Becoming a priest or a man or woman religious is not primarily our own decision.... Rather it is the response to a call and to a call of love.

- Pope Francis
Address to Seminarians and Novices 
July 6, 2013

Are you trying to discern whether or not you're called to the priesthood, religious life or the diaconate? Talk to Fr. Mark or contact Diocesan Vocations Director Fr. Bryan Stitt on Facebook, at www.myvocation.net or at (315)393-2920 ext. 1450.  

  

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

- John 20: 21-23

The Sacrament of Holy Orders is the continuation of the priesthood bestowed by Christ upon His Apostles. The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the Sacrament of Holy Orders as "the sacrament of apostolic ministry."
 

"Ordination" comes from the Latin word ordinatio, which means to incorporate someone into an order. In the Sacrament of Holy Orders, a man is incorporated into the priesthood of Christ, at one of three levels: the episcopate, the priesthood, or the diaconate.