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National
Vocations Awareness Week
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
The
feast of the Baptism of the Lord celebrated this weekend not only brings
the Christmas Season to a close, it also inaugurates National Vocations
Awareness Week.
Holiness is our
primary vocation. The holiness to which we are called is to be
worked out in one of four lifestyles: married life; single celibate
life; consecrated religious life; or ordained ministry. With that as a
given, Vocations Awareness Week is directed to the entire Catholic faith
family because each one of us has been “called,” through baptism, to
become a holy person.
However, the word “vocation” most commonly is understood to refer to
ordained ministry and consecrated religious life. This should not
minimize the importance of marriage or the single celibate life as true
vocations. They are that. Yet, most often when the word vocation is
used, people think of the priesthood, perhaps the permanent diaconate,
and/or religious life.
Calling men to the permanent diaconate is relatively recent in our Local
Church. I ordained five men permanent deacons in 2005. The second class
is scheduled for ordination in September of this year. Meanwhile, a
major thrust is being made to gather a third class of candidates for the
permanent diaconate. There will be a special information session for men
who feel God may be calling them to the permanent diaconate at St. Joan
of Arc Parish in Kokomo on Saturday, Feb. 23.
Currently, 12 men minister as permanent deacons in our Local Church. All
but four were ordained elsewhere and have relocated to Northcentral
Indiana. There are now more than 15,000 permanent deacons in the United
States.
The number of men and women (brothers and sisters) who have embraced
consecrated religious life, on the other hand, has plummeted over the
past 40 years or so. In 1965, there were 12,271 brothers. That number is
now down to 5,015. Religious sisters numbered 63,699 in 2007. Back in
1965, the number was 179,954.
The number of diocesan priests, too, has decreased from 35,925 in 1965
to 27,971 (more or less) today. This during a period when the number of
Catholics has increased from 44.8 million to 67.5 million.
Yet, God continues to call people to seek holiness as religious, deacons
and priests. I do not doubt it.
Just last year, Pope Benedict XVI reminded the Catholic world that God
has always chosen some individuals to work with him in a more direct
way, in order to accomplish his plan of salvation.
In the Old Testament, in the beginning, he called Abraham to form a
“great nation” (Gen. 12:2). Afterwards, he called Moses to free Israel
from the slavery of Egypt (Ex. 3:10). Subsequently, he designated other
persons, especially the prophets, to defend and keep alive the covenant
with his people Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus invited each of the
apostles to follow him. At the Last Supper, while entrusting them with
the duty of perpetuating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, he offered for
them to his Father his prayer: “I have made known to them your name and
I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be
in them, and I in them” (John 17:26).
If God is calling people to embrace religious life and ordained
ministry, why aren’t there more religious and priests? No doubt it has
something to do with a culture that does not promote the fulfillment
that is part of serving others and that scoffs at entering into lifelong
commitments. The lack of commitment to service, of course, is not unique
to the Catholic Church.
Some time ago there was an article in the Washington Post which
discussed the dwindling number of Protestant ministers in the United
States. For example, in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the
number of pastors in active ministry has fallen from 13,841 in 1990 to
about 11,100 today. In the 2.4-million-member Presbyterian Church (USA),
about 4,000 of the 11,100 congregations are without pastors. In 1990,
the United Methodist Church ordained 820 seminary-trained clergy. Ten
years later, that figure had dropped to 200.
It could be that our country is facing a “commitment crisis.” A recent
report by the Federal Bureau of Health Professions details a projected
shortage of nurses over the next two decades, a shortage of
approximately 800,000 nurses by the year 2020. The National Education
Association warns that some two million new teachers will be needed in
the next decade and that the teacher recruitment process has been termed
a “crisis,” especially for urban and rural schools. More than 80 percent
of the nation’s 17,000 law enforcement agencies, big and small, have
vacancies that many cannot fill, according to the Washington Post. The
National Fire Protection Association reports that at least two-thirds of
the nation’s fire departments are understaffed.
So, the problem could very well be one of service, rooted in the
traditional culprits of materialism and individualism. Yet, the biggest
reason, in my judgment, is our failure to build a climate more conducive
to ordained and vowed religious service to our faith family.
The Catholics of Northcentral Indiana (as well as elsewhere) need to
take the vocation challenge seriously, both parishes and we as
individuals. Excellent catechesis, as well as highlighting the
importance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, clearly are part of the
picture. Great graces are bestowed upon the young who know and
participate actively in the Mass, whether as altar servers,
extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, or lectors. Most importantly
is the need to pray that those whom God is calling to religious life,
the diaconate and priesthood will recognize the call in spite of the
many cultural currents that make that difficult. Offering the young
opportunities for discussion and prayer, particularly Eucharistic
adoration and the rosary, go a long way toward promoting a climate
conducive to a recognition of God’s invitation to serve his people as
religious, deacon or priest.
Last year, my column for Vocations Awareness Week carried the headline:
“Pray and recruit — recruit and pray.” The many professions of service
are a worthy and noble vehicle for growth in holiness. Our young people
need to hear that message. Ordained ministry especially needs to be
celebrated. The same is true of religious life.
Again, this year, as the Church observes National Vocations Awareness
Week, I urge you to commit yourself to daily prayer that God will choose
someone from your family, immediate or extended, for consecrated
religious life, the diaconate, or for the priesthood of our Local
Church. Pray and recruit. Recruit and pray.
I urge that the General Intercessions during Mass include not just a
general petition for “vocations,” but a petition that those whom God is
calling from this parish will hear that call and respond affirmatively
to it. I also urge parish leadership to invite young people to adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament and other communal prayer opportunities to
discern God’s will for them.
God has always chosen some individuals to work with him in a more direct
way to accomplish his plan of salvation. Our task as Catholics is to do
what we can to help those individuals hear the call of the Lord and,
once heard, to respond with courage and trust: “Here I am Lord, I am
anxious to do your will.” |
