The number of vocations in a diocese is conditioned
always by the extent to which
souls are penetrated by the Divine Spirit.

Every priest
a vocation director

By William J. Martin

n Greater than all the material and civil achievements which contribute to a steady advance in the culture, peace, and happiness of this complex world, is the particular and effective use and the proper application of our God-given talents and gifts when directed toward the greater honor and glory of Almighty God.

After all, we must admit that this is God's own universe, created out of his unbounded love of us, and he expects his creatures to pay back to him, in love and service, a suitable manifestation of loyalty and honor; including among us many who will respond and who have responded to his tender, personal invitation to assist him in carrying on the precious purpose of saving souls through the administration of his Holy Sacraments.

God will always provide Holy Mother Church with sufficient vocations necessary for her healthy growth and increasing membership, provided the worthy are encouraged. There are not fewer vocations today than before; there are fewer who respond to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The basic import of this communication to my fellow-priests is to enliven a renewed zeal among all of us concerning a very vital duty in our consecrated lives, and to reconsider the potentialities of our priestly office in the timely and proper appeal to the young especially by their respective parish priests.

We have reason to be stirred in conscience concerning the apparent slackening of a steady march of young men to the altar of God! It is therefore imperative that we make a greater effort than ever before to bolster the ranks of worthy and holy servants of the Master. "What," one may inquire, "are the most likely means to accomplish this? This cannot be brought about in any stereotyped fashion, because there is individuality of a varying degree in each soul born. Therefore, we are obliged to put into execution a particular method of approach and procedure attuned to the sentiments of each young person in whom we show interest.

It may possibly be that the principal factor which produces a young man's intermittent impulses of mental suggestion and, at times, pleasant contemplation, is his secret high regard which he enjoys for his parish priest. In this the young man is coupling the true existence of holiness and undeniable charity as the visible active proof of the sublimity of the priest's high calling.

Of course, for those of us engaged in seeking out young aspirants for priestly and religious vocations, the surest "hunting ground" of all is in the hallowed precincts of a good Catholic home! It is there that we most likely will be greeted with real cooperation and understanding. What marvelous assistance a good home contributes to the Church and to the community! As the great Cardinal Gibbons once said in his famous book, Faith of Our Fathers: "I imbibed my precious Faith at my good mother's breast."

The spirit of faith in a diocese, the living piety of a parish and, not least, the religious atmosphere in a family are factors, making in the natural environment a spiritual force or an obstacle. The number of vocations in a diocese is conditioned always by the vigor of faith, by the quality of training in Christian witness and in the imitation of Christ, in a word by the extent to which souls are penetrated by the Divine Spirit. Theoretically and practically it is undeniable that not only the number of vocations but their perseverance and fruitfulness in priestly work depend largely on the fervor and sincere piety of the Church in each diocese. A Christian way of life is clearly the necessary opus operantis ecclesiae that complements the free grace of Divine choice.

There is still another way to claim the attention, at least, of most any young person in whom we might detect an inherent, though indecisive, trend of thoughts on a life of service to Our Lord and Master: It is through occasional chats with him regarding subjects pertaining to the ordinary affairs of the world, and then noticing his reactions to the "deeper" topics of life and his observance regarding them. If, in a desultory conversation such as this, he divulges an unexpected and surprisingly gratifying and sound personal philosophy of his own on the topic, you will at least know then that his mind is in fertile condition to consider and weigh the really precious things of life which to him may ultimately seem the most important and what could be more important that to assist in the salvation of souls!

In short, we cannot revert to the launching of a violent "blitzkrieg" of subtle propaganda to realize sudden success in our ceaseless campaign of enlistment. Our methods must of necessity be geared to the dignity of a highly spiritual work. It simply demands, on the part of all of us, a serious and determined manifestation of honest, careful effort, coupled with more and more fervent prayers and an adequate personal assurance that God will answer them. Consider the words of Pope John XXIII: "It is mainly for the priest who is in contact with the most healthy and receptive part of the Christian world, to open the eyes of his flock, especially the adolescents and youths, to the sublime beauty of the priesthood . . . the wide field that awaits the laborers in the harvest, the beauty of the priestly ideal so as to foster the growth of the priestly vocation among Christian families" (A.A.S. 1961, p. 310). The priest is the born apostle of ecclesiastic vocations. If we open the Gospel and peruse its pages, we see that it is Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who sets us the example, for it was he himself who sought for, chose and trained those who were to be members of his priesthood. He sought for them and called them in different ways as circumstances dictated. Some he called simply: "Follow me. And he arose and followed him" (Matt. 9:9). To others he offered the great reward that would come from following him: "Come ye after me and I will make you fishers of men" (Mark 1:17). And to all with calm wisdom. And they are of all classes and conditions: from the beloved disciple John, to Paul the persecutor. He commanded the chosen to go out and carry out the same apostolate; to seek for others, and for this he pointed out the basic means, saying to them: "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest" (Matt. 4:37, Luke 10:2).

