Dear Friends in Christ,

I greet you with great joy and appreciation as we soon celebrate the Feast of Saint John Marie Vianney, patron of parish priests. Every year around this time, we take up a collection for the Seminary Burse Fund. This collection assists the seminarians, the future parish priests of your parish, to receive the best all-around formation possible. Your generous contribution safeguards the vocation to the priesthood that they are currently discerning. Along with your prayers, this gift that you make towards the Seminary Burse Fund ensures the human, spiritual, academic, and pastoral formation of these seminarians who are ready to give their lives for the service of the Church in Miami.

We read at the end of Matthew Chapter 9 that Jesus tells His Apostles, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Mt. 9:38). Jesus speaks this statement because He looks upon the multitude of people and “His heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt. 9:36). In a time of uncertainty as we are currently living in, where we are faced with a threefold challenge: the global health emergency, an economic disaster, and societal crisis; the good news is that Jesus continues to look upon us with compassion in calling men to respond to be those laborers in the vineyard. These seminarians, your future priests, represent a hope that cannot be extinguished. A hope that comes from our faith in the risen Lord.

I encourage you to support the Seminary Burse Fund collection on the weekend of August 1st and 2nd, 2020. Your generosity allows the seminarians to be formed after the model of the Good Shepherd who looked upon the people with pity, that is, with compassion and gave His life for them. Your generosity is a reminder of God’s love for His children. This year, with all that has been transpiring, we have created an online link to facilitate your donation to the Seminary Burse Fund.

I give thanks to God for your prayers and your support and we ask in a very special way that through the intercession of Saint John Marie Vianney, more men may answer the call to be the laborers in the vineyard. The harvest may be abundant, but the seminarians, through your generosity, will be ready to labor. Thank you, and may the Lord bestow His abundant blessings upon you and your loved ones.

Sincerely yours in Christ,