The Bishop’s Dinner turns 25 this year and the joyful fundraising event will place particular emphasis on the local Church’s commitment to young people as future leaders in faith.
The 25th Annual Bishop’s Dinner will take place on Saturday, May 23 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert. For a quarter century, this signature diocesan gathering has brought together clergy, parish leaders, faithful supporters, and community partners in a spirit of communion, gratitude, and shared mission.
In keeping with tradition, the Bishop’s Dinner also serves as a moment to honor faithful individuals and entities with the Amar Es Entregarse Award, named after Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barnes’ Episcopal Motto, which means “love is the total giving of oneself.” This year’s honorees are Edgardo Juarez and St. Junipero Serra House of Formation.
Juarez currently serves as Associate Director of Mission and Catholic Identity in the diocesan Office of Catholic Schools. He served many years in diocesan youth ministry, holding the post of Director of the Office of Ministry With Young Catholics. Juarez has held a wide range of parochial, diocesan, regional, and national leadership roles, creating transformative processes that support and accompany young people and lay ecclesial ministers. His work has focused on ministries with youth and young adults, pastoral juvenil Hispana, and catechetical ministries. Juarez earned a master’s degree in pastoral ministries from Santa Clara University, a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Fullerton, as well as a certification in Hispanic theological and pastoral studies.
St. Junipero Serra House of Formation is a Catholic seminary community in the Diocese of San Bernardino for young men discerning a vocation to the priesthood. The Diocesan Seminarian Program structures its formation of future priests into five dimensions: spiritual, human, community, intellectual and pastoral. After years of existence in small and aged facilities in Riverside, the seminary community moved to a new 1.5-acre campus in the foothills of Grand Terrace in 2005. Serra House is currently led by Rector, Very Rev. Dr. Javier Gonzalez Cabrera, Director of Community Life & Coordinator of Pastoral Formation, Rev. Michael Arinze Ezeok, Director of Academics, Rev. Benedict C. Nwachukwu-Udaku, and Spiritual Director Msgr. Anthony Eze. There are now more than 15 seminarians at Serra House.
The Bishop’s Dinner plays a vital role in supporting the Seminarian Education Endowment Fund, helping ensure that the young men called to serve as priests in our diocese receive the spiritual, pastoral, and academic formation necessary to minister with faith, integrity, and compassion. The generosity of benefactors and community partners present at the dinner helps strengthen the future leadership of our Church.
This year, the diocese is inviting benefactors to participate in a special initiative by sponsoring young adults to attend the Bishop’s Dinner. The hope is to intentionally bring younger generations into this important diocesan tradition, helping them see the beauty of active participation in the life of the Church. At the same time, this initiative invites longtime supporters to invest in the formation and leadership of young adults who will help guide the Church in the years to come.