Archbishop Vigneron:
I'm Archbishop Allen Vigneron of the Archdiocese of Detroit. And this is the Eyes on Jesus podcast,
Mike:
Hello, and welcome to the Eyes on Jesus podcast with Archbishop Allen Vigneron. I'm your host, Mike Chamberland,
Mary:
And I am your host Mary Wilkerson.
Mike:
We are excited to release new episodes once a month, so please make sure to subscribe and review wherever it is that you listen to podcasts. Archbishop, welcome, and thanks so much for joining us. How have you been how's your past month?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Been very good. Thank you, Mike. Great to be with you, Mary. I hope you've had a blessed month.
Mike:
It's been good. Yeah.
Mary:
Things are moving right along. So a big thing that's happened this month is you announced in February that the general dispensation from our obligation to attend Mass was to expire on March 13th, but there are still particular dispensations for those in need. Can you explain to us a little bit about what that means? Who's obligated to go to Mass, who still has dispensation...
Archbishop Vigneron:
Mary, the the listing of the dispensations is easily found on the Archdiocesan website, but in general the principle behind this is that those who are more particularly at-risk or feel themselves at risk because of the virus continued to be dispensed. That would be people with, for example, people with health problems that make them particularly vulnerable, those who have to take care of them. So it's an attempt to offer those reasonable exceptions, but in fact we are all obliged to observe the Lord's day and, when we can, to be present for the Holy Eucharist as the center part of the Lord's day. And so the way I've gone about articulating the norm is an attempt to turn the moral truth into a principle of action.
Mary:
That helps to answer the question why we have an obligation. So our obligation, why is it so central? And I know we've been through this a little bit, but if you can remind us, what does — why is Mass so central to a Catholic's life?
Archbishop Vigneron:
It's about as central as a husband and wife coming home at the end of the workday. Maybe it's about relationship. Marriage is a covenant. Being a disciple of Jesus is a covenant in the Church and to keep a covenant alive you have to stay in relationship. We owe God this worship and he blesses us, deepens our communion with him. And what we celebrate is the Holy Eucharist. It's it's like the same — very much the obligation we have to eat. If you don't do it, you'll starve to death. It's pretty basic.
Mike:
You know, I know you kind of mentioned that you can reference the website and everything Archbishop, but what should someone do if they're not sure if they're dispensed or not? How should they approach that?
Archbishop Vigneron:
I think, call the parish priest and ask him his advice about how to apply the norm to one's own particular life. A good rule of thumb is, what are the other things I'm out and about doing and feel safe doing? Are there comparable things that, to being at Mass, that I'm also engaged in?
Mary:
That's a good idea to talk to your own kind of spiritual shepherd at your parish to kind of tease out some of these things. 'Cause I know a lot of us, some of us are trying to strike a balance between, you know, safety, but then this, this desire to worship the Lord on Sundays. And so some of us can kind of get in the weeds a little bit with scrupulosity about which way God wants us to go. So maybe talking to somebody would help with that.
Archbishop Vigneron:
It does very much, and it's — this is a good example of conscience formation in general. The Church in her wisdom, especially in discussions that have evolved over centuries from people like St. Alphonsus Liguori, want us to avoid both rigorism and laxism. God's moral law is a challenge to us always to grow, but it's not something so great that it's impossible to live up to because we have his grace and if a person — here's a good rule of thumb is, if a person is honestly committed to even avoid venial sin, then you can have a good level of confidence in your own conscience.
Mike:
You know, Archbishop, with Masses, with the dispensation ending, I know — I just didn't know if you've heard much from your parish priests and their parishioners about people returning to Mass this past month, how that's gone for them. Or just any feedback that you've heard, how's that gone so far?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Well, anecdotally people do seem to be coming back and be very appreciative about it. I offered a Holy Mass in the Cathedral on Sunday, and it was great to see so many people there. It was quite, quite noticeable, the increase in attendance.
Mary:
It's funny to think of, at this time last year we were discussing, just a few short weeks from now, what it was like for you as an Archbishop to celebrate Mass and look at an empty church. So it has to be kind of nice to see faces again, celebrating community.
