Knights have donated $100 million to seminarians and religious postulants through RSVP, but their support is more than monetary

By Elisha Valladares-Cormier

The mailroom at St. Meinrad Seminary  in St. Meinrad, Indiana, is similar to that of many other colleges, filled with textbooks, Amazon Prime mailers and, best of all, care packages. Those hand-labeled boxes containing letters, snacks and other treats are a welcome sight for any student away from home.

For at least a couple of seminarians at St. Meinrad, the care packages come not only from loved ones, but also from the communities the men are preparing to spend their lives serving. Every month, Knights from Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Council 11582 in Mount Zion, Illinois, diligently send care packages to two seminarians for the Diocese of Springfield as part their participation in the Order’s Refund Support for Vocations Program, or RSVP.

RSVP launched in 1981 to encourage councils to support vocations; it offers them a $100 refund for every $500 they donate to a seminarian or religious postulant, who can use the grants for books, transportation or personal needs. Over the years, those donations have added up: As of October, Knights have contributed more than $100 million to men and women discerning vocations to the priesthood or religious life through RSVP.

But RSVP involves more than financial support. Spiritual and moral support in different forms — from praying for beneficiaries before council meetings to hosting them for Mass — is an essential part of the program. The Knights in Mount Zion have always approached RSVP sponsorship as a way to pray for and develop relationships with seminarians.

Council 11582 adopts at least two seminarians at a time through the program, maintaining that relationship throughout their time in formation. In addition to annual monetary gifts totaling $750, the Knights invite the men to visit and take turns sending them monthly care packages. The contents range from the practical — black socks, stamps and stationery — to the edible — home-baked goods, snacks, candy. But there’s always at least one personal note from the Knight and his family, encouraging the seminarian and reminding him of their prayers.

“It’s one thing to financially support somebody, it’s another to support them emotionally,” said Financial Secretary Steve Bowman, who has organized the council’s RSVP participation since it began in 2012. “It’s important for seminarians and priests to know they’ve got an extended family, and that they’re not alone.”

NEVER ALONE

As a student at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Zachary Samples was heavily involved with the campus Newman Center, including serving as vocations chairman and grand knight for Eastern Illinois University Council 8713. He helped organize the council’s annual vocation awareness night and coordinate some financial support — as much as a group of college students could manage — and a letter-writing campaign for classmates who entered seminary after college.

Soon enough, Samples, who grew up in Mount Zion, became a recipient of such support when he entered St. Meinrad Seminary for the Diocese of Springfield in 2016. He was immediately struck by the faith of Council 11582’s members when they began sponsoring him through RSVP. 

“These are men of prayer and men of the Church,” said Father Samples, ordained in 2022 and now parochial vicar at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Springfield and a member of Quincy (Ill.) Council 583. “They love Jesus and their priests, and the most important way that I felt their support was through their prayers for me and the other men in formation.”
 
The Knights have heard from several seminarians who said the monthly care packages — and the prayers they represent — raised their spirits and helped them persevere during difficult times academically or spiritually. That includes Father Samples. In 2019, during his third year in seminary, his mother died suddenly in a traffic collision. In that time of intense grief, the Knights really stepped up, he said. 

“The care packages were always appreciated, but to feel the love of my brother Knights during that season of my life was especially important,” said Father Samples. “I would get those packages and smile during a time period it was pretty difficult to smile.”

ONGOING RELATIONSHIP

When one of its RSVP seminarians is ordained, Council 11582 hosts a dinner to celebrate and presents the new priest with a gift that can be used during Mass, such as vestments or sacred vessels. 

But the benefits of RSVP, for both Knights and priests, don’t end at ordination. Grand Knight Stuart Leo said the Knights have grown in appreciation for all seminarians and priests, even those the council hasn’t sponsored, through participation in the program. 

“The personal approach helps us get to know the seminarians and them to know us,” Leo said. “We’re able to accompany them through the formation process, which helps us understand how our Church works and what the priests are sacrificing for our faith.”

Naturally, this leads to a desire to assist them however possible. 

“A lot of younger priests get assigned to our parish, and we take them under our wing as a council,” Bowman said. “Like with our seminarians, these relationships build very quickly, and the priests can lean on the council to ask, ‘I need some help here,’ or ‘What do you think of this?’ It’s one of the ways we put our faith into action.”

Building connections with a Knights of Columbus council also gives seminarians a peek into parish and family life. Father Samples recalls hearing from one K of C family who’d had a particularly busy month and couldn’t make a full care package but sent a nice note and check instead. “It gives you a way to interact with a normal family from in the pews,” he said. “You’re reaching out to each other forming that relationship, which is ultimately what pastoral ministry is all about.”

Bowman recently asked a retired priest why he so frequently filled in to celebrate Mass for priests who are unavailable for whatever reason. “He told me, ‘Steve, these young priests are under so much pressure nowadays with everything going on in our society. They need all the support they can get from everywhere.’ That’s why RSVP — and establishing relationships with priests while they’re still in seminary — is important.”