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July 2021 www.thefloridacatholic.org
YOUR MIAMI COMMUNITY
TERESA MARTINEZ
Florida Catholic correspondent
DORAL Three decades have passed since Mother Adela Galindo founded the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the first and only religious community be- gun in the Archdiocese of Miami. Since its humble beginning with a handful of sisters, the congregation has grown to encompass 13 con- vents, 12 of them in different parts of the U.S. and one in Rome, serv- ing the Archdiocese of the Italian Military. On June 29, 2021, the Pierced Hearts began a new chapter in their story with the profession of vows of Father Joseph Rogers as the first member of the male branch of the community. Friends, family, lay members of the Family of the Pierced Hearts and priests and faithful from around the archdiocese gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul for the special Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Thomas Wenski. Today is a very special day in the life of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary - and it is a special day in the life of Father Joseph Rogers," said Archbishop Wenski during his homily. "Mother Adela's dream of this community of consecrated religious growing to include a male branch - to be made up of priests and brothers - is com- ing to fruition today." Father Rogers, ordained for the Archdiocese of Washington on May 26, 2007, took on a new name after making his vows: Father Joseph Mary of the Priestly, Pierced, and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. He first met Mother Adela as a seminarian in Rome in 2006, seeing firsthand how her charism influenced others, including fellow seminarians. I understood that she would Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, to live a total eucharistic life, a totally Marian life," said Father Joseph Mary. He called his profession "a gift for the Church so that men re- ligious, brothers and priests can be formed in the immaculate maternal school of Our Lady's heart." He is going to help more people in a way that he couldn't do before and that's what he loves to do. He's so passionate about it. He's done it for many years," said Nikhil Shah, Father Joseph Mary's nephew. "I am really proud of him." During the rite of first profession, an emotional Mother Adela called Father Joseph by name. He then asked her to allow him to make re- ligious vows in the Institute of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary Religious Broth- ers and Priests. Mother Adela ac- cepted his profession and prayed that he would live a religious life in total identification with the heart, person, and mission of Christ, with oblative love, life-giving purity, generous and joyful availability." The Servants of the Pierced Hearts take four vows: poverty, chastity, obedience, and "total Mar- ian availability" - meaning they serve wherever they are needed, doing whatever is needed. That un- conditional "fiat" or "yes" to doing the will of God in today's world re- calls the "fiat" of Mary, whose "yes" to God made possible the Incarna- tion. After the archbishop signed the formula of profession, Father Joseph Mary received his religious habit and the cross of the Pierced Hearts. I feel a profound gratitude, grati- tude towards our Lord and towards our mother (Mary), because some- thing that they desired for so long has become a reality today, in God's time, with the people he chooses and through the blessing and eccle- siastical support of our priests," said Mother Adela, who began the pro- cess of being able to accept priests in 2000. A new glorious chapter has opened up in the life of our insti- tute and I really don't have enough words to thank the Lord and our Blessed Virgin Mary for all that they have realized and done through us," said Sister Ana Margarita Lan- zas, a member of the Pierced Hearts and archdiocesan director for Reli- gious. "We hope that other men feel the calling to live our charism and they will be uniting, discerning if this is the path that God wants for them in their religious life." Joseph, your life's journey has brought you here to begin another journey as a vowed religious - or rather, another phase in the journey which began in baptism," said the archbishop. "Like the Virgin Mary's own journey, your journey is a pil- grimage of faith and consecration. A pilgrim - of necessity - cannot be weighed down by extra baggage. And for this reason, the evangelical counsels help you mirror in your own life Mary's free response to the Lord's invitation. Poverty, chastity, and obedience lived according to the spirit of your congregation's rule of life are not simply renuncia- tions; rather the vows free you for the journey. May her prayers - and her example - continue to encour- age you on your journey."
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A NEW GLORIOUS CHAPTER' FOR PIERCED HEARTS
First priest joins new male branch of religious community
be someone very important in my life that would mark my path as a priest, and then in time I came to discover that she would be my spir- itual mother," Father Joseph Mary recalled. "And from that day I have really continued to walk the path that God revealed to me as a priest, as a pastor and now as a religious of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary." Before becoming a postulant and then a novice with the com- munity, he served for five years as pastor of St. John Neumann Par- ish in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He most recently served as theol- ogy professor at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he earned a master's degree in theological studies from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute at The Catholic University of America and a licentiate in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian Uni- versity in Rome. It's the greatest, most humbling privilege of my life that the Lord has called me to be a Servant of the
Father Joseph Mary of the Priestly, Pierced and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, clad in his new religious habit, walks towards the sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral. Having taken on a new name, Father Joseph Mary of the Priestly, Pierced and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus signs the Formula of Profession as Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Mother Adela Galindo, foundress of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, look on. At left, Father Joseph Mary, newly professed Servant of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, embraces an emotional Mother Adela Galindo, foundress of the institute, during the Mass where he made his first vows as a religious. The Mass took place on June 29, 2021 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral. At center, Father Joseph Mary hugs his mother Judy Rogers. At right, Sister Delia Morales, center, of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, cheers for Father Joseph Mary during the Mass. (PHOTOS BY JONATHAN MARTINEZ FC)
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