Bishop Jugis preaches at closing Mass of 40 Hours devotion for Vocation Awareness Week
CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter J. Jugis celebrated Mass Nov. 4 at St. Patrick Cathedral to conclude a Forty Hours devotion to pray for more vocations in the Diocese of Charlotte.
The Forty Hours devotion Nov. 3-4 and the Mass commemorate the U.S. bishops' National Vocation Awareness Week, which runs this year from Nov. 1 to 7. The weeklong celebration is dedicated to promote vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations. The Diocese of Charlotte's celebration was organized in part by Father Jason Barone, the new vocations promoter for the diocese.
Hundreds of people participated in the Forty Hours devotion at the cathedral, where special kneelers were on display that will be given to the two men expected to be ordained to the holy priesthood next June. The kneelers, a project of the lay apostolate Mary's Sons, will travel throughout the diocese until then so that everyone can have the opportunity to pray for the two men – Deacon Cory Catron and Deacon David McCanless – as well as pray for an increase in religious vocations for the Church in western North Carolina.
During his homily at the Nov. 4 Mass, Bishop Jugis spoke about vocations as something God gives to each of us as a sign of His love.
"In love then He gives to each person whom He has created a special chosen vocation ... by which that person will serve Him in this world," he said.
"To some He gives the vocation to married life and parenthood. To others He gives the vocation to single life. To others the vocation to the priesthood. To others He gives the vocation to the consecrated religious life – but all comes as a gift of God."
The Mass was celebrated on the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, the patron saint of seminarians – a perfect opportunity to tie in praying for vocations and Vocation Awareness Week, he noted. St. Charles Borromeo's own personal holiness and his reforming work as a bishop in the wake of the Council of Trent serves as an example for the priesthood today. He particularly was renowned for establishing many seminaries to better train and educate men for the priesthood.
Bishop Jugis went on to explain that the vocation to the priesthood is a mystery of God's choice.
"He chooses certain individuals by His own free election to give them this special grace of following Jesus, leaving everything to follow Him. It is a mystery why He chooses some and does not choose others. Some whom we might think, judging by human standards, might be quite capable and talented to fulfill the priestly office, He overlooks and instead directs His attention to others that we might not think at that moment to be worthy of such a call," he said.
God is intimately involved in this call, he said, and young men must have the ability and openheartedness to listen to His voice. The call from God is experienced at the center of one's heart and the process of discernment has to be conducted with great reverence and seriousness, he said.
"It requires attentive listening to God's voice – in fact, a reverent listening to God's voice. That's why prayer is so essential. A seminarian has to be a man of prayer because he is engaged in that important work of reverently listening to God, who is speaking to him in the depths of his heart."
Bishop Jugis also stressed that a priest cannot be reduced to just a "functionary," someone who performs tasks or duties. "Priest" is not just a job title, as the secular world perhaps considers it.
"The priest is one who has been chosen as a sacrament instituted by Jesus, and (who has) received a special call. He is in special communication with the mystery of the divine. It is God's choice. It is God's position, the way He set up the sacrament and set up the Church hierarchically.
"The man, who in communication constantly with the mystery of the divine in his heart, has important work to do bringing mankind's needs to God. He's another Christ, he is an 'alter Christus,' he's a sacrament of Christ the high priest."
Consequently, the priest must live the humility of Christ, being humble as Jesus Himself is humble. He must also live the mercy of Christ, as Jesus Himself is merciful. He must be reverent in his approach to life and reverent in his service to others, forgetting his own needs and placing himself at the service of others because of his love for God and His people.
"This is a mystery, this is a mystery of a call from God," he reiterated, "which we know is stirring in the hearts of many teenagers and many young men in our diocese even now – as evidenced by the wonderful response we have had to our Quo Vadis Days over the last few years, and others who have approached for more counsel or more advice as they discern this call.
"And as they reverently and attentively listen to God's voice in prayer, we must also accompany them with our own prayers," he continued, "so that any obstacles that they encounter now as they partake on this journey may be removed from their lives...so that they can progress along the path of holiness and grow in their vocations."
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
For more
Get more resources on the priesthood in the Diocese of Charlotte or the annual Quo Vadis Days at http://www.charlottediocese.org/vocations.
To learn more about the priesthood, contact Director of Vocations Father Christopher Gober at 704-370-3327 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Diocese's first vocations promoter discusses new role
CHARLOTTE — As the Diocese of Charlotte’s new Promoter of Vocations, Father Jason Barone’s job will be encouraging people to listen to God’s will for them.
