
@ArchbishopKurtz:
I was honored to write about my “Kentucky Science Conversations” for the @VaticanObsFound Blog. See the blog here.

November 5
@ArchbishopKurtz:
Congratulations to the four men installed as Acolytes for St James in E-town & St Christopher Church in Radcliff. 
Upcoming Events
11/17/18 1:00 p.m.

11/21/18 11:00 a.m.

11/28/18 10:00 a.m.

12/4/18 Noon

12/4/18 7:00 p.m.
(See link for registration)
 
12/8/18 9:00 a.m.

12/10/18 3:15 p.m.
(See link for cost/registration)
Resources & Recommendations
This month, we're highlighting some helpful and timely resources for Catholics throughout the Archdiocese. We encourage you to check out the resources below.

Sexual Abuse
The Archdiocese of Louisville published a “Report to the Catholic People” on the issue of sexual abuse in the October 18 issue of The Record . This publication includes information about the history of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese, the measures the Archdiocese has taken to deal with this issue, including reaching out to victims, reporting promptly to authorities, removing offenders, and promoting a safe environment for all. View this report here .

Archbishop Kurtz has initiated a “Leadership Briefing” on the topic of sexual abuse. To read these, go here .

The November episode of Conversations is dedicated to information about sexual abuse and includes an interview with Martine Siegel, the Victim Assistance Coordinator of the Archdiocese, and Judge John Laun, the chair of the Archdiocese of Louisville Sexual Abuse Review Board. See these segments here .

Conversations airs on the Faith Channel (Spectrum channels 19 and digital channel 279) on Tues. at 7 p.m., Wed. at 10 a.m., Fri. at 7 p.m., and Sat. at 4 p.m. It is on radio stations WLCR 1040 AM, Breadbox Media, and WLHN 95.3 FM in Meade County. You may download Conversations for no charge through iTunes. Conversations also is available on Bardstown Cable Channel 19 (BRTV) at 7 p.m. on the first two Monday nights of the month and on Bardstown’s PLG TV on Tuesday afternoons at 4 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Conversations is online here .

Giving Thanks for Parish Discernment
Archbishop Kurtz invites all parishes to join him in a Day of Prayer in gratitude for the process of parish discernment. He will celebrate the Saturday evening Mass – the first Mass of the new Church year – on December 1 at the Cathedral and would like all parishes to join him in making that first Sunday of Advent a time of prayer of gratitude in each parish of the Archdiocese. A special prayer of Thanksgiving can be found here .

Click here to read The Soul of the Parish: Being Led by the Holy Spirit Alive in Our Midst, Archbishop Kurtz’s second pastoral letter in response to the parish discernment process.
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