April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
EVENT AT SHRINE
Vocations Summit to convene in Auriesville
Vocations Summit to convene in Auriesville
What the Diocese is calling its first-ever "Vocations Summit" will take place at the shrine May 7.
The summit will allow Catholics to connect with one another and hear from national guest speakers, with the objective of creating vocations committees in every parish and school in the Diocese.
"The summit is our response to the call from Jesus Christ to recognize that all of us are called to live out our Christian vocation, to bring holiness to the world and to be leaders," explained Rev. Anthony Ligato, diocesan vicar for vocations and administrator of St. Jude the Apostle parish in Wynantskill. "The summit is going to offer people the opportunity to discern how they can best live out that great mission."
After a continental breakfast, Rev. Tim Birney, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Detroit, will kick off the summit with a keynote address. That will be followed by Mass with Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger.
The main events of the day will be afternoon sessions. Participants can choose to attend one of three different presentations:
• Father Birney will speak on how to become a vocations director. "We need people to take on that role," Father Ligato explained. "It's at the local level that people are first called by name."
• Sam Alzheim-er will speak on bringing the topic of vocations to youth ministries and college campuses. Mr. Alzheimer, who is from the Diocese of Savannah, Ga., works for Vianney Vocations, a Catholic company that promotes vocations for dioceses and religious orders.
• Rhonda Gruenewald of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Tx., author of the book "Hundredfold: A Guide for Parish Vocation Ministry," will speaking on creating parish vocations committees.
The Vocations Summit isn't meant to only focus on consecrated life, but to explore the larger meaning of the word "vocation."
"A vocation is everything," remarked David Stagliano, a summit planning committee members who's also diocesan associate director of college campus ministry and coordinator of youth and young adult ministry.
The summit and vocations committees that result from it will support the vocations of single life, marriage and religious life, as well as parish leadership and volunteerism.
"Every ministry is vital to the Church," said Father Ligato, noting that the summit is a response to Bishop Scharfenberger's call to create a "culture of vocations" in the Diocese.
The summit comes as the end event of a series of "vocations renovations." First, the diocesan vocations website, www.albanyvocations.org, received a major facelift. "It's more interactive," said Father Ligato. "It's more visual and the information is more accessible."
Then the Diocese began offering a curriculum that schools or parishes can use to help with teaching youths about vocations.
Now, Bishop Scharfenberger is calling for five people from every parish and school to meet at the Martyrs' Shrine to create committees that will promote vocations on the parish level.[[In-content Ad]]
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