Kids’ letters spread hope to women, men in religious vocations

In one letter, there is a heartwarming message: “Thank you for doing God’s work. I truly respect you for committing your life to the Lord.”

In another, a cartoon depicts a child saying, “Good Luck,” and a priest with a cross around his neck, smiling.

While these handwritten gestures from young Catholics might be a modest way of showing support for those pursuing vocations, they go a long way in boosting the men and women preparing for the priesthood, diaconate or religious life.

These letters are part of the Knights of Columbus Seminarian Letter Project, an initiative that for more than 25 years has guided students in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs to send letters of encouragement and hope to those pursuing religious vocations.

“Even the youngest students have a sense of the noble sacrifice of our seminarians,” said John Tirado, faith programs director for the New Jersey State Council of the Knights of Columbus and a Knight of the Saint Jude Council #12092, Bellmawr. “They understand our seminarians are choosing a lifetime of service to God and declining marriage and children. The support and encouragement from the letters are sincerely appreciated by the seminarians.”

The project traces its roots to 1998 in Tirado’s Council at Saint Joachim Parish, where he had the idea of starting a program with students at the parish school to support and encourage seminarians, as well as to ask them questions. The program quickly blossomed, and by 2000, Tirado helped transform the initiative into a statewide Knights of Columbus effort.

“The seminarians frequently hear adults say, ‘We are praying for you,’ but it is a moving experience to receive a surprise in the mail one day, when a handwritten letter is received,” Tirado said. “Especially with the simple beauty of a 10-year-old stating, ‘I’m giving up potato chips for Lent just for you.’ Some letters may have drawings or cartoons.”

Not only has the program continued to this day, but it has also received significant attention – including a note from the late Pope Francis, a message from former President Barack Obama, the President’s Award from the National Catholic Educational Association, and a special one-hour segment on EWTN.

Matthew Krug serves as the Grand Knight of Nativity Council 2976, and formerly served as Grand Knight of the Saint Jude’s Council. Seeing the letters make such an impact there, he brought the program with him when he moved to Laurel Springs. He teamed up with a teacher at Saint John Paul II Regional School, Stratford, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Shrine, Lindenwold.

“At Saint John Paul II School, the students are not only writing letters to the seminarians, but they are also learning how to write a proper letter,” he said. “This program is a win-win for all involved. This program’s benefits cannot be measured, the seminarians who receive these letters remember them always. There are priests in the Diocese who were recipients of these letters.”

In addition to the support for seminarians and the educational benefits of the project, there is a greater importance, and urgency, to supporting vocations and providing hope to the Church.

“The religious education programs are well aware of the vocations crisis in our Church,” Tirado said. “The average age of our priests is approximately 60. The number of seminarians is very low, especially in consideration of the number of parishes which will need priests when our current priests retire.”

He continued, “Priests are needed to marry our youngest Catholics when they are adults, baptize their children and serve all other pastoral needs. The Seminarian Letter Project is a Knights of Columbus response to the question, ‘What kind of Church will we leave our children and grandchildren?’”

James Fath is the community director for the Knights of Columbus Saint John Neumann Council 3546 in Cape May Court House. He works closely with the parish director of religious education, Sister Kathleen Nuckols, IHM, to help CCD students write letters. Several years ago, Sister Kathleen suggested that they add a Temporary Professed Sister to the mailing list – and Fath was all for the idea.

“To me, a vocation is a vocation,” he said.

Fath echoed Tirado’s sentiments about the power of the letters, and the hope they spread to future priests and religious.

“We have sent out almost 100 letters per year to encourage seminarian students to keep the faith and encourage them to complete their vocation,” he said. “The children love writing the letters each year. They love when a response from their effort comes, and Sister [Kathleen] sends the response letter to be read in all the classrooms.”