Employees of the Diocese of Allentown reaffirmed their commitment to the ministry and mission of the Catholic Church at a recent “Commissioning Mass” celebrated by Bishop Alfred Schlert.
“We recall by our Commissioning what we do every day as workers in the vineyard of the Lord,” the Bishop said at the Mass, at St. Mary Parish in Kutztown. Diocesan employees are called to approach their work with humility and charity, Bishop Schlert said, and also to live their lives in accordance with Church teachings.
“We are all here to tend the garden of Christ, and to do so with the humility of St. John XXIII,” Bishop Schlert said. St. John XIII was the Pope who established the Diocese of Allentown in 1961.
Employees represented included those who work in Pastoral Support, Financial Administration, Human Resources, Cemeteries, Technology, Education, Campus Ministry, Catechesis, Evangelization, Stewardship, Facilities, and many other areas.
This year, the Diocese is celebrating a Jubilee Year marking its 60th anniversary.
The Diocese also is celebrating the Year of the Real Presence, a time for the faithful to rededicate themselves to, and to reaffirm their belief in, the presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The Year also is a time for people to rejoice in the gift of their own presence at Mass with families, friends, and clergy.
