Priestly Vocations: Cultural Challenges and Foundations of Hope

A gray square metal box with a hinged lid sat on the porch next to the front door of our family home. As I grew up I remember using it for many different purposes. I would throw my baseball glove and ball in it (it would be ‘safe’ from any would-be juvenile thieves, recognizing a darn good glove). My mother would put an extra key to the house under it if she was going to be gone when we came home from school. We would leave notes for visitors, family members or deliverymen, which would hang out of the lid of this cube. It came in handy when my mother ordered me to tie my shoes as I ran out the door – one foot after the other would rest on the top of it as I fulfilled the maternal command. This gray milk box was stamped on the front with the name of some dairy company. I knew that holding milk delivered by the milkman was the real meaning of existence for that gray square box next to the front door. The milkman would come on a regular basis and place his cartons of milk in it. Our cereal was always complete thanks to the timely and pleasant service of our milkman. Today, if someone wanted to learn more about the life of a milkman, I suppose they could go to some museum to see an exhibit probably located next to the dinosaurs.

Such routine acts of business like that of the milkman went unnoticed in my world. However, soon after my family moved to a small town north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I began to see how some professions were lives of service and that such service was vital. My brother contracted rheumatic fever at the age of fourteen. His long, bed-ridden recovery put my mother into action tending to his needs. In addition, a parade of people kept coming to his room. Our family doctor would come to the house and offer his prognosis; the nurse would follow the next day with some sort of medical provision or test. And since my brother was going to be out of school for a number of months, a different teacher would come to the house each day of the week, go to my brother’s room, and teach him English, Algebra, History, Spanish or Social Studies. Being a year younger than my brother, I was on my best behavior; I knew I would be seeing these teachers again the following year – in the classroom. Nevertheless their dedication in offering professional service was most admirable. My brother and my family were truly grateful for the men and women in various professions who dedicated themselves to his care. Today, I think it’s rare that doctors make house calls or that teachers accept the task of instructing a homebound student; when it does occur, it is a wonderful and noble act that deserves appreciation and recognition.

Heroic acts of service are clearly seen in our world. These heroic acts would include the New York City firefighters who gave their lives on September 11, 2001 as well as the men and women who are currently serving our country in the armed forces. The men and women who enter into lives of service are not necessarily called to be heroes, but they are examples of selfless giving and many times demonstrate the importance and fulfillment found in serving others. And there are some unsung heroes of service – the hospice care workers, care givers for Alzheimer patients, parents of children with special needs, etc. Our young people need these examples.

The challenges we face today are many: war, the economy, the poor, marriage & family, issues affecting the sanctity of life, etc. Many of these challenges are due to such ideologies as materialism, individualism and relativism. As these challenges impact today’s culture, we are mindful that out of this culture the priests of tomorrow will be called to serve in the person of Christ.

In a recent survey conducted by the Secretariat for Vocations & Priestly Formation, seminarians in North America were asked about what they thought were the obstacles to increasing the number of priestly vocations in our time. One seminarian responded: “Everything in our society says to live for yourself, not for others. We are a materialistic society.”

The challenges of today have impacted not only priestly vocations but also the professions of service. It is not only priesthood in the United States that is experiencing fewer numbers – a number of professions of service have had their shortages, too. These would include, for example, nurses, teachers, police officers and firefighters.

A recent report by the Federal Bureau of Health Professions details a projected shortage of nurses over the next two decades. The report predicts a shortage of approximately 800,000 nurses by the year 2020. In fact, Johnson & Johnson Inc. is offering scholarships for young people who are willing to enter into nursing schools.¹

The National Education Association has indicated that nationwide some two million new teachers will be needed in the next decade and that the teacher recruitment process has been termed a “crisis”, especially in urban and rural schools. The teacher shortage is based on retirement, rising student enrollment, fewer young people entering into the education field, and teacher turnover due to dissatisfaction, poor salaries or teachers seeking better careers.²

With regards to police officers, the Washington Post recently carried an article which indicated that “…from seaside Southern California cities to Washington’s suburbs, more than 80% of the nation’s 17,000 law enforcement agencies, big and small, have vacancies that many cannot fill. A suburb outside of Washington, DC began a one million dollar advertising campaign last summer soliciting applicants for police work. Some departments have dropped their ‘zero tolerance policy’ on drug use and past gang association . . . [and] tweaked physical requirements to make room for more female candidates or smaller male candidates” in order to increase their numbers.³