Archbishop Vigneron:
It is something that I give God praise and thanks for, yes,
Mary:
It's funny, we won't take that for granted anymore, I don't think. That's one of the huge from the pandemic year. We went to Mass on Sunday at our church where we've been worshiping and I thought it was really cool, right? In the beginning of the Mass, they had someone — before Mass had even started — who stood up and welcomed people back and also spoke to some of the safety precautions that the church was taking to kind of put people at ease. And I thought that was a good way to approach it, right?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Yes. I mean, and I know that there are some people who find these safety precautions onerous, but the ones that when we do these reasonable things as difficult as they may be for one or another person they're acts of charity. St. Paul gave us a good example when he wrote to the Corinthians that there were certain practices that really were licit for the Christians in Corinth, but sometimes doing these things made it difficult for fellow disciples of a tender conscience. And Paul said, well, then we have to avoid them because holding the family together is the more important thing.
Mary:
I like that you said that. I've considered that too. You know, when I — one of the things that's challenging, of course with Mass on Sunday is having all my kids keep their masks on. And sometimes I'm frustrated by that. But what I always try to remember though, is that if it makes somebody else who's sitting two rows in front of us feel safer then it's worth it, right? To make them feel welcome and safe in God's house worshiping.
Archbishop Vigneron:
That's — it's an act of charity. Yeah.
Mary:
Yeah. Such a good way to put it. Cool. Well, I'm excited about today's podcast topic. On December 8th of 2020, Pope Francis declared that this year would be the Year of St. Joseph. This has been really a personal pilgrimage for me of sorts as we've kind of entered into this Year of St. Joseph. So I'm excited to have this conversation with you. If you can explain to us briefly, what is the Year of St. Joseph?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Well, it's a designation by the Holy Father to ask all of us pay particular attention to St. Joseph's intercession for us, his prayers on our behalf, his communion with us in the Christian life, and his example to us of how to be a good disciple, how to be a faithful disciple. It's it's a year of focus, a particular year of focus to bring into the foreground what is perhaps in the background in some people's prayer life and devotional life
Mary:
For our listeners who might not have read it, along with announcing the year of Saint Joseph Pope Francis had a letter called Patris Corde. Can you maybe tell us a little bit about what the Holy Father teaches in that and some of the wisdom that we can glean from it?
Archbishop Vigneron:
It's a very easy read, Mary. People can find it on the Vatican website. Actually, if you — a simple Google, go to your search engine and write "Pope Francis St. Joseph" in it'll, the link will come up. But it's basically a meditation on the various aspects of St. Joseph's fatherhood: St. Joseph as a courageous father, St. Joseph as a dutiful father, St. Joseph as a man, a father who believed and it's a beautiful meditation on the fatherly heart and soul of St. Joseph
Mike:
Archbishop. I was wondering what can you, what do you feel after reading the document that we specifically can learn from the example of St. Joseph, even, especially today? And why do you think maybe Pope Francis chose this year of all years to really focus in on St. Joseph?
Archbishop Vigneron:
I think it's particularly this year because of COVID. It seems it's one of the motives for him to hold St. Joseph up for us, because St. Joseph went about his duty, his vocation in a time of trial and a time of uncertainty, personal uncertainty. And he, you know, it doesn't say this in the Pope's letter, but when I read it, I thought, yeah, he was taking care of business. And that's that's a consolation for us in a time of uncertainty. To simply be about doing our duty. I think that's a big piece of it. And St. Joseph is also not only the model for us, he's also the great protector of the Church. And there are a lot of pitfalls on the pilgrim path of the Church these days.
Mary:
Is there a particular quality or characteristic of St. Joseph that you, maybe even as your role as our Archbishop, have leaned into a really prayed with to kind of strengthen up your particular vocation?
Archbishop Vigneron:
It was St Joseph's readiness to alter his course as soon as God gave him an indication that things needed to be different from the way he thought they would be. You know, he was engaged, he was betrothed to the Virgin Mary. He had, like any man would, I presume, expectations for what that life would be like. And God scrambled it. He redefined what it would mean to be the husband of Mary and to lead that household. And he went, he abandoned himself into God's plan. So that's one thing. And the other one I find fascinating and it means a lot to me is what Joseph did in escaping from Bethlehem and taking the family into Egypt. I'm not — this one of the things I'm going to ask him, please, God, when I go to heaven — What was it? Well, what did that feel like? I mean, that's what a man would be most concerned about is protecting his family, guarding them. And he has to face this terrible threat, you know, can very well imagine both the ups and downs, the highs and lows of that, as we might say. His fear about betraying his trust and yet his confidence that God was with him and guiding him to do his job, to protect the child, Jesus, and his mother.
