The history of our Vocation Crucifix goes back to 1989. The crucifix was a gift to the church from Father Jerry Connealy, former associate pastor of St. Mary’s. Father Jerry purchased the crucifix while he was in Medjugorje on a pilgrimage. Dan Riley, a parishioner at the time, made the base for it.
The Vocations Committee, at that time, initiated the “Vocation Crucifix” and encouraged parishioners to take it home to pray for vocations just as we do today. The very first time the crucifix was taken home was on September 30, 1989 by Susan Gold and her 2nd grade class.
The current Vocations Team is dedicated to encouraging individuals and families to take the crucifix home for daily prayers. Our goal is that the Vocation Crucifix becomes a habitual practice for single parishioners, families, school classes, and senior living residences. The Vocations Team developed a process to schedule the crucifix every two weeks. The first scheduled recipients were Carla and Joe Connealy’s family on November 6, 2022. Another goal of ours is that the Vocation Crucifix never sits on a shelf at St. Mary’s.
We encourage you to ask yourself: What can I do to promote vocations to minister to me and my family today and in the future? We can let our priests know that we value them and support them in any way we can, whether it be with specific tasks, donating to help with the church budget, or even attending events. We can pray for their health, personal peace, and happiness. What else can we do? Schedule a date to take the Vocation Crucifix home with you for a couple weeks and use it to prayerfully reflect on this question.
Parishioners can sign-out the Vocation Crucifix and receive it at any of the four weekend Masses. (Saturday 5:00pm, Sunday 8:00am, 10:00am, & Noon). You can use the link below to sign-up, or you may contact Mary Jo Hopfensperger at 402-980-5652 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