The National Fire Protection Association has indicated that “at least two thirds of the nation’s fire departments are understaffed” and that some cities, “including New York, have had to close fire stations.” A high number of new recruits are needed from various ethnic backgrounds in order to reflect the diversity of their cities.⁴

A number of policy changes have been put into place in an attempt to increase the numbers in these professions. The lessening of standards and the increase in financial incentives for these professions has been publicly revealed. Yet the difficulties remain. Could it be that the noble profession of serving others is no longer attractive to our young people?

In addition to the professions of service, we also see fewer people stepping forward to serve as leaders in some religious institutions. The Church is aware of the fewer number of priests in the United States. Such statistics are well documented, and many have thought that it is a problem unique to the Roman Catholic Church. However this is not the case. A recent article in the Washington Post discussed the dwindling number of ministers that are present 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 by 200, forcing churches to rely on ‘local pastors’ with less training.”⁵

Many have indicated that we are experiencing a priestly “vocation crisis” in the United States. However, it is possible, that among the reasons why we have fewer priests, two important factors may have gone unnoticed. We live in a culture that does not promote the benefits or fulfillment in serving others, and elements within society scoff at entering into a lifelong commitment. Marriage, priesthood and religious life are not always held in high esteem. We could be facing a “commitment crisis” in our country.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has indicated that the marriage rate in this country has hit an all time low.⁶ To further compound the difficulties in this country’s “commitment crisis”, some who enter into marriage have even elected to have a ‘pre-nuptial agreement’ in place prior to saying “I do”.

The lack of commitment we have toward one another manifests itself in other tragic ways. The issues surrounding the sanctity of life, as well as the ways we treat people living among us in our country, have been directly affected by our lack of commitment to one another.

While we review the fewer numbers within the professions of service or within various denominations, this is not an opportunity to say that ‘misery loves company.’ When we witness the lack of commitment in our world, it is not a reason to enter into despair. Rather, it is a time to restore the great gifts that come from committed service to one another.

Almost five years ago, Holy Cross Father Francis Grogan, retired registrar of Stonehill College, boarded United Flight 175 in Boston for Los Angeles to visit his family. His first class ticket was a birthday gift and his seat assignment was 1-C. Directly behind him in seat 2-C was Mr. James Hayden, a 1976 alumnus of Stonehill College. Mr. Hayden was on the phone with his wife, Elizabeth. They both knew Father Grogan from their days at Stonehill. Mrs. Hayden asked her husband to extend to Father Grogan her best wishes, and Mr. Hayden assured his wife that with Father Grogan’s presence it would be a safe flight. United Flight 175 left Boston the morning of September 11, 2001 bound for Los Angeles. It was the second airliner to hit the World Trade Center. Mrs. Hayden, in a letter to the provincial of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, said she soon realized that her husband Jim and Father Grogan suffered the horror of watching the events unfold right before them as they sat in first class. But she stated that she held on to the hope and consolation that in some way, during those last dreadful moments of United Flight 175, Father Grogan exercised his priestly ministry. The day after September 11, 2001, Pope John Paul II, the successor of Peter, offered his assurances to the world that, even in spite of tragic events, “evil, suffering and death will not have the last word.”

Our foundations of hope lie in the truths presented to us by Christ. “Peter, you are rock, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18-19).

Our reassurance in knowing God’s presence in the world is reinforced by recognizing the priest’s presence. Through the celebration of word and sacraments, the priest brings Christ into a world which is in need of the love, forgiveness and peace that only God can give through priestly service. God’s grace is given to a waiting world.

The past few years have not been easy for the Church. However, priests of today were called for today, for this particular time, for this particular stage in Church history. They answered God’s call in this lifetime. God, in his infinite wisdom, calls men to service for a particular mission. Priests are called to face all that this current time has to offer, both today’s joys and its many obstacles. Priests can easily think of the reasons why it may be difficult; however, the fact is, it may never be easy. Christ told his disciples there would be difficulties. Priests are configured to Christ, and at ordination they willingly accepted the struggles of discipleship.