Mary:
It's funny, I'm reading — which I know a lot of people are — I'm doing the Consecration to St. Joseph. And there's a book that's associated with it with a lot of just teachings and readings of things that the saints have said. And I realized I had never really considered what the flight to Egypt looked like and the fact that they had to, as a family, figure out how to eat and how to live and how to exist. You know, in my mind, it's like, well, they went to Egypt and then they ended up back at Bethlehem, you know? But it's, it's kind of beautiful to let my imagination think about that time.
Archbishop Vigneron:
It makes it a real experience, a human experience in our own imagination and something then that we can connect with. I mean, I don't know Mary that you've ever had to fly to Toledo with your family, but there are, I mean, you think about the u-turns that you've had to make. I presume it's not unheard of that you've had to get in the car and go to the emergency room. You know, those are all the same, very much similar experiences. And that this unfolded in the life of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph reminds us that God is at work in these things, in these realities that seem so challenging to what — well, they are challenging. They're not the sort of acts of devotion that we particularly set aside, but they are ways for us to be devoted to God.
Archbishop Vigneron:
And to me, this is the great proof, evidence of the rightness of Jesus as our Redeemer: that he doesn't just grace us and redeem us in moments of liturgical prayer or personal devotion, but he has created, by his death and rising, a means to transform even the ordinary and often even sad, difficult moments of life into times of grace. There isn't any moment of human existence that's beyond the transformation of the Holy Spirit. God has not had to make a treaty with the devil and give him even one half of 1% of human existence.
Mary:
That's pretty profound.
Speaker 2:
I know. And now, as I was preparing for today's recording and reading the the Pope's letter myself a little bit like you, Mary, I think my imagination started to just kind of go away with me. And one of the references is this idea of, kind of, in the shadows and often overlooked, as St. Joseph is. And as I was reading it, it was kind of bringing to light all those, you know, the flight to Egypt. And my imagination started running wild with all the life that he led and the things that he had to do and the choices he had to make. And as you said, Archbishop, had to kind of get things done. And it just gave me a new appreciation for St. Joseph being such a silent saint, letting Jesus take the fore, but but how pivotal he was in the whole plan. And I know it was really very, very, very cool. And I almost wish there was this, like, I almost wanted to write, like as a screenwriter, you know, I almost wanted to like write a story that — make a movi,e because I wanted to see a movie about them essentially when I was reading this, you know? But especially that shadow, the person in the shadow is getting things done and I thought that's beautiful. Yeah. What do you think about that, Archbishop? You think similar?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Oh, no. No. And I'm going to really go out on a limb here and tell you about something that I meditate on, and it's based on my own experience of boys modeling themselves after their dads. I don't know if you notice, it seems pretty clear to me that most boys have the same kind of intonation, when they talk, they have the cadence of their dad. When they walk, they have the gait of their dad. They have the same sense of humor. It's really about modeling. And so by the laws of the incarnation, the ordinary dimensions of human existence, so much of the way our Lord behaved would have been modeled and what he picked up from looking at his foster father. And I particularly think about the road to Emmaus when it says they recognized him in the breaking of the bread. Now at one level, that's very much clearly about the Holy Spirit opening their eyes, but how many times on the Sabbath had Jesus seen Joseph break the bread at their family meal? And wouldn't he have had the same way of handling the bread, saying the blessing as he had been — as he modeled himself after St. Joseph? So in some sense, I think it's fair enough, at least in my pious imagination, to think about Jesus as the Incarnate Word in some ways, very specifically incarnating the example of Joseph.
Mary:
That's really beautiful. And that's kind of like the journey that I feel that I've been on this year so far with St. Joseph. It's kind of a deepening of my own knowledge of the mystery of Jesus, who he was both in his humanity and divinity, as seen through his father. I know one of the things that has kind of been referenced a couple of times during this year of St. Joseph, is that — and Mike, you said it too, kind of — St. Joseph has been in the shadows, and there's been a deepening of our theology around him in the Church. On December 8th, when this year was announced, it was also the 150th anniversary of when Pius IX declared St. Joseph, the Patron of the Universal Church. What does that mean? Do you think that the Church is maybe awakening more to our need for St Joseph's example? How do you see all that playing out?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Pius IX made this direction at a time when the Church was still struggling to come back from the French Revolution, trying to find her way in the modern world, the post-French Revolutionary world. And so held up St. Joseph as the Patron of the Church, the Protector of the Church, because the Church is the extended Holy Family of God, the Father. We are the brothers and sisters of Christ. Mary is our mother. So Joseph is our protector as well. And I think the Holy Father sees that this is a time of great challenge for the Church and he wants us to look to Joseph for support and to be able to benefit from his prayers for us.
