“We are so lucky to have people like you in the world, people who are so devoted to God.”
That message is in one of the letters Catholic students in New Jersey wrote to Catholic seminarians around the world in the last year as part of the statewide Seminarian Letter Project. The New Jersey State Council of the Knights of Columbus has conducted the project for the last 11 years.
Thirteen local Knights of Columbus councils throughout the state, including six in the Diocese of Camden, asked students to write letters of support and encouragement and offers of prayer to seminarians. In the last year, students wrote thousands of letters and cards to seminarians at eight institutions around the world and to nuns at one convent, said John Tirado, chairman of the project.
The 13 local councils, including the six in the Diocese of Camden – in Waterford, Vineland, Millville, Absecon, Egg Harbor Township and Bellmawr – will receive awards for their efforts at the state council convention on May 13 in Wildwood.
Seminarians wrote thank-you letters to the students in return. This message is in one of those letters:
“These letters from the various students are heartwarming and encouraging … and have helped create in me a desire to keep moving forward in search of God’s will and with the hope of receiving the strength and courage to do whatever it is He asks.”