“When our Lord commanded us to beg Him to send laborers into the harvest, He knew that the fruit of those prayers would have a variety of manifestations according to the needs of the times. Indeed, not only does He choose and call individuals to follow Him in religious life and priestly ministry, but He also provides the grace and means to ‘fulfill the good work He has begun’ in their lives. The Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations is a prime example of our Lord's providential care. Many who feel prompted to discern actively their vocation by entering seminary or religious formation are sadly prevented from doing so until most, if not all, of their prior education debts are retired. Through your faith-filled and generous efforts, those with outstanding student debt may now give a more immediate response to the invitation ‘come follow Me.’ Rather than delaying their response, those who benefit from the fund are now free to pursue the exploration of God's call, without the significant burden of financial obstacles.
I pray that your organization and the funds you provide will continue to be a great source of blessing in support of many future priests and consecrated religious. I want to express my deep personal gratitude to you and ask the Lord to strengthen you both, spiritually and financially, in your service to Him and His holy people.”
Most Rev. Paul S. Loverde
Bishop of Arlington
Catholic Diocese of Arlington
“Dedicated organizations like the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations provide an important service in assisting young people who are discerning a vocation to the priesthood or the consecrated life and who must overcome practical financial obstacles which could hinder them from responding freely to God's call. It is my hope and prayer that the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations will continue to receive the support it needs to sustain its important apostolic work.”
Most Rev. Raymond L. Burke
Prefect, Apostolic Signatura
“We are blessed to live in a time of unprecedented financial wealth and at the same time challenged by unparalleled spiritual poverty. The Mater Ecclesiae Fund is a powerful tool which allows young people to give their lives to Jesus Christ at the heart of the Church and overcome spiritual poverty with a wealth of divine love and Christian service, which will transform our Church and our world. Your financial investment in this fund will truly pay everlasting dividends.”
Curtis A. Martin
President and Founder
Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS)
“I have found that many young men and women today have been deterred from pursuing a possible religious vocation by daunting educational debt. The Mater Ecclesiae Fund has prayerfully researched this issue and now offers assistance that prudently and effectively meets the needs of discerning applicants. What a wonderful service to the Church!”
Leon Suprenant
Former President
Catholics United for the Faith
Emmaus Road Publishing
“I was delighted to hear about the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations because this is a very real need. Students now unfortunately finish college with large debts and if they wish to enter religious life often need to work for years before they can come. The growing religious orders at the present time are not generally in a position to assume debts because these orders are growing themselves. If you want to help with the reform of the Church, this is a very effective way of doing it.”
Rev. Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal
“I am convinced that the Lord is raising up many future priests and religious, and He is paving their way with the help of the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations. No unresolved debt should stand in the way of the Lord's calling, especially at a time when the harvest is so plentiful. May the Lord of the harvest make use of this Fund to send His Church many devoted workers!”
Rev. Frank Pavone
National Director
Priests for Life
“The Church desperately needs the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations. Too many young people are burdened with student loans that impede them from embracing the grace of God's call. As co-workers in the Lord's vineyard, everyone must do their part to support priestly and religious vocations. The Fund is the key to unlocking the shackles of debt so that young men and women can be free to respond to serve Christ's Church.”
Michael D. Wick
Executive Director
Institute on Religious Life
“College debt has grown out of control, like a financial cancer, plaguing thousands of Catholic young people. It hinders both those preparing for their married vocation in the domestic church, as well as those seeking to serve the Church in religious or priestly vocations.
“There is no question about the need for religious vocations and thankfully there are zealous and committed young people ready to meet that need except for one obstacle: college debt. A religious vocation affords no opportunity to pay off college debt. The Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations is meeting a vital need by removing the college debt obstacle for those seeking to enter religious life. It is always amazing to see how God raises up fresh new efforts to meet important contemporary needs. May God bless the Fund's efforts to promote vocations and thus build up the Church in our generation.”
Stephen Wood
President
Family Life Center International
“As the President of a small Catholic college in New Hampshire that has realized nearly 40 vocations to the priesthood and religious life from among the alumni over a 30 year history, I am pleased that the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations is providing awareness and assistance to college students with debts so that they may not be prevented from pursuing God's call. I pledge whatever assistance I or Magdalen College can provide for success in their efforts. May God bless the Mater Ecclesiae Fund abundantly.”
Jeffrey J. Karls
President
Magdalen College
“The Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations is truly a gift of far-reaching proportion. So many young people in our time discover in their college years the riches of the faith and a desire to serve God. Many do not have parental support and face large debts as they consider a life of total poverty. The high cost of tuition can delay entrance beyond what is a healthy wait. Indeed, living in the world can be a challenge to those who find they are being called to live single-heartedly. The Fund is a reasonable way to take the burden of college debt out of the picture so that God's will can be followed. While so many people in the Church talk about the tremendous need for priestly and religious vocations, the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations is doing something constructive to support, in a most practical way, those who feel sincerely called.”
Sr. Catherine Marie, O.P.
Former Vocation Directress
Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia (Nashville Dominicans)
“The Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations may well be the answer to the prayers of so many in our country for an increase in vocations. The Lord often asks for our cooperation in manifesting His grace; the more we do, the more He seems to pour out His blessings. A generous response of the faithful to the very real problem of debt among those called to the priesthood and religious life will allow men and women to respond to God in a way otherwise impossible, enable their benefactors to share in the graces those vocations so abundantly produce, and will no doubt facilitate the generous response of future vocations. The Holy Spirit is not wanting – many are being called to give Jesus their all. May the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations open the floodgates for the vocational fruits of the ‘new evangelization’!”
Sr. Mary Gabriel, SV
Vocation Directress
Sisters of Life
“It is a tragic irony that when the heavens are being stormed for vocations and God generously answers, that the response can be hindered by something as minor in comparison as a student loan. Yet, sadly more and more vocations are being put on hold for this very reason. That's why vocation directors exclaim: ‘ Thank God for the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations! ’ The Fund has taken the lead in spotlighting this problem nationally and in engaging the search for creative solutions.”
Rev. Andrew-Carl Wisdom, O.P.
Promoter of Vocations
Director of the Society for Vocational Support
Dominican Province of St. Albert the Great
“The need for vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life is well known. There is a deep sadness when God is calling young men and women but they are not responding. As there is a sadness when those who do want to respond are hindered by debt or the lack of financial support. This is a sadness that the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations aims to remedy, and I urge Catholics to support that goal as their means permit.”
Rev. Richard John Neuhaus (RIP)
Founding Editor in Chief
First Things
“I am deeply grateful to the Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations for their support and encouragement of vocations. I am aware of many students who, upon graduation, wish to enter religious communities or seminaries but are not eligible because of college loan debt. In some cases, these students never pursue their vocations. The Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations will greatly aid these students and strengthen our Church.”
Rev. Michael Scanlan, T.O.R.
Chancellor
Franciscan University of Steubenville