Bishop Peter Jugis named Father Barone to the new position in July, widening the diocese’s efforts to grow vocations under the leadership of the Director of Vocations, Father Christopher Gober.
God has a plan for each one of us, Bishop Jugis noted in his homily at Mass for National Vocation Awareness Week Nov. 4, and we must listen reverently to His voice so that we may discern how best to serve Him in this world. Father Barone aims to carry this message far and wide in his position as Promoter of Vocations.
The role is in addition to his other responsibilities as assistant chaplain at Charlotte Catholic High School and as parochial vicar at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.
“This position is important because by explicitly giving such an assignment to a priest, a special emphasis is being placed on the need for increased vocations,” Father Barone notes.
Father Barone already has experience organizing and leading “Quo Vadis Days,” the diocese’s annual vocations retreat for young men, as well as addressing youth at the annual Diocesan Youth Conference.
In his new role, Father Barone will continue to lead “Quo Vadis Days” as well as develop other discernment programs, including working with Sister Mary Raphael of the Daughters of the Virgin Mary to develop a future vocations retreat for young women entitled “Duc in Altum.”
He will also travel to parishes, schools and youth gatherings across the diocese to speak about vocations, and he will help organize efforts which encourage people to pray for vocations – such as the Forty Hours devotion held this week at St. Patrick Cathedral in conjunction with National Vocation Awareness Week.
The overall aim, he said, is to encourage people to discern God’s will for them in life – whether that is to a vocation to the priesthood, consecrated life, married life or single life.
“While my focus will be on the priesthood and religious life, much of my job will assist vocations to family life as well,” Father Barone noted. “There's an important teaching in Catholic theology that says ‘grace builds on nature.’ In other words, God and the supernatural life do not destroy our human nature. Supernatural virtues are built on natural virtues. A key first step in discernment is developing the natural virtues of prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude. These must be employed for both vocations of celibacy and family life.
“In short, I see my job as providing the tools and opportunity for young people to discern well, and making sure people pray that ‘the Lord of the harvest sends more laborers into His harvest.’”
Since being ordained in 2012, Father Barone has also served as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro and Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury. As a fairly “new” priest, how does he think his perspective on the priesthood and religious vocations may help him?
“As a priest ordained just three years, I still have a certain personal proximity to the key steps in discernment,” he replies. “Those questions were more recently on my mind and in my heart than, say, a priest of 10 or 20 years.”
And his work ministering to students at Charlotte Catholic High School will dovetail with his vocations efforts as well, he notes. “Personal contact with a priest has proven time and again to help a young person discover their vocation and pursue it successfully.”
— Catholic News Herald
St. Maria Goretti's relatives humbled by relics' visit to North Carolina
Thousands of people packed into Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro and St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte to venerate the relics of St. Maria Goretti during the "Pilgrimage of Mercy" tour that passed through the Diocese of Charlotte Oct. 23-25. The national tour brought the remains of the Church's youngest saint to the U.S. for the first time, and although it was a sacred moment for so many who came to venerate her relics, for two local families the visit meant much more.
Andy Goretti and Barbara Everitt, both of Charlotte, are cousins of the young saint, and they called the relics' visit to the Charlotte diocese a humbling and inspiring moment.
Andy Goretti and his wife Janet, members of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte, and Everitt, a member of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, attended Mass and spent time venerating the relics during the pilgrimage's stops in both cities.
Pictured: Children venerate the major relics of St. Maria Goretti Oct. 23 at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro.
The national tour, which continues through Nov. 12, is under way just weeks before the Church begins an Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy on Dec. 8. Besides the Charlotte diocese, the tour included stops at 24 other dioceses spanning 16 states.
St. Maria Goretti died in 1902 after being repeatedly stabbed by a young man who had attempted to rape her. The 11-year-old's last words were of mercy towards her 20-year-old attacker: "I forgive Alessandro Serenelli ... and I want him with me in heaven forever." Serenelli reported that St. Maria appeared to him in his prison cell six years after he was incarcerated on a 30-year sentence for her death. That occasion began his dramatic transformation from a violent and ruthless man to that of a renewed soul intent on spreading devotion to God and his saintly victim. St. Maria is held up by the Church as a model of the virtues of forgiveness, mercy and purity.
