Bishop Chris ordained Br. John Alexander Avellaneda, CSV, to the diaconate in summer 2025.
Today, the Church observes World Day of Consecrated Life, a day of prayer and celebration for all the women and men who have made a distinct commitment to God, including our Viatorian religious brothers and priests.
To mark this day, we’ve published a new My Vocation Story video with Bishop Christopher Glancy, CSV. He opens his story with a memory from elementary school.
“At the end of second grade, they were giving out awards, and each class had different awards for best this or that. Classmates were like, ‘What about Chris?’ And they said, ‘Wait, wait,’ there were all-school awards still. There was a religion award. It was Sacred Heart School, so they gave us a Sacred Heart statue,” Bishop Chris said, displaying his all-school religion award. “They found in me someone who was into the sacrament and the faith, so I received that award.”
Bishop Chris certainly appreciated that affirmation. However, unlike others in religious life, he was not a kid who knew he wanted to be a priest quite that early – it was a gradual process that would unfold over many years.
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Here is our running “My Vocation Story” playlist.
In this video, he went on to reflect on a serious car accident from his teen years; getting to know Viatorians through Alleman High School and the Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) retreat in Rock Island, Illinois; and coming into religious life through the scholasticate community at Loyola University Chicago.
This video is the second entry on our My Vocation Story playlist, and we’ll be adding more in the months to come.
We ask your prayers today, and every day, for Viatorian religious brothers and priests and all the women and men in religious life.