Praying for Vocations

As of today, our church is becoming a one-priest parish. This would be unremarkable, except that St. John Vianney Catholic Church has upwards of 6,500 families, which means more like 14,000 parishioners! Our pastor is clearly concerned about this transition, and spent the entire Sunday Mass homily giving us the facts and figures both in our archdiocese and nationally, as well as pleading with us to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. In an archdiocese of 1.5 million Catholics, we have only 136 diocesan priests, and many are over retirement age! I imagine that the situation is much the same all over the United States, although it may be more acutely felt in certain areas of the country than in others. Many parishes use the “Elijah Cup” as a way to encourage families to pray for vocations, which I think is wonderful. We have certainly talked to our eldest about the concept of vocations and reminded him that perhaps God will call him to the priesthood, and we will talk to our daughters about vocations to the religious life when they are old enough to understand!

How do you and your family pray for vocations? The rosary would probably be a great place for each of us to begin personally. Our pastor made the great point that all members of the laity are called to be the “recruiting officers” for the priesthood and religious life, meaning that we are all called to pray for an increase in vocations AND actively encourage our young men and women to consider that God may be calling them to be priests, nuns, or other religious. He quoted Pope John Paul II, saying “The entire People of God is responsible for promoting vocations, and does so chiefly by persistent and humble prayer for vocations” (Ecclesia in America, No. 40). Just as the widow of Zarapeth (1 Kings 17) gave faithfully to Elijah out of her meager provisions, so too must we offer up our prayers to Our Lord in a time of seeming drought. We can trust that, just as the widow had abundant bread to eat for a year following her generosity to Elijah, God will bless our humble efforts beyond our wildest dreams!

God bless you all on this Monday morning, and don’t forget to pray for vocations with your families this week! St. John Vianney, patron saint of priests, pray for us! Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us!