The Sacrament of Holy Orders is the continuation of Christ's priesthood, which He bestowed upon His Apostles; thus, the Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the Sacrament of Holy Orders as "the sacrament of apostolic ministry." There are three forms of this sacrament: diaconate (deacon), presbyterate (priest) and episcopate (bishop). One sacrament, celebrated three times with successively higher sacramental effects.

In the Sacrament of Holy Orders, a man is incorporated into the priesthood of Christ. The great mystery of priesthood is that it tries, however inadequately, to give a human face to a wondrous God who walks with us even when things aren't all pure. What an awesome challenge!

We consider it important to help foster the call to serve that men feel to the diaconate and priesthood.

We do this in a variety of ways...

• Monthly Priesthood discernment group meetings
• Operation Andrew dinners with Archbishop Hanus
• Deacon discernment meetings throughout the year
• Personal Spiritual Direction

Holy Orders: Ordained to Serve, Gather, Transform and Send (Also available en Español) - This short, two-page handout describes how ordained ministers play an important role in helping Christians to imitate Christ's mission of love and justice, through gathering the community, modeling Christ's love for the poor, presiding at Eucharist, and evangelizing social realities.

If you or someone you know has such a call, feel free to contact Fr. Jon (frjon@staparish.net) or Fr. Jim (frjim@staparish.net) to talk about it.