Without doubt Christ, with his prophetic vision, foresaw then the shortage of laborers for the Gospel and ministers of the Church. Today, with more reason than ever in view of the present serious moral and social crises in the world, the principal cause is the forgetting of the Gospel. How well the Apostles understood and followed this teaching of their Master! From the very beginning of their mission we see them gathered together using the supreme means that he had taught them-prayer. They, with faith in the teaching of their Divine Master, thought and felt that the vocation of the priesthood and its rewards were linked to prayer. Thus they elected the man to take the place left vacant by the traitor Apostle (Acts 1:24-25). They went out through the world, choosing those to work with them, training them, making them members of the priesthood in the new Christian communities. Think of Paul's work in this mission! What recommendations he made to Timothy concerning the qualities necessary for those chosen for the ministry (2 Tim. 1:13f.). Through the centuries it has been an invariable preoccupation of the Roman Pontiffs to exhort the bishops and priests, both directly and indirectly, to devote themselves to the work of seeking and cultivating ecclesiastical vocations, at the same time indicating to them the qualities to be sought for in the candidates. But it is perhaps in the present century, with the expansion of Christianity and the scarcity of laborers of the harvest, that we have seen an increasing intensification in the constant and unfailing solicitude of the Church in exhorting and inducing our priests to the truly pastoral ministry of the search for priestly vocations.

We priests must admit that we are not succeeding in a work that is inseparable from our priestly office-the work of fostering vocations. The duty of seeking out those favored souls in whom the signs of a vocation give promise of the most intimate identification of Christ. The great majority of our priests donned their cassock or little white alb and served around the altar long before they entered the seminary. How many fine young altar boys slip through the sanctuary of your parish church who might possibly have had a priestly vocation, but Father just never brought the subject up to them!

In weighing the foregoing thoughts concerning the importance of this incumbent duty which rests on the shoulders of every one of us priests, as well as those chosen for pastoral responsibilities, and in consideration of the solemn, pressing appeals voiced repeatedly by our Sovereign Pontiffs and those bishops who are in union with him, we as priests, have but to peruse a passage in Canon Law, fully to be convinced of our bounden duty in the matter of vocations: "It is the duty of the whole christian community to foster vocations so that the needs of the sacred ministry are sufficiently met in the entire Church. In particular, this duty binds christian families, educators and, in a special way, priests, especially parish priests . . ." (can. 233). The same canon instructs bishops, "who must show the greatest concern to promote vocations . . . to instruct their people on the importance of the sacred ministry and the need for ministers in the Church." The bishop is the engine which sets the efforts of all in motion.

The NCCB adopted a "Vocation Strategy" at their November 1995 meeting in which they want the bishops to get involved. We must truly pray that this measure to produce vocations will present the image of the priest and his essential identity as has been CLEARLY DESCRIBED in the Post-Synodal Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis. This identity must illumine the whole educational process as well as inspire clear selection criteria.

May we all avail ourselves of the real efficacy of trustful PRAYER! Prayers to the Blessed Trinity, through the powerful intercession of Mary and Joseph. What amazing gifts can be procured from Almighty God through persistence-humble, relentless begging for the things most favorable to a holy and spotless existence here on earth and eternal happiness in the hereafter.

Those of us priests still carrying on day-by-day in the service of Our Lord's "frontline army" should subject ourselves to a penetrating examination of conscience. Periodical meditation is positively necessary and efficacious for the soul of every priest. To reflect on our own accomplishments and spiritual progress, and the degree of success we have reached in the rectitude of our life and the fulfillment and dissemination of Almighty God's sacred precepts, is as essential as the act of reading the daily Office. It is through this holy practice that a man can more accurately estimate the value of his particular mode of service to his Master, and to the Church in general.

Happy and blessed is the priest of God who, upon mentally scrutinizing the record of his personal sacred vocation, discovers that among the many laudable acts he performed during his fruitful life he can be credited with the enlistment of several fine young men who nobly responded to the gentle call of the Lord. This is one of the crowning requisites to complete a full and holy service in the life of any priest.

Granted that this secular world demands our time in the execution of parish activities, architectural decisions, etc., besides our purely religious functions-taking all these duties into consideration, there are still propitious opportunities which present themselves to us wherein we can inject a few thought-provoking remarks into our conversation with the young. Even this small act of missionary nature might help nurture the seed of a hidden desire in the soul of a young person to point his talents toward a life of perfection and worthwhile deeds.

Many a saint has started on the road to sainthood in the holy and quiet confines of the confessional-the sacred cubicle wherein the unspeakable mercy and love of our Heavenly Father descends on our weak, sinful souls; and on which the Holy Spirit showers anew a plenitude of grace necessary for us in future battles with sin. To the ears of a person who has just received absolution, the words of the confessor usually carry more weight, and are listened to with more attention than during an ordinary conversation. The penitent is more receptive of good counsel; insignificant matters take, momentarily, "second place" in his thoughts; and if he has considered in the past any holy impulses, it may be that this person should be encouraged by a few brief potent words of advice by the confessor. It is surprising what results occasionally follow. If opportunities like this are neglected on the part of the confessor, a potentially willing young soul could perhaps henceforth drift aimlessly through life, his memory being plagued at intervals by "something that might have been!"

There is no escaping the fact that this turbulent erratic era presents to the Church a distinct challenge. To cope with the devious and rampant thoughts and ambitions of those subscribing to the school of materialism, will remain a contest in which we shall have to engage until justice and charity and eventual peace shall once more reign. It is hardly conceivable that the great Creator of the universe would give life to the countless souls who inhabit-and who have inhabited-this earth, without having expected to count among them an adequate ratio of exemplary beings on whom he depends to serve as models of holiness, gentility, fortitude, and with complete subservience to his Holy Will-all necessary to salvation.

Therefore, after all has been said and done in regard to our desire to advance in wisdom, faith and ultimate perfection, we priests are indubitably convinced that the greatest means employed on our part to assure ourselves of constructive and glorious achievement during our period of temporal service, are the fervent, confident prayers we utter daily; the relentless pleas to Almighty God for an increase of Christian charity, both in the souls of our fellow-priests, our faithful members of the Church, and principally for our main objective-THE INCREASE IN PRIESTLY VOCATIONS! n