Mike:
I know, like you said earlier, Archbishop, I think you said one of the impetus or reasons for Pope Francis to bring this to the fore again, not only the 150th anniversary, but also this time of pandemic and kind of a recognition of those people who play such a crucial role during the pandemic, the people in the shadows — what's the term that we call them nowadays, right? The essential, that's the word. Yeah. The essential workers. And of course, Joseph, we think of as a worker. There's something really cool in that as far as a choice that Pope Francis made to do that in this time. What are your thoughts on that Archbishop, do you think that was obviously specifically chosen? And I don't know, does that give you kind of a sense of hope and appreciation for the ordinary folks?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Well, I think it is you know, there are no — how to put it? In the Christian life, there are no unessential actors. We all play a pivotal role in our own drama of salvation. And that's part of the Good News. Nobody's an extra. Nobody's expendable. Now, one way I try to be attentive to my neighbor is to think about how even the person ahead of me in line at the grocery store is somebody that Jesus has judged worthy of the last drop of his blood. And I may never see that person again until, please, God, we're in heaven together and we'll get to be very best friends.
Mike:
That's a beautiful thought. Yeah. You know, Archbishop, I just know — even before this year was announced you know, what kind of role does St Joseph play for you personally? Has he been a pretty predominant saint in your own life and prayer? Or maybe not so much, maybe there's been other saints that have played more of that role for you? I don't know. Just, did you reflect and think about St Joseph much in your previous to this year?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Well he's one of my patrons but particularly he is for me a great guide about my own celibacy. That, you know, he found the fulfillment of his being a father and being a husband, those dimensions of his life in a way that were very different from the ordinary. And to me, he's a great example of God's grace of celibate living.
Mary:
That's an interesting thing, too, how we can all kind of take in a very personal way, the example of St. Joseph, because as you said, for celibate living, he's an incredible example for religious and for priests, but then also he was a father and a husband. So we can all kind of have this deep, personal connection to him, maybe in a really unique way to the other saints that we can rely on and ask for intercession.
Archbishop Vigneron:
And another way I think about St. Joseph is as an intercessor, that he certainly must be very powerful before the throne of his foster son.
Mary:
Absolutely. So, do you know of anything, or what has the Archdiocese done so far for this year of St. Joseph? What are the movements happening?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Well, we have a lot of things on the website inviting people to the 33 days of consecration. And I just got some statistics over 6,000 people are following that. And there is only one parish in the archdiocese where we don't have someone following that consecration.
Mary:
That's amazing.
Archbishop Vigneron:
Then there are parishes that have their own particular event or devotions to St. Joseph in these days, not least the Oratory of St. Joseph on — downtown right off of Gratiot. But the website is the best place to look to see what's available.
Mary:
33 Day Consecration has been so powerful for me. I'm doing it along with my sisters and we've kind of, we keep talking about the way that, you know, I've prayed the Litany of St. Joseph before, but the way that each day is opened up to really help us enter into these titles of Saint Joseph and to understand these characteristics of him, it's really like, it's quite profound what it's doing in my own spiritual life, and I know the spiritual lives of so many people that are doing it together, you know. And so many of us are going to actually do the consecration this Friday, which is — or you'll probably be listening to the recording, our listeners, afterwards, but we're recording it a little bit before, but March 19th is the day of consecration for many of us. And I'm so excited. Like I'm looking forward to that day, like a holiday. I can't wait.
Archbishop Vigneron:
Yeah, as we talk about this grace of St. Joseph. I mean, what — the gifts that God gave to Joseph were certainly for him to be able to serve Jesus and Mary, but they're gifts for all of us. St. Paul makes that very clear. Every charism, every outpouring of the Holy Spirit is for the good of all the members in the body. Here's grace or a dimension of this grace that has struck me, is that for catechists and people who are — pardon me —engaged in the work of formation, St. Joseph can be a grace to help those we are forming, we're accompanying toward Christian maturity, a grace for them to understand the vocation of being a father. From all I read, that's a big challenge today. And especially since the universal call to holiness for most people is being a father, being a husband, being a wife, being a mother, I think in catechesis, in Christian formation, this is a very important challenge.
