Letter writing project a way for students to offer seminarians encouragement
August 10, 2024 at 3:21 p.m.
Whether they were heartfelt messages, both handwritten and typed, or colorful freehand drawings, young people from throughout the state had an opportunity to express their support for seminarians as they prepare to one day serve as priests.
For the 24th year, the New Jersey State Council Knights of Columbus held its annual Seminarian Letter Project, an initiative that encourages students in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs to send letters and cards to men studying for the priesthood.
“Something as simple as sending a letter helps confirm that they are sent from God for a great purpose,” said John Tirado, a member of the State Council who is in charge of the statewide project. “You look at these young men [giving up] having a family, all to serve God. We are behind this effort to support them morally.”
Tirado noted that from the Diocese of Trenton, positive notes of encouragement and well wishes were sent to seminarians from elementary and middle school-aged students from St. Junipero Serra Parish, Seaside Park, and Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Moorestown.
Robert Butta of the Rev. Gebhard Braungart Council, Lavallette, recalled 75 letters that were sent from St. Junipero Serra Parish – an accomplishment to which he credited catechist Renee Casadante for successfully promoting the project to her student participants.
“Some religious education students surprisingly do not know much about the friary or the seminary,” and the letter-writing project hopes to change that, Butta said.
John Paglione, parish catechetical leader in St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish, Lavallette, and Sacred Heart Parish, Bay Head, said students from both parishes contributed letters to their Seaside Park counterparts, noting that some had a chance to meet the men they had written to during a retreat the seminarians attended in St. James Parish, Red Bank.
Paglione assigns seminarian letter writing to his Confirmation class, “and this helps them prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation, similar to how the seminarians are spiritually preparing themselves to receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders.”
One example of a letter Tirado shared was from an eighth grader from St. Junipero Serra Parish who wrote about having an uncle who is a priest.
The student described how blessed he was to “have my uncle be on the altar for my First Holy Communion. He gave me the Blood and the Body of Christ for the first time.” He also shared that his uncle will be present for his Confirmation and that his uncle has traveled to places such as Africa and Egypt.
“I pray that God will bless you in every way as you begin your journey serving him and his Church,” the student wrote to the seminarian.
Tirado referenced a quote from Pope John Paul II on the important of supporting men discerning the priesthood: “Without the priests there is no Eucharist, and without the Eucharist there is no Church.”
“This project shows them [that] our support and belief in them goes beyond words,” Tirado said.
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Whether they were heartfelt messages, both handwritten and typed, or colorful freehand drawings, young people from throughout the state had an opportunity to express their support for seminarians as they prepare to one day serve as priests.
For the 24th year, the New Jersey State Council Knights of Columbus held its annual Seminarian Letter Project, an initiative that encourages students in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs to send letters and cards to men studying for the priesthood.
“Something as simple as sending a letter helps confirm that they are sent from God for a great purpose,” said John Tirado, a member of the State Council who is in charge of the statewide project. “You look at these young men [giving up] having a family, all to serve God. We are behind this effort to support them morally.”
Tirado noted that from the Diocese of Trenton, positive notes of encouragement and well wishes were sent to seminarians from elementary and middle school-aged students from St. Junipero Serra Parish, Seaside Park, and Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Moorestown.
Robert Butta of the Rev. Gebhard Braungart Council, Lavallette, recalled 75 letters that were sent from St. Junipero Serra Parish – an accomplishment to which he credited catechist Renee Casadante for successfully promoting the project to her student participants.
“Some religious education students surprisingly do not know much about the friary or the seminary,” and the letter-writing project hopes to change that, Butta said.
John Paglione, parish catechetical leader in St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish, Lavallette, and Sacred Heart Parish, Bay Head, said students from both parishes contributed letters to their Seaside Park counterparts, noting that some had a chance to meet the men they had written to during a retreat the seminarians attended in St. James Parish, Red Bank.
Paglione assigns seminarian letter writing to his Confirmation class, “and this helps them prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation, similar to how the seminarians are spiritually preparing themselves to receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders.”
One example of a letter Tirado shared was from an eighth grader from St. Junipero Serra Parish who wrote about having an uncle who is a priest.
The student described how blessed he was to “have my uncle be on the altar for my First Holy Communion. He gave me the Blood and the Body of Christ for the first time.” He also shared that his uncle will be present for his Confirmation and that his uncle has traveled to places such as Africa and Egypt.
“I pray that God will bless you in every way as you begin your journey serving him and his Church,” the student wrote to the seminarian.
Tirado referenced a quote from Pope John Paul II on the important of supporting men discerning the priesthood: “Without the priests there is no Eucharist, and without the Eucharist there is no Church.”
“This project shows them [that] our support and belief in them goes beyond words,” Tirado said.