The people of God long for a priest’s presence. This past Holy Week I had the honor and privilege of serving in a small fishing village located in the Diocese of Juneau, Alaska. The parish had not had a resident priest since September, and the people of the parish offered wonderful hospitality. I was grateful to be the recipient of such kindness, and then discovered a very striking fact which began at the first house I went to the night I arrived in Wrangell, Alaska. A parishioner met me at the airport and took me to his house for a meal prior to that evening’s Stations of the Cross. His wife greeted me at the door, welcomed me to their home and said ‘Fr. Brown, welcome to our home and to our parish.’ I said, ‘Thanks, I appreciate the dinner invitation. I’m Father Ed Burns’. ‘Well, welcome to our home, we are glad you’re here.’ As the days went on, I was invited to a couple of other homes. After entering two different homes, I had similar experiences. The family members asked directly, ‘Now, what is your name again?’ It became evident to me that my personal “identity” did not concern them, but the fact that I was a priest was the sole reason for their hospitality. I was the priest sent to serve them during Holy Week, in which they were going to celebrate the great mysteries of Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection. I was, for them, called to serve in the person of Christ. To celebrate these great mysteries is the foundation of our hope.

It is also a mystery how and why God calls people. This year the Church in the United States will ordain men from many different walks of life. Before entering the seminary they were lawyers, doctors, teachers, students, etc. They have left everything in order to answer the Lord’s call. In answering the USCCB survey for the Priesthood Ordination Class of 2006, a number of men completed the phrase “People would be surprised to know that I…”

Allow me to offer ten examples of the responses: “People would be surprised to know that I…
…played guitar in a Rock and Roll Band.
…flew fighter jets.
…was a practicing physician and taught in two medical schools.
…was called "killer" on the football field.
…was a successful lawyer.
…was an atheist.
…built my own home and was once engaged to be married.
…rode a bike from St. Louis to Toronto with 20 other seminarians for World Youth Day.
…owned a townhouse, a BMW, and a Rolex watch before entering seminary.
…was so afraid of public speaking that I ran from my vocation.

Each of the men ordained to the priesthood in 2006 will have a unique background and a personal story about their vocation. Each of them experienced the same Jesus Christ who called them to leave everything to follow Him. And many of them will leave their old selves or “identities” behind to follow the Lord, for at ordination they will become an alter Christus.

Recently the Secretariat for Vocations & Priestly Formation unveiled the Priestly Life & Vocation Summit: Fishers of Men project, which highlights a priest’s role in inviting men to consider a priestly vocation. Jesus, the Word made flesh, approached Simon and his brother Andrew, who were fishermen exercising their trade, and said ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’ (Mark 1:17). As God said to Abraham, ‘I will make you a great nation’, so Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, James and John, ‘Come, follow me, I will make you fishers of men.’ The Word made flesh, one with the Father in creating the world, now uses the words of creativity in saying to the apostles, ‘I will make you fishers of men’. Through our share in apostolic succession priests have a role in inviting men to leave all behind in order to follow Christ. As a priest stands in the person of Christ and says, “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood”, so too does he have the powerful gift, in the person of Christ, to say, “Come, follow me.” The goal of the Fishers of Men program is to renew and regenerate the priesthood in the United States so that priests may “…fan into flame the gift they received” when hands were laid on them. (2 Tm 1:6)

As the shepherd, so the flock. Parents are to recognize their family as the domestic church and to help establish a vocation culture in their home so that the children can listen to God’s call in a context rich with prayer and regular celebration of the sacraments.

The parish family has a role in creating a vocation culture, in particular through excellent catechesis, as well as highlighting the celebration of the Eucharist at Mass and Eucharistic devotion. Great graces are bestowed upon the young man who knows and participates actively in the Mass, whether as an altar server, extraordinary minister of the Eucharist or lector. The parish is to create the vocation culture by actively praying for vocations, establishing a vocation committee, highlighting good examples of priesthood and religious life, and offering the youth opportunities for discussion and prayers, in particular, Eucharistic adoration and the rosary. Parishioners should be invited to identify prospective candidates for the seminary. Many creative steps can be taken on the parish level to create a vocation culture.

