Mother Maria Elva Reyes, a sister with the congregation of the Pax Christi Institute, has felt “very blessed” for as long as she can remember. She will celebrate her golden jubilee with a host of friends and family on July 16 at the Pax Christi Liturgical Chapel and will continue her faith-filled journey, daily, by reciting the prayer of a Pax Christi sister, “Jesus lives in me, I live in Jesus, Jesus and I are one.”

St. John Bosco is well known for his work in forming youth to be excellent disciples of Jesus Christ. His exemplary apostolate led many young men and women to excel in their vocations to religious life, the priesthood and marriage.

This year, Sister Maria Helen DelaPeña, SOLT celebrates her 25th anniversary of consecrated life with the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Her journey to a life devoted to Jesus through Mary began in the Philippines, where she grew up. From a very early age, her parents instilled in her and her three sisters and brother a foundation of faith and devotion.

Maybe you are considering the priesthood and you feel peaceful about following God’s call and applying for seminary. But what about your family and friends? What if they do not understand? What if they reject your choice, or—even worse—reject you?

"The men and women in consecrated life have generously answered his call to ministry. They were not called to serve themselves, but to serve the Body of Christ,” Bishop Michael Mulvey said as he closed out the Year of Consecrated Life at a Mass on Sunday, Jan. 31, at Corpus Christi Cathedral.

The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious is hosting its second annual Esposas de Cristo, Hijas de la Iglesia course this summer, June 27-July 8, at the Pax Christi Liturgical Retreat Center in Corpus Christi. The course is open to all Hispanic religious sisters in the Unite States.

Sister Annette Wagner was elected superior general of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament in Corpus Christi and will begin her four-year term after installation on Friday, June 10. Also elected to the congregation’s leadership team for the term 2016-20 are Sister Maria Irma Gonzalez, councilor and assistant general, and councilors Sister Colette Brehony, Sister Barbara Netek and Sister Marilyn Grace Springs.

God is calling you to be a missionary. He is calling you to leave behind what may be familiar to you and boldly proclaim the Gospel to everyone you meet.

How often we pray these beautiful words: “Oh Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine!” As God’s people, that is what we most want—that our hearts will be more like the Sacred Heart of Jesus, filled with his love, his mercy, his joy, his peace and his goodness. It was to this end that the “Lay Formation Program” was initiated at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Saint Helena of the True Cross of Jesus parishes in 2003.

Sometimes God speaks to us most clearly when we do the wrong thing. This is especially true in vocation discernment.

In the eyes of many, Sister Joni Luna had it all. She had taught physical education for more than 20 years. She was an athletic director. She had material possessions and was just about to purchase that recreational vehicle she had always wanted.

"Without question, I have spent more time helping Carla than any other person during my priesthood,” says Father Joe Hirsch, a priest from Wisconsin.

The Commandments of God melt down to “loving God and loving neighbor.” That basic concept was well put into practice by the early Church in a very tangible way. The Acts of the Apostles tell us “All who believed were together and had all things in common (Acts 2:44).” They sold their property and possessions and shared them with all. “There was no needy person among them” because those who had plenty shared it with them (Acts 4:34).

On Oct. 8, 1925, the first sisters of the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus arrived at their new home on Alameda St. in Corpus Christi. They had been invited to come to the Diocese of Corpus Christi by Bishop Emmanuel Ledvina. The sisters set up a day nursery and by 1945 began to consider the possibility of establishing an additional foundation in the area to serve the aging.

A healthy reverence for the priesthood in the parish goes a long way in encouraging priestly vocations, for obvious reasons. When the priesthood is revered and admired, young men notice. “That could be me,” becomes a welcomed thought.

On Sept. 25, at a special noon Mass celebrated at the Newman Center located on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi campus, members of Serra International met with university students and others to celebrate the canonization of Father Junipero Serra, the Spanish Franciscan missionary who established the string of Catholic missions along the coastline of California.

For 50 years Sister Avelina Sosa, a sister with the Missionary Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph has been dedicated to spreading the word of God in parishes throughout Mexico and Texas.

In his Regina Caeli Message on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 21, 2013, Pope Francis said “Behind and before every vocation to the priesthood or to the consecrated life there is always the strong and intense prayer of someone: a grandmother, a grandfather, a mother, a father, a community…This is why Jesus said: ‘Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest,’ that is, God the Father, ‘to send out laborers into his harvest (Mt 9:38)’. Vocations are born in prayer and from prayer; and only through prayer can they persevere and bear fruit…

The Offices of Vocations and Youth Ministry in the Diocese of Corpus Christi are sponsoring an essay contest open to all Catholic students in the diocese. There are categories for elementary, middle school and high school students.

Bishop Michael Mulvey celebrated Mass for the Burse Club on Sunday, Aug. 9, at the Corpus Christi Cathedral. The Burse Club is run by the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women to assist to off set expenses of seminarians. Burse is a Medieval Latin word meaning "purse." It is also a term for a fund providing allowance for students, which the Church uses as a assist seminarians.