Priesthood Sunday Sept. 29

Priesthood Sunday, a special day set aside throughout the U.S. since 2005 to reflect upon and affirm the central role of the priesthood in the life of the church, will be celebrated Sept. 29 in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Priesthood Sunday is coordinated and sponsored by the USA Council of Serra International. Traditionally scheduled for the fourth Sunday of October, all parishes are encouraged to choose any Sunday that works best within their liturgical schedule.

Deacons and lay faithful can mark the day and honor their parish priests in various ways, both at Mass and other parish events, such as social celebrations and school activities. Priesthood Sunday is designed to be an event led by the laity, but priests also can use the occasion to talk about how they experienced and answered their own vocational calling and about the priests who have inspired them.

The Serra Clubs of Greater New Orleans and the Archdiocesan Men’s Vocations Club of New Orleans have collaborated on the celebration of Priesthood Sunday. The USA Council of Serra International is an organization of more than 10,000 lay men and women whose mission is to foster and affirm vocations to the ministerial priesthood and vowed religious life in the United States.

Serra Clubs came to New Orleans in 1953 with that mission in mind. The clubs host programs that include visiting with seminarians over a meal, sponsoring a barbecue or crawfish boil with seminarians, and recognizing the Altar Servers of the Year each April.

For more information on Priesthood Sunday and to learn about Serra Clubs in the Greater New Orleans area, got to serraus.org/priesthood-sunday and serraus.org/membership.