4
in the dioCese
September 23, 2014
Working to shepherd the word of God
By Liz Sullivan
Nestled in the corner of the Diocese
of San Jose Chancery offices are two
departments with impressive names
– Office of Vocations and the newly
created Office of Evangelization.
Impressive names, but what do
they mean?
According to Father Joe Kim, charged
with leading both departments, “the
two go hand-in-hand. Both get people
involved. The Office of Vocations feeds
the Office of Evangelization.”
The Office of Vocations role is threepronged with those choosing to spend
their life in service to God: promote,
discernment (which means the ability to
make good judgments) and formation.
Promote means going out to all of
the schools in the Diocese, holding
special events and prayer services. For
discernment, in order to help with those
good judgments, the Diocese hosts
monthly gatherings and periodic retreats. Eventually the Office of Vocations
does pilgrimages to Camino in Spain
and Lourdes in France, as well as the
Catholic missions throughout California. Finally, formation is when a young
man is accepted into the seminary and
they begin preparation for priesthood.
Currently, the Diocese of San Jose
has 11 seminarians at St. Patrick’s
Seminary in Menlo Park. Many of them
are from outside the Diocese, coming
especially from South America. The
next ordination isn’t scheduled until
spring, 2017.
“I am one of the few homegrown
priests that we have,” said Kim, who is
a product of St. Frances Cabrini Parish
in San Jose and was ordained in June,
2010. “The biggest challenge we face
with vocation is that our culture is not
about vocations. It is about creating a
network. For me my network was my
parents, grandparents, teachers, friends
and priests.”
Kim noted that in Guadalajara,
Mexico they have 1,000 seminarians
ordained a year.
“A culture of vocations means a
culture of the Gospel,” he said. “It is
all there, but how do we equip people?
That’s where the Office of Evangeliza-
‘The biggest challenge we face with vocation
is that our culture is not about vocations.
it is about creating a network...’
www.valleycatholiconline.com
The Valley Catholic
‘We all want to be in Heaven.
i want to be in Heaven with all of my buddies
because we’d have one heck of a party.’
-Fr. Joe Kim
tion plays a vital role.”
Meanwhile for the Office of Evangelization the message is simple.
“It is all about how to get the stories
out to get people to come and follow the
Lord,” said Kim. “All of the Canons of
the Church are geared towards salvation and evangelization is one area to
help with that. We all want to be in
Heaven. I want to be in Heaven with all
of my buddies because we’d have one
heck of a party.”
Kim believes one way to help young
people get to know God and His Gospel is through RCIA (Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults).
“RCIA is a great model for anything
we do,” he said. “It’s all about how to
get young people to know the Lord in
an intimate way.”
Kim’s strong work ethic and enthusiasm is getting noticed throughout
the Diocese.
“Father Joe represents a new generation of Evangelists,” said Monsignor
Francis V. Cilia, Vicar General, Diocese
of San Jose. “He is a great spokesperson.
He is a wonderful leader and brings a
great competency and energy to the
position.”
Learn more about the Office of Vocations and the Office of Evangelization
by visiting the Diocese of San Jose
website, www.dsj.org.
Miracles on the
Sidewalk
The fall 40 Days for Life campaign will begin on
September 24 and will run through November 2.
Several miracles have occurred at the Diocese prayer
vigil site during these past few campaigns.
For example, when one of the prayer warriors,
Anna Marie, was standing at the vigil site on a typical autumn day in October, she encountered a young
lady who had just had an appointment with a Planned
Parenthood counselor to discuss the abortion of her
baby. This is Anna’s account of the meeting:
“After arriving, I pulled out my washable chalk and got busy writing little prolife messages all over the public sidewalk near the entrance to Planned Parenthood.
I was getting good responses from people, but was almost ready to leave when
a young woman approached me asking me what I was doing with the chalk. I
explained that little babies were dying inside the clinic and I was there to speak
for them. She said that she was 9 weeks pregnant and had just finished an appointment with a P.P. counselor. Apparently, the counselor was ‘in a big hurry to
sell me the pill…especially when she found out I already had a little girl. I didn’t
like that she was pressuring me to spend so much money…as the pill would fix
everything.’ She said the little messages on the sidewalk really touched her. Needless to say, she changed her mind about the abortion, and we are going together
for an ultrasound and some baby shopping next week. Praise God!”
Join the faithful at the daily prayer vigils during the campaign at Planned Parenthood in San Jose. You can either email Phyllis at [email protected] to sign up
or just come out sometime between 7 am-7 pm Mondays-Sundays to pray. Perhaps,
you will become a witness to
one of God’s miracles!
The midway event will be
held at 11 am on October 11
at St. Leo’s Church, 88 Race
Street, San Jose. Diocese of
San Jose Auxiliary Bishop
Thomas Daly will celebrate
Holy Mass. Immediately
following mass there will
be a Procession of Life to the
abortion clinic for a prayer
vigil service. A final event
will be held on November
2, 7:30pm. We will join
together once again to have
28th Anniversary Pro-Life
a Candlelight Procession at
Banquet
“A Center Without Borders”
St. Leo’s Church.
For more information
Saturday, October 25
about 40 Days for Life call
David’s Restaurant , 5151
Stars & Stripes Drive, Sant
a Clara
Pat at 408-497-7270 or visit
$50 per person, dinner incl
uded
www.40daysforlife.com/
RSVP: 408.258.2008
sanjose.
CAROL EVERE
TT, KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Carol’s descent into the abort
ion industry began after she
aborted her third child
in 1973, and she soon after opene
d her own abortion clinic. She
left the industry
and is now a