Inviting non-catholic relatives to ordination?

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Catholictrain

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My son, with and by the Grace of God, will be ordained to the transitional diaconate next May and to the Priesthood a year later. We are starting to look at halls for a celebration to be held after the diaconate ordination. Because of limited funds, we have decided to keep the invitation list to the reception after the diaconate to just relatives.

I have some relatives who have left the Church, one who denies Jesus is our Saviour and some that are living in situations that are against Catholic teaching (fornication, adultery, etc).
My question is who should be invited? Should I invite relatives who have completely broken with the faith? Any opinions out there?🤷
 
I would invite them. You would want to be cautious about having them receive Communion. But if they have “issues” with the Catholic Church, it is wiser to let them exclude themselves rather than for you to do it for them.
 
Depending on how limited the list has to be, I would invite them all, maybe your son will inspire them, though I would be worried about the Communion too. Maybe something can be said, like at weddings or such, to remind people that to approach Communion you have to be prepared… I’m not sure about that. Anyways, would you invite these family members to a wedding? If so, I would invite them.

And of course… CONGRATULATIONS!!! :clapping: :dancing: How exciting for a mother!!! I am so happy for you and your family!!!

BTW, if you have any advice for other mothers on here (like myself 🙂 ) on helping our kids find out what their vocations are, whatever they may be, and helping them follow God’s will, I would love to hear it!
 
lifeisbeautiful said:
And of course… CONGRATULATIONS!!! :clapping: :dancing: How exciting for a mother!!! I am so happy for you and your family!!!

BTW, if you have any advice for other mothers on here (like myself 🙂 ) on helping our kids find out what their vocations are, whatever they may be, and helping them follow God’s will, I would love to hear it!
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Well, just to be clear, I am the father. It is exciting for me as well as my wife certainly. Although he seemed to have a vocation from a rather young age, there was a moment when he was 15 years old, that I realized I would be the father of a Father! I cried tears of joy. It certainly humbles me to think about it. How could God call the son of such a sinner as myself to be a Priest? It is hard to understand.

Advice? Well, teach then the faith clearly and without fluff. We homeschool, and taught him from the Baltimore Catechism when he was younger. Also, invite priests to your house for dinner. Show your children that they are people too. Get your young men into programs run by groups that help promote vocations. My son went with the Legionaires for a boy retreat thing once a month for a while. It didn’t make him want to be a Legionaire, but helped him with his calling to be a diocesan priest. Another thing, I recommend taking a week vacation at a place called “Catholic Familyland”. (www.familyland.org) I would be happy to talk to anyone about this wonderful place in eastern Ohio that wants to hear about it. This place also helped my son hear clearly God’s call to the priesthood. Finally, and most importantly, say the rosary as a family. If you have never done it before, start once or twice a week. Set aside one night a week and call it Family Night. Say the rosary and play games with your kids. Keep the TV off that evening. Keeping the world’s noise turned down helps young men hear more easily the whisper of God’s call.
 
I’m guessing that the ordination will take place at the Cathedral, and there will be a limited number of tickets. So don’t invite these people to the ceremony, but do invite them to the reception. What an opportunity to witness to them through your joy in your son’s vocation. I will keep him in my prayers.

Peace,
Linda
 
Catholictrain said:
Well, just to be clear, I am the father. It is exciting for me as well as my wife certainly. Although he seemed to have a vocation from a rather young age, there was a moment when he was 15 years old, that I realized I would be the father of a Father! I cried tears of joy. It certainly humbles me to think about it. How could God call the son of such a sinner as myself to be a Priest? It is hard to understand.

