News & Events
News & Events
Discernment and Local Church History
Over the past two House Nights, the seminarians at Bishop White received a fair dose of vocational and historical orientation. On November 4th, Fr. Kenny St. Hilaire presented on the process of discernment. Msgr. Kevin Coddprovided a brief history of the Church in the Pacific Northwest the following week on the 11th.
Fr. St. Hilaire is currently the house spiritual director and pastor of St. Patrick in Hillyard. During his talk, he presented several useful guidelines in the process of discernment, the determination of the will of God for one’s own life. He drew from material present in the book Discerning the Will of God by Fr. Timothy M. Gallagher, OMV.
Msgr. Codd wrote his doctoral dissertation about the first Catholic missionaries in the Pacific Northwest region. Much of his research included primary sources such as archived correspondences of the missionaries. Perhaps contrary to popular belief, the first Catholic priests in the area were diocesan and not part of a religious order such as the Jesuits. These pioneering and courageous priests were sent from Quebec in response to requests for Catholic clergy by the French Canadian trappers of the Northwest. The heroism and faith expressed in the ministry of these priests certainly provides a
greater appreciation for the local church and the priestly vocation.
Photos: Fr. Kenny St. Hilaire (Above), Msgr. Kevin Codd (Below)