PENNSAUKEN – The wind, rain, and hail might have canceled the iRace4Vocations 5k run and 1-mile walk, but it couldn’t dampen the spirits of the many who turned out to Cooper River Park to encourage more people of faith to discern the priesthood or religious life.
Elizabeth and Frank Martino of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Blackwood, attended with their daughters, Daniela and Serefina. Elizabeth Martino, principal of Our Lady of Hope Regional School, said the day was especially fun for Daniela, a first-grader at the school.
“She wanted to race with Father [John] March,” parochial vicar at their parish, Elizabeth Martino said, laughing. In addition, she said Daniela “kept asking the religious sisters about their habits.”
These interactions are evidence that the day creates a culture of vocations, she said. “It’s important to invite and expose young people to what God’s calling them to do – be it a religious, married or single vocation, and it’s important to plant those seeds at a young age.”
The Martinos were among a handful who waited out the rain or huddled under umbrellas at Jack Curtis Stadium, trying to stay warm and dry in the midst of a fast-moving storm that struck after the April 3 Mass celebrated by Bishop Dennis Sullivan.
Though organizers canceled the race due to weather, a few runners hit the pavement when blue skies returned about an hour later, looping around the park and arriving back at the stadium.
“It was refreshing,” said Father Peter Gallagher, parochial vicar of Holy Angels Parish, Woodbury, the first of about 10 runners to cross the finish line.
Frank Simila and his wife, Brenda, of the Holy Angels Parish community, joined Father Gallagher and their son, Jacob, a first-year seminarian for the Diocese of Camden.
“It was very exciting, getting to run with our priest and our son,” Frank Simila said.
Transitional Deacon Paul Abbruscato, who is scheduled to be ordained to the priesthood May 14, took a few laps around the stadium track. “A day like this does encourage and motivate me,” he said, adding that he was thankful for the prayers he has felt from iRace4Vocations attendees over the years.
“An event like this helps people think about the reality of what God is calling them to do, and that’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “It helps us seek to listen to the Lord.”
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