From time to time, as I am out and about in the diocese, I will run into people who ask, “How many seminarians are we up to now? Will we hit our 20 seminarians by 2025 Memorare Campaign goal?” I always say I am a man of great hope, and I believe in the power of prayer and our Mother Mary’s intercession.

I usually follow up with, “I am not sure we will hit 20 seminarians by 2025 but I am convinced that Mother Mary’s intercession and our commitment to praying the Memorare Prayer as a diocese, as parishes, as families, as couples and as individuals, will bear abundant fruit for our diocese, both in the number of men studying for the priesthood, and in those who will become priests.

So far, the Diocese of Rapid City has prayed 894,709 Memorare prayers for more men discerning and studying for the priesthood. We are only 105,291 short of hitting the goal of one million Memorare prayers. It brings joy to my heart to see full Memorare cards continue to come in.

Discernment and the choice to enter the seminary in the first place takes courage and an open heart to say yes to Jesus. Our prayers assist young men and help them have both courage and an open heart.

In addition, seminary is a lengthy, demanding journey and at times, even becomes a place of great testing. At the same time, seminary formation is a time of immense grace, and a time filled with abundant blessings. Think of Deacon Max Vetch who will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rapid City on Friday, June 27. Or think of Todd VanderMay, who will be ordained a Transitional Deacon on May 24. Both Deacon Max and Todd have been in seminary formation since graduating from high school. Deacon Max graduated in 2017 from St. Thomas More in Rapid City and in 2015, Todd graduated from Bennett County High School in Martin. Both men have been sustained in this long journey by our prayers and support.

In the next two years, we could have three more men ordained priests for our diocese — Josiah Hanson, Blane Schriock and Dillon Johnson. We are starting to see the fruit of our prayers. Keep the Memorare prayers coming.

Lastly, Bishop Steven Biegler’s vocational story helps us to see the need for patience. In the spring semester of his freshman year at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, he was praying one day, mapping out his own life — his plans and desires and with an open heart, decided to ask what Jesus wanted for his life. Bishop Biegler’s said, “I took a day to think about life and seminary came to mind, but I thought, ‘Not right now, I’ll have to take some time to think about that.’ I was also considering ranching and having a family and those thoughts were part of considering the priesthood and celibacy.” For the next eight years, he worked on the family ranch and ‘thought about it.’ “We had radios in the tractor, but I would often just turn the radio off. That was a really powerful place of meeting God in the beauty and quiet of nature,” he says. “It was a wonderful time for prayer and discernment.” He joined the seminary in 1989, was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rapid City in 1993, and ordained the Bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 2017.

Vocations to the priesthood take time to bear abundant fruit. Our faithfulness to prayer and inviting men to consider such with open hearts, in the end, will bear abundant fruit for our parishes and our diocese. God has his own timing.