St. Maria's mother Assunta Goretti was unable to care for her surviving children after the girl's death, and the family was split up. Three of her brothers moved to America and put down roots, raising large families – some of whom eventually settled in Charlotte.
Related story and photo gallery: Greensboro, Charlotte parishes host relics of St. Maria Goretti
ANDY AND JANET GORETTI
Andy Goretti's grandfather Giovanni Goretti was St. Maria's cousin.
"Overall, growing up Catholic and having St. Maria Goretti as a relative was always an honor and humbling. I am the youngest of 10 children, and my mother always stressed the importance of faith and the Catholic Church and our connection to not just a saint, but a forgiving saint."
Two of Andy's siblings, brother Nicholas Goretti and sister Carolina Stratton, are members of St. Peter Church in Charlotte.
"It was always a thought for my wife Janet and I to someday attend her relics in Nettuno, Italy, so having the relics come to the U.S. and make stops in the Carolinas is really just a small miracle," he explains.
He went to see the relics in Greensboro and in Charlotte.
"The tour stop in Charlotte was pretty amazing and humbling. I also had the fortune to venerate in Greensboro the Friday before, and that was a very peaceful time and experience with St. Maria's relics."
His family also brought up the gifts at the Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church Oct. 24. He admits he has declined bringing up the gifts at Mass in the past out of feelings of unworthiness, but this time he agreed when approached by the tour's organizers.
"I have never brought the hosts up in my life. I never quite felt worthy or comfortable doing it when asked in the past, as bringing the hosts up, to me, is one of the most honored parts of Mass.
"On Saturday, I did not feel nervous or uncomfortable, but instead felt very privileged and honored to be taking the hosts to so many that went out of their way to come see St. Maria Goretti. I felt it was the least we could do as her descendants.
Father Carlos Martins of Treasures of the Church, which is leading the tour of St. Maria's relics in the U.S., gave an inspiring homily in which he recounted the story of St. Maria's mercy and her attacker's remorse, Andy says.
"Maria didn't put her faith in a situation. She put her faith in God," Father Martins said in his homily. "Because she made this decision, she left this world a saint."
Andy and Janet Goretti and their children, Alex, Natalie and Drew, bring up the gifts at Mass honoring their saintly cousin Oct. 24 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte.Says Andy, "He did a fantastic job retelling the story and the personal miracles he was aware of. Having my children hear the story from him will be something they, nor my wife and I, will ever forget.
"Both Friday and Saturday's visits with St. Maria's relics, the venerators and Father Martins were easily the biggest highlight in my faith life. If nothing else, I would like to thank all that went to see the relics in the Carolinas and that I felt very privileged to attend Mass with so many who came out to touch St. Maria."
Andy's wife Janet, who came into the Church in 2004, said attending the Oct. 24 Mass was truly moving. "I was amazed to see the extraordinary number of people there. Father Carlos' narrative of the events surrounding her attack, death and the conversion of Alessandro Serenelli was so moving."
Learning of St. Maria's mother's tremendous suffering moved her the most, she says. "Assunta Goretti is an inspiration to all of us who are mothers and know how much we suffer for our children.
"The message of forgiveness is so strong throughout the story of St. Maria Goretti and so appropriate in today's world," she adds. "It is something we all need to practice daily – especially, as Father Carlos shared so emphatically, forgiving ourselves."
BARBARA EVERITT
"As a child, I often heard about Maria's story and carried her holy card in my missal," recalls Barbara Everitt, another Goretti cousin. "As time passed and I became immersed in life (three children of my own, teaching high school, moving away from most of my family), the story also dimmed. I regret saying that I did not stay as connected as I should have.
She heard about the relics tour from a cousin in New Jersey, and said, "the fire returned. I was so excited to recognize that I could, in fact, personally see her relics."
Everitt is a descendant of Domenico Rossetti, who married Maria Goretti's sister, Rosa Carlini. Rossetti is her paternal grandfather's father, which makes St. Maria and her grandfather first cousins.
"I remember my grandfather always saying Maria was his cousin and that he was a baby when she moved away from Corinaldo. His aunt and other cousins moved back after Maria was killed," she explains.
Her grandfather moved to New Jersey as a young man and had nine children "who in turn had scores of offspring," Everitt says.
