Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Andrew Rammel When Andrew Rammel was asked by his pastor to take a class, the Precious Blood parishioner couldn’t have known that he would end up with a new vocation. “I really wasn’t aware of what I was committing to when I started this journey six …

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Mike Hinger The first time Mike Hinger, 55, felt a calling to the diaconate he was advised by a mentor — a deacon himself — to wait until his children were older. The call came again about decade later and Hinger followed it.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 John Paul Back ARCHDIOCESE — In the course of one year, several people approached John Paul Back and told him he would make a good deacon.He looked into the vocation, and when he learned that the archdiocese’s Lay Pastoral Ministry Program classes were going to be …

Thursday, April 29, 2010 By Father Satish Joseph Here are three scenarios I present to you. First scenario: Sex-starved celibate clergy on the prowl, greedily eying children — or anyone — whom they can sexually exploit. Second scenario: Emotionally unaffected celibate men, holy priests in every sense of the word, …

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 By Terrance Callan Fifth Sunday of Easter: Acts 14:21-27; Rev 21:1-5; John 13:31-33, 34-35 It is often necessary to endure difficulties in order to reach some goal. We need to practice if we want to master physical and mental skills. We must work patiently to grow …

Friday, April 23, 2010 DAYTON DEANERY — The sixth annual Dayton Catholic Homeschool Conference is scheduled for May 21 and 22 at St. Peter Family Life Center in Huber Heights. The conference is open to all parents and high school students.

Friday, April 23, 2010 CATHEDRAL DEANERY — As a result of St. Vincent de Paul’s 2009 Food From The Heart Campaign, an annual event in partnership with The Kroger Co. and the local community, more than $27,000 and 77,525 pounds of food were collected at Greater Cincinnati Kroger stores.

Thursday, April 22, 2010 ST. MARYS DEANERY — “Stepping Up the Call,” the seventh annual pilgrimage for vocations awareness, will be held Saturday, May 8. The event includes stops for prayer/presentations at up to six churches and religious sites in Mercer and Auglaize counties, beginning with morning prayer at St. …

Thursday, April 22, 2010 By Eileen Connelly, OSU ARCHDIOCESE — A young mother has lost twin babies to serious illness because her village is separated from the nearest hospital by a checkpoint that is closed at night. A family has lost their freedom and land due to the wall that …

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 ST. FRANCIS DE SALES DEANERY — The Athenaeum of Ohio’s George C. Findley Memorial Lecture, “Marriage in Minority Communities: The Contribution of the Catholic Church.” will be presented by Helen M. Alvaré on Wednesday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m., in the Bartlett Pastoral Center on the …