Dioceses have exhibited a great level of quality programs that create vocation cultures and highlight the need for priestly vocations. In the Archdiocese of Chicago a new program has been put into place entitled “What is My Vocation?”. This catechetical program spans the years of a child’s formation and accurately portrays quality examples of priests and religious.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis, among its many vocation programs, has enjoyed the success of the ‘Archbishop’s Retreat’, where men ages 18-30 are invited to gather in prayer and camaraderie in order to further discern God’s call, as well as the interactive “Sanctus Presbyteratus” CDRom which invites men to explore the many facets of a priestly vocation.

Pope John Paul II continues to be an inspiration for priestly vocations. When World Youth Days began, the world experienced the fervor of young people responding to their faith. Many young men point to their participation in World Youth Day as a catalyst for discerning a priestly vocation. The monstrance blessed by Pope John Paul II for the expressed purpose of Eucharistic Adoration for vocations in North America has been a wonderful success and a source of grace. Such vocational graces are identified in Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, which I have called a “blueprint for priestly vocations”.

Even in the secular world there seems to be some interest in men discerning the priesthood. An A&E series entitled ‘God or the Girl’ recently concluded a five-part series. While the title raised a number of eyebrows, the reviews were very positive. The four men who were discerning a vocation to priesthood were interviewed on the Today Show, the View, Anderson 360 and Larry King Live program. The Communications Director of the USCCB, Msgr. Frank Maniscalco, indicated that these four men have wonderfully and effectively promoted the joys and healthy struggles of discerning a priestly vocation. These men were respectfully received by those who interviewed them.

Many young men have thought of a priestly vocation and it seems that the time is right for them to be challenged to consider the seminary. While many young people may not be entering into professions of service, a good number of them are opting to help others. We see the examples of college students on spring break helping people in New Orleans, the Jesuit volunteer program, Capuchin volunteer corps, inner city volunteer teachers, etc. There may be complex reasons why there are fewer numbers in some professions. Some of those professions may have lost the idea of “service” and could possibly be consumed by bureaucracy. Young people are volunteering and serving others, but not in the usual ways. Recognizing that young people have the desire to serve others adds to the vocation climate within our Church. The time is right to invite.

While some will promote easy “solutions” as to how to address the number of fewer priests, the truth is, men who are willing to embrace a life of chaste celibacy and have the characteristics necessary to be a priest should be personally invited to consider the priesthood.

The challenges within our Church and within our society are many, and they will always be there. Jesus told his apostles it would not be easy, and the most recent years have proven that. Fr. Steven Rossetti indicates that the priests of today are truly happy being priests. They have indicated that, if they had to do it over again, the great majority would do so without question.⁷

While some professional acts of service may have become extinct, there are certain individuals who are necessary in building and sustaining a community – many times by hand. The hands of the nurse are essential in providing the dedicated care needed for the infirm; teachers will hand on to our younger generations the knowledge and information necessary to grow in wisdom; the hands of the police officer will direct an orderly flow of society through various situations; and the hands of the firefighter will always be sought after when there is a threat of disaster or the need for rescue. But it is the hands of the priest that are anointed with sacred oil which will bring about the presence of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. A priest’s hands are anointed so that he can give sacred service to the people of God in the person of Christ.

In speaking to priests during his Chrism Mass homily on Holy Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI said:

[The Lord] wants our hands to be instruments of service, hence, an expression of the mission of the whole person who vouches for Him and brings Him to men and women. If human hands symbolically represent human faculties and, in general, skill as power to dispose of the world, then anointed hands must be a sign of the human capacity for giving, for creativity in shaping the world with love.⁸

1. United States Department of Health and Human Services, Projected Supply, Demand and Shortages of Registered Nurses: 2000-2020 (2002).
   
2. National Education Association, Attracting & Keeping Quality Teachers (2006).
   
3. “Police Finding It Hard to Fill Jobs,” Washington Post, March 27, 2006.
   
4. “Police, Fire Departments See Shortages Across USA,” USA Today, November 29, 2004.
   
5. “A Minimum of Ministers” Washington Post, June 11, 2005.
   6 United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics (2006).
   
6. Steven J Rossetti, The Joy of Priesthood, (Ave Maria Press, 2005).
   
7. His Holiness Benedict XVI, “Chrism Mass Homily in St. Peter’s Basilica” (April 13, 2006).