CANCELED: An announcement April 25 said the Annual Seminary Dinner scheduled for May 3 has been canceled.
Days after John Paul II is canonized in Rome, seminarians and Denver faithful will gather for the annual seminary dinner to share how the saint influenced their lives.
This year’s May 3 seminary dinner to benefit St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary will become a chance to remember the late pope’s inspiration on the very campus named after him.
“We’re asking everyone to share, because it will be six days after the canonization of his holiness,” said Melissa Crowley, director for development at St. John Vianney.
The dinner will celebrate his inspiration and raise funds for the two seminaries on the John Paul II Center campus at 1300 S. Steele St. in Denver.
The night will begin with a cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. and continue with dinner, entertainment and a live auction. Archbishop Samuel Aquila will attend and give a “state of the seminary” address.
Crowley said this is the first year the dinner will be hosted on the campus in the quad of the seminaries. Ticket prices were reduced to half the amount to enable more faithful to attend and reflect on the soon-to-be saint.
“We’re trying to get the community a bit more involved,” Crowley said.
Tickets are $125 per person or $75 for a junior patron at 35 years and younger. Clergy pay $100 per ticket. There is no deadline to register at www.sjvdenver.edu/donate.
For more details, call 303-282-3441 or email lynda.fitzsimmons@archden.org.
John Paul II’s inspiration
Throughout the year, the seminaries invite faithful to share how Blessed John Paul II has influenced them. Use the hashtag #JPIIinspiration and share it on the St. John Vianney Theological Seminary Facebook page, on Twitter or Instagram.
Here are the stories of a local seminarian and priest.
“John Paul II’s holiness and his invitation for others to be holy will always be a source of inspiration for me. I will never forget attending World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002. … I knew John Paul II cared about me even though I never met him. The way he lived his life helped me discern my calling to enter the seminary and study to be a priest for the Archdiocese of Denver. – Josh Meier, seminarian at St. John Vianney
“One of the ways John Paul II has inspired me is through his perseverance. He came out of some of the most difficult areas on earth at the time, and one step at a time he followed the Lord faithfully. It was a journey that took years and through his faithfulness the face of the whole Church was changed.” -Father Robert Keller, O.P.
