Bishop John Ricard | Source: Divine Word Radio

On February 15, 2011, the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee reported that Bishop John Ricard had submitted his resignation to the Holy Father for medical reasons. You may recall, Bishop Ricard suffered a pretty serious stroke on December 22, 2009. According to diocesan officials, the bishop underwent multiple surgeries and intense physical rehabilitation in the weeks and months following his stroke.

Shortly after returning to a limited work schedule in January 2010, Ricard was rehospitalized after collapsing while celebrating a funeral Mass.

Truthfully, those of us throughout the state have been wondering when the bishop was going to submit his resignation to Pope Benedict XI. Despite our prayers and wishes for him to remain as the bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, we have been expecting this for some time.

With this announcement, there are two bishops within the state that have submitted resignations to the Holy Father. Bishop Victor Galeone of the Diocese of Saint Augustine submitted his resignation upon turning 75 last September.

Along with the appointment of Archbishop Thomas Wenski as Metropolitan Archbishop of Miami and Bishop John Noonan as Bishop of Orlando, four out of the seven dioceses in the state have experienced leadership transitions in the last year. However, it doesn’t end there.

This morning, on the Feast of St. Joseph, the seminary community welcomed the fifth rector of St. John Vianney College Seminary, Bishop Robert N. Lynch, Bishop of St. Petersburg. It has been a very difficult past eight months for Bishop Lynch who has undergone numerous surgeries and experienced many complications with his recovery. While the bishop has lost quite a bit of weight, he is finally beginning to return to full ministry. I might add that he really does look great!!!

During this morning’s Mass, Bishop Lynch spoke to the seminarians, reminding us to follow the example of St. Joseph. On this, the feast of the foster father of Jesus, Bishop Lynch told us to live by Joseph’s example, giving us three points to focus on. The first point was to have a fidelity to faith, to be willing to listen to the voice of the Lord and have faith that he will protect, guide, and strengthen us. Secondly, we should all have the courage to take risks–the bishop reminded us that Joseph had to take the risk to take Mary and Jesus into Egypt to protect them from Herod. Finally, we should all have humility to put others before ourselves, not simply seeking what is best for ourselves but, rather, for the good of all.

Please continue to pray for Bishop Lynch as he continues his recovery. Please also remember to pray for Bishop John Ricard (Pensacola-Tallahassee) who is recovering from a December stroke.

Happy Feast of St. Joseph to all of you!! May the words of Pius IX be a reminder to all of us of Joseph’s mission: “All for Jesus, all for Mary, all to imitate thee, O patriarch St. Joseph!”

PHOTO SOURCE: For His Friends: Thoughts and Reflections by Bishop Robert Lynch

A very good morning to all of you!! As I write this, the seminary community of St. John Vianney College Seminary is hosting about 70 young men who are seeking to know God’s will for their lives during our Spring Vocations Awareness Weekend.

This morning, I would like to begin by thanking all of you who are loyal readers of this small effort on my part to promote vocations in the Catholic Church by sharing my own journey of discernment. I would also like to welcome those who may be visiting for the first time.

As many of you read on the Whispers of the Spirit blog on Thursday, over the last several months it has become increasingly difficult to keep up two blogs when you are pretty much working on them yourself. The only reasonable thing to do would be to stop posting blogs on one site and focus on the site where I post more articles. Therefore, Whispers of the Spirit will no longer be updated with new information, effective immediately. The work of promoting vocations will continue on this site.

It’s almost that time of year when the seminary community welcomes another group visitors for our Spring Vocations Awareness Weekend. For all those in the State of Florida who are interested in attending the weekend, please contact the Office of Vocations in your Diocese. The numbers are located below.

Diocese of Orlando:

Archdiocese of Miami: 305-762-1137

Diocese of St. Petersburg: 727-345-3452

Diocese of Palm Beach: 561-775-9552

Diocese of Venice: 941-484-9543

Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee: 850-435-3552

Diocese of St. Augustine: 904-262-3200, ext. 101

***Note: If you are the bulletin editor at a parish in the Diocese of Orlando, please email me ([email protected]) for additional bulletin inserts promoting Vocations Awareness Weekend.***