Advice? Well, teach then the faith clearly and without fluff. We homeschool, and taught him from the Baltimore Catechism when he was younger. Also, invite priests to your house for dinner. Show your children that they are people too. Get your young men into programs run by groups that help promote vocations. My son went with the Legionaires for a boy retreat thing once a month for a while. It didn’t make him want to be a Legionaire, but helped him with his calling to be a diocesan priest. Another thing, I recommend taking a week vacation at a place called “Catholic Familyland”. (www.familyland.org) I would be happy to talk to anyone about this wonderful place in eastern Ohio that wants to hear about it. This place also helped my son hear clearly God’s call to the priesthood. Finally, and most importantly, say the rosary as a family. If you have never done it before, start once or twice a week. Set aside one night a week and call it Family Night. Say the rosary and play games with your kids. Keep the TV off that evening. Keeping the world’s noise turned down helps young men hear more easily the whisper of God’s call.
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Oh :o I don’t know where I got the idea that you were the mother… Well, I can only imagine how it must feel to have a son with a calling to be a priest! Thank you for the advice, I know your son must have had a special home to help him cultivate his love for God and eagerness to fulfill His Will.
BTW, what exactly is Familyland? I have heard of it before, and I went to the link you offered, but am not completely sure of what it is. Is it like a conference center with cabins and rv/tent hook ups so families can go for different conferences?

Congratulations again and good luck figuring out the guest list!
 
Wow…proud papa!!! Congrats and thank you for instilling him with Catholic values and the joys of service…
 
Congratulations!

I am really pleased for you, your family and your son.

I’d invite all of your family and friends if you can. It may be the call home for some of them!

God bless

Karen
 
LindaS said:
I’m guessing that the ordination will take place at the Cathedral, and there will be a limited number of tickets. So don’t invite these people to the ceremony, but do invite them to the reception. What an opportunity to witness to them through your joy in your son’s vocation. I will keep him in my prayers.

Peace,
Linda
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Actually, the ceremony is not the problem. The cathedral in Baltimore is quite large, so anyone can come to the ordination. The problem is the reception… these things can cost big bucks… anyone who has paid for a wedding reception lately can attest to this. I think I will take the advice of those who recommend I invite all of the family. Some will not come. That is fine.
 
Thanks for all the congratulations and best wishes. I ask for prayers that my son will be a good priest and will be helped by many more priests in the future (I have a selfish reason for promoting vocations, I want my son to have some help…)

On the question posted about Catholic Familyland, I will briefly describe what it is.

The Apostolate for Family Consecration (recognized by the Vatican), is an organization found in 1975 to promote the consecration of families to Jesus through Mary according to the method of St. Louis de Montefort. They are families helping families get to heaven essentially. As part of their ministry they have a place called Familyland about 20 minutes from Steubenville, Ohio (home of Franciscan University… great school). Familyland is situated on 950 acres of what was once the seminary for the Diocese of Steubenville. They hold 4 “Family Fests” each summer. These are week-long vacations for families. They have cabins as well as hook-up for campers. Each day of a Family Fest starts with Mass (wonderfully reverent), followed by a talk for adults and other age-specific activities for the kids. Then after noon, everyone can enjoy all the fun family-oriented activities of the place… swimming in the pool, horseback riding, a water slide, hiking, sports, family competitions, you name it. Everyday at 3 pm, all activity stops, kids get out of the pool, sports stop etc… and everyone says the Divine Mercy Chaplet. As soon as the Chaplet is over, everyone continues their activities. It is a sight to see. There is usually a family rosary in the evening also. The whole point of the week is to allow families to have a break from the noisy world and reaffirm their Catholic faith. There are confessions by 4 or 5 priests every afternoon for 3 or 4 hours. There is adoration every day in the afternoon. There is an amazing teen program that is held in the evenings and the mornings. It is our teens that BEG us to come back to Familyland each year. Really. The kids LOVE IT at Familyland. At a Catholic Family Fest, a family can experience what life would be like if everyone saw the Truth of the Catholic Faith and lived it. The Family Fest we attended this year had over 800 people attending.

There are also weekend retreats in the spring and fall, but the week-long Family Fests are the highlight of our year. 👍
 
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