Mike:
Yeah, I know. Not even — and being a father, obviously in multitude of ways. I know that from what I understand, one of the novenas, there's a specific novena to pray to Saint Joseph in connection with foster care and adoption. Obviously he himself has gone through that position himself which is really cool and interesting that it's like you said, Mary, earlier, like he just really touches because of his celibacy, because of his fatherhood, because of adoptive fatherhood, it just touches a lot of layers for so many of our faithful, which is really cool. I know, as far as the consecration goes, too, you know, I've heard from Mary that it's excellent. And I know that the, the day of the actual cele- of coming up, I know myself, I haven't done so, but after reading this and I'm reflecting with it, I know, you know, obviously for our people listening, it's not too late. It doesn't have to be done within that timeframe. I know it's — the consecration and the novena are things that can be done throughout any time of this year. You know? So, and that leads to this next question I wanted to ask you Archbishop, is there anything else, other thoughts from you on how people the faithful can observe this year of St. Joseph in the coming months? Any thoughts or special requests from you from our faithful?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Well, I think your point is very well taken that while we're coming you know, the 19th of March is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the days of consecration, the novena, these can be done at any time that the Holy Spirit moves someone to engage in it. So I would encourage people to follow their inspiration if, whenever that occurs whatever, whenever you're moved is the right time to have been moved, I think would put it simply. And for myself I think pray for me and pray for all my brother priests, that we be good fathers.
Speaker 3:
It's amazing how many different kinds of prayers and novenas and movements there are to incorporate the intercession of St. Joseph in our lives. I know I'm doing one called the the Novena to the Holy Cloak of St. Joseph. And I've been praying that it's a 30-day novena to — and I'm praying it kind of just entrusting our family and the direction of our family, to the intercession of St. Joseph, that he opens up doors that need to be opened, that help our families walk in holiness, you know? So I think it's, it's well worth spending some time to see where St Joseph can deepen, or illuminate your family's faith. And it's neat to see that this year has been kind of ordained by Pope Francis to do so.
Archbishop Vigneron:
Oh, I was just going to say Mary, you know, a good principle is, in the Catholic Church there's something for everybody, but everybody doesn't have to do everything and people should trust their own — after people do the basics, you know, do what's obligatory to all of us — people should pay attention to their inspirations. God, the Holy Spirit knows the particular path within the road that is right for each of us. And so he inspires us to to pick up a book or to connect with one saint or another, one devotion or another, and to have a freedom to follow out those inspirations because if a person is committed to living the Christian life, has a commitment to even avoid venial sin, those inspirations are generally reliable.
Mary:
So is there anything else you want to add on this topic on the Year of St. Joseph to, kind of as a reminder or encouragement to the faithful as we live this reality?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Just that to be connected to Joseph has a very strong pedigree. Some wonderful saints, great saints have found this connection to St. Joseph very, very significant in their lives, not least St. Teresa of Jesus, Theresa of Avila. She actually is one of the people responsible for helping move St. Joseph from the shadows into the foreground.
Mary:
Fantastic. Each month we have an opportunity to invite the faithful, to ask any questions they may have about their faith or even personal questions to you, Archbishop Vigneron. If you're listening and you might have a question, feel free to email it to eyesonjesuspodcast@aod.org, make sure to include your name, your parish. And of course your question. Our first question comes from Chris at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Livonia. Chris asks, "What advice would you give to men discerning priesthood who might find being single a stumbling block to pursuing this vocation?"
Archbishop Vigneron:
My basic advice is to present oneself quietly to the Lord, give him some significant silent time, preferably in front of the the Blessed Sacrament, and tell him that you feel attracted to the priesthood, but that you're afraid about the idea of imitating his celibacy. And ask him to illuminate your life and give you the generosity to even sacrifice home and wife and kids, if that's what he's asking you to do. Basically, you're only going to find out if this is a call for you if you give God a a blank check. God doesn't negotiate. He will show you his will if you are ready to accept it. And he can make this possible. That's the way to go into it. And if a man is inclined to the priesthood, but it's very clear that celibacy is not his call, then in fact, he doesn't have a call to the priesthood. God's not going to set man up for that kind of of frustration. But the question has to be, can I find — Lord — you know, don't ask oneself, ask the Lord — Lord, is it your, will your plan for me that I find the fulfillment of my need for love? My need to be spousal? My need to be a father? Is it your will that I find that by imitating the celibacy of your son?
