“Pray, hope, and don’t worry!”
Monsignor Ken Leone quoted Saint Padre Pio’s famous words to more than 100 people in Littleton on Saturday, Sept. 23, the feast of Saint Padre Pio, at a blessing and groundbreaking event for the site of a new Padre Pio Center of the New Evangelization.
The new center is a project of the Intercessors of the Trinity (IOTT), a local healing and deliverance ministry founded by Deacon Brian Kerby and his wife, Dee, who were inspired to start the project after Pope John Paul II’s 1993 trip to Denver for World Youth Day.
According to their mission statement, the ministry “helps people pursue the heart of God, who promises that ‘when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, and I will change your lot.'” They offer a wide range of ministries, from prayer nights, to live-streamed talks, parish services, retreats, and other healing and evangelization events.
“Prayer is the best weapon we have,” Leone, who serves as the spiritual director of IOTT, said at Saturday’s event. “Worry is useless. God is merciful and He will always hear our prayer. Speak to Him not only with your lips, but with your heart.”
The IOTT had been based in Evergreen for years, but recently relocated to the Denver metro area. According to the ministry’s building campaign, the new center will allow the IOTT to “add new programs, reaching even more of those in need spiritual teachings, evangelizing youth, retreats and conferences, home school programs, family nights, support for health issues, and spiritual training for health professionals.” It will include a chapel, a coffee shop, and places to meet and host live-streamed events.
Joining Leone at the groundbreaking event were Deacon Brian Kerby and his wife Dee, founders of IOTT, Father Matthew Book, pastor of Light of the World parish in Littleton, Father John Paul Leyba, pastor of Saint Frances Cabrini Church in Littleton, and several other members of the clergy.
Deacon Kerby reminded those at the event how Padre Pio was known for his great suffering, constant prayer, and miraculous healings of the mind, body and spirit. Padre Pio’s own vision for a healing center came to fruition in the 1950s with one of the largest and most renowned medical centers of its kind in central Italy, Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (“Home for the Relief of Suffering”).
“Padre Pio’s vision for a hospital took time, but was birthed with tremendous hope and brought many healings, just like in the times of the early Church,” Deacon Kerby said. “Today, the Church’s sheep are scattered and we have to shepherd them back in. All of you here today are the stones. We are called to our Lord’s Sacred Heart. This center will be a portal for people to experience God and be brought back to the sacraments.”
Placing the shovel in the ground, Monsignor Leone blessed the area for the new center and said: “The work we begin today will enliven our hearts.” He then invoked Psalm 127: “If the Lord does not build the house, in vain will its builders labor…”
“We are God’s coworkers,” he added. “Let us pray today that God will help each one coming here to experience His healing. He will be here to guard us from all evil.”
The IOTT ministry and its $2 million building campaign do not receive any direct financial support from the Archdiocese of Denver; it is a completely volunteer, donor-funded non-profit ministry.
In a 2021 letter announcing the new center for evangelization, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver said that as the archbishop, he sees “many signs and hear(s) a variety of stories of how God is working in and through his disciples to build up his kingdom here on earth. One ministry that continually produces these fruits is the Intercessors of the Trinity.”
“I am supportive of its wonderful work and encourage you to consider participating through your prayer and potential assistance for its financial needs,” he added.
Once built, the Padre Pio Center will be located at the base of the foothills on DeFrame Street, just north of Bowles Avenue and west of Highway C-470 in Jefferson County. For information about its current schedule of weekly prayer and occasional retreat events, to learn more about the project, or ways to donate, visit its website at www.IntercessorsOfTheTrinity.org