Everitt attended the Solemn High Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Church Oct. 24 with one of her daughters and her 12-year-old granddaughter Sara. "It was so beautiful. To think that Maria was the same age as Sara when she was martyred is a sobering thought. To realize that Maria's resolve resulted in hundreds of thousands of pilgrims venerating her is humbling. To be related to her is a gift – a gift I will never take lightly again."
She is also thankful for the gift of her newfound relatives, Andy and Janet Goretti, whom she had not met before.
"Finding out about Andy, a cousin that lives so near to me, is another gift from Maria!"
"What a difference in all of our lives has been made by this little saint. We are blessed to be a part of her family and so honored to have an intermediary in heaven."
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
What others said about the tour of St. Maria Goretti's relics
"The reception and veneration of the relics of a beloved saint is an occasion to bring to the fore that which is generally hidden from view. The supernatural gift of faith, an otherwise invisible reality, took form this weekend in a tapestry of thousands and manifested in an almost miraculous way giving us all a glimpse of the hidden power that animates the lives of believers. Not only were the holy relics of a saint on display, so was the supernatural gift of faith. The saint and the holy faith of believers synergistically radiated a moving display of holiness and grace. Personally and pastorally, I am profoundly grateful to St. Maria Goretti."
— Father Patrick Winslow, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, which hosted the tour in Charlotte
"The parishioners, staff, clergy and faculty of Our Lady of Grace Church and School were all very excited to welcome her to the parish in October. It is a great honor that we can be a part of this great Pilgrimage of Mercy. Maria Goretti's tour around the States in conjunction with the Church's message of forgiveness is very dear to all of us at Our Lady of Grace. It was in God's infinite mercy that Mary was spared original sin and so could be filled with grace upon grace. Father (Eric) Kowalski and I stress frequently in our teaching and preaching that nothing can separate us from the love of God except an unrepentant heart. St. Maria Goretti is the witness of faith in action! She offered her death to soften the heart of her attacker, and he was saved.
"I was particularly excited to share St. Maria Goretti with our parishioners and all the visitors who came to Greensboro and Charlotte for these days of prayer. When I was in Rome, I visited Maria's church in Nettuno on many occasions. That church, too, is the parish of Our Lady of Grace! Moved by her story, softened by her life's witness and inspired by her heroic death, I saw how far this little girl had come in her walk with the Lord at such a young age. First, it put me to shame! Secondly, however, it challenged me to seek nothing but Christ, nothing but a radical love of Christ. Without having to make a pilgrimage to Italy, I hope the faithful visiting her will be challenged, as I was, to conversion and radical love."
— Father Noah Carter of Our Lady of Grace Church, which hosted the tour in Greensboro
"St. Maria Goretti's visit to Charlotte was a special grace, for all of us who helped plan the event and for everyone who attended. Her choice to hold fast to God, and her extraordinary act of forgiveness, is a powerful witness to us all and especially to youth. We were pleased to see so many young people come out in her honor, and seek her friendship and intercession."
— Rick Rotondi of Saint Benedict Press, sponsor of the relics tour to North Carolina
"When I learned that St. Thomas Aquinas was looking for volunteers to help make St. Maria Goretti's visit run smoothly, I jumped at the opportunity. It was amazing to see so many people come to venerate her relics and ask for her intercession. I have been suffering with a herniated disc in my back, and the pain sent me to the ER on Friday. The pain was still so bad on Saturday that during Mass I had to stand to listen to Father Carlos' homily (which was amazing). So I taped my St. Maria prayer card to my back and today is the first day in weeks that I have been pain-free. Perhaps even more important than the pain relief is the message of mercy and forgiveness that I took away with me.
"My oldest was confirmed the very next day and I was so full of joy and kept praying the prayer that Father Carlos taught us on Saturday: 'St. Maria Goretti, in imitation of you and for love of Jesus, I forgive anyone who has ever hurt me, and I pray for forgiveness from anyone I may have hurt.'
"What a beautiful weekend filled with so many graces!"
— Brice Griffin, volunteer from Charlotte
"At a time when Christ is being censored throughout the public square, we see that violence and sexual perversions of all sorts flood our airways and poison our children daily. By following St. Maria Goretti's example of love, forgiveness of her attacker and devotion to chastity, we can through our example help bring Christ back to the public square and do our part with Christ's help to lead the next generation to a holier life.
"This pilgrimage is about more than experiencing relics, it is about coming away with a conversion of heart to lead the life Christ wants for us."
— Jackie Gallagher, organizer for the North Carolina leg of the relics tour