Mary:
I'd imagine that's a question that many young men and even older men have as they discern priesthood that you've probably had to talk to quite a few young men about, right?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Yes. And Mary, it's not something that just is resolved before seminary. It's a question that has to be asked repeatedly, reviewed again and again. And in the seminary formation, we encourage a regular review of that. So that by the time a man presents himself for the diaconate, he has come to a clear sense that this is God's gift to him. And if he doesn't think that it's a gift that he can embrace we don't want him to be a priest. I don't want a priest who's going to be bitter and frustrated about having made this gift.
Mike:
Well, our next question is actually from Kathy as St. John Neumann in Canton. And Kathy asks, "If someone approached and said he was Jesus Christ, how would you discern if it were true? And if you determined it was Jesus, what is the first thing you would say or do?"
Archbishop Vigneron:
Mike, as I hear this question, I wonder if it wouldn't be better to think in terms of — more useful to think in terms of discerning all of one's own spiritual experiences. St. Ignatius Loyola codified some of the wisdom of the saints about this, the rules of discernment. One of the most important rules is that one will never be given experiences by the Holy Spirit, which contradict the teachings of the Church or lead one to be disobedient to one's own pastors. So that would be a very important role. And if one needs also for extraordinary spiritual experiences one should speak to her or his confessor about what's going on and get some some light to see what might be happening in your life. We don't — the Church doesn't rule out extraordinary experiences from, in every age in the Church there are people who have extraordinary visions, messages from the Lord. We think of somebody like St. Faustina think of somebody like St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Therese, but one needs to be very docile with one's inspirations and present them — start with the confessor and present them to the Church.
Mary:
That's useful advice, I think, in discernment of our own prayer lives. Our last question comes from Lisa, at St. Michael the Archangel in Livonia. I'm excited about this question. She asks, "What is your vision for how Families of Parishes will be implemented in the Archdiocese of Detroit to the greatest benefit of all God's people? What does success look like?"
Archbishop Vigneron:
You can take this in stages. And the ultimate stage of what success will look like is when all the people of the Archdiocese of Detroit are put on the right hand of the judge among the sheep and said, "Well done, good and faithful servants." That is the real measure of success in the life of the Church. A more immediate measure, and yet still long-term, is the presence of people at the Holy Eucharist. That really is when we know that our efforts are bearing fruit that we hope for. Another measure is, not an immediate measure, is the involvement of the faithful in the work of of evangelization. People inviting their neighbors, their friends, their sons, their daughters, their fathers, their mothers to join them in discipleship and join them in the Holy Eucharist. A very close measure of what Families of Parishes will look like is when the teams of pastors and their lay coworkers are formed and, and get going, and are able to move from reorganizing themselves to using the reorganized vehicle, the reorganized life to totally dedicate themselves to the mission.
Mary:
I'm so excited about it. I know certain things have been rolling out and any time I get to talk to anybody that works for the Church or priests, I just think there's so much potential there, it's so clearly a movement of the Spirit. So as we've started some of these steps, are you seeing some fruits coming already from the conversations people are having? I know there's tensions with it, but is it going in the direction that you want to see?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Yes, it is Mary. We did a polling of the priests. We've been doing monthly Zoom meetings. And I don't know if it was the last one or the one before last we asked the priests their own feelings about this, and over 90% were positive about it. Now, the majority of that 90% had some misgivings, and that's quite understandable. We're going into uncharted territory. I don't expect that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea with everything — without a little anxiety of what was on the other side, but that's great news. That we have a positive attitude to move forward.
Mary:
Great, fantastic
Mike:
Well Archbishop, before we close today, I wanted to ask, of course, is there any prayer intentions on your heart that you'd like to share with us and that our listeners could be praying for you?
Archbishop Vigneron:
In these days I'm doing a final scrutiny examination of the seminary deacons who are being called to the priesthood and pray for the priests who will — the deacons who will soon be ordained priests.
Mike:
Very good. We'll keep that in mind for sure. And Archbishop, if you wouldn't mind, would you please close us with a prayer and a blessing?
Archbishop Vigneron:
Heavenly Father, we give you praise and thanks for all of your many good gifts. We thank you for knowledge and life in your son, Jesus Christ, a life that will last forever help us to share the good news of Christ with all we meet. And may almighty God bless all of you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Mike:
Amen. Thank you so much, Archbishop. Great speaking with you again.
Archbishop Vigneron:
Always great to be with you, Mike and Mary. Thanks.
Mary:
Stay tuned for the next episode of Eyes on Jesus, a new episode every month. And if you enjoyed listening, you might also like Detroit Stories, a new podcast from the Archdiocese of Detroit, find it on your favorite podcast app.