Father Ben Cameron, CPM
St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Alice will present a parish mission entitled “Seven Capital Virtues: Overcoming the Seven Capital Sins” over five consecutive days from March 1–5, at 7 p.m., at the parish. The mission will be followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and confession.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary parish is located at 603 E. 5th St. in Alice.
A parish mission is a special event for Catholics in which all parishioners, as well as members of the neighboring communities, are invited to take part in several days of activity and prayer, all focusing on faith enrichment.
“Those who attend a parish mission often experience a new spiritual awakening, bringing about a deeper love for God, and a revitalization of their personal relationships,” pastor Msgr. Leonard Pivonka said.
St. Elizabeth invited Father Ben Cameron, CPM, of the Fathers of Mercy, headquartered in Auburn, Kentucky, to lead this Lenten mission. Father Cameron was born in Kokomo, Indiana, and grew up as a member of St. Patrick Church in that city.
During his junior high and high school years, he attended a small Christian school that was operated by a local Baptist church. It was in that non-Catholic environment, where his faith was often challenged, that he began to study the Catholic faith.
Father Cameron is a 1991 graduate of Christendom College, a small Catholic liberal arts college in Front Royal, Virginia, where he became involved in a lay apostolate known as the Legion of Mary, which awakened his desire to share his Catholic faith with others.
Upon receiving his degree in political science and history, Father Cameron planned a career in the political arena, but soon found that God had other plans.
He joined the Fathers of Mercy in 1992, studied theology at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut, and was ordained a priest on May 31, 1997. He has served as vocation director, treasurer, web master, and parish mission preacher during his priesthood. He currently serves as the assistant general of the Fathers of Mercy, and the director of its mission band.
The primary apostolate of the Fathers of Mercy is to conduct parish missions and retreats, which are now given throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. For more than 200 years, the Fathers of Mercy congregation of priests have evangelized and strengthened the faith of parish communities. They strive to enrich the faith-life of all who attend, including those who are already very devout, as well as those who may just be very doubtful.
For people who are not Catholic, the parish mission is an opportunity to hear clear presentations on exactly what Catholics actually believe, as opposed to what many may mistakenly think they believe.
The mission priests associate their work with a Scripture passage from the Gospel of St. John, in which Jesus spoke to those who desired to be His followers. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ And they said to Him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means “teacher”), ‘where are you going?’ He said to them, ‘Come and you will see’ (Jn 1: 38-39).”
During the mission, Father Cameron will encourage and challenge the parish community to make a stronger, deeper personal commitment to Jesus Christ and his Church. He will speak on “Seven Capital Virtues: Overcoming the Seven Capital Sins,” and how they apply to the lives of Catholics today.
Msgr. Pivonka and the Fathers of Mercy, invite everyone interested to attend the parish mission, so that they may come and know Jesus better through living the “Seven Capital Virtues.”