Vocational Discernment: Creating a Culture of Vocations
By: Fr. Robert P. Boxie, III | Catholic Chaplain Sr. Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center at Howard University
The Archdiocese of Washington experienced a history-making event this summer. Cardinal Wilton Gregory ordained sixteen new priests at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washinton, D.C., the largest class of priests since 1960, to serve this local Church. Every pew and aisle overflowed with family and friends of the ordained, consecrated men and women, seminarians and lay faithful throughout the archdiocese and beyond. Over 210 priests concelebrated the Mass with Cardinal Gregory. The joy was palpable.
Every ordination I attend brings me back to my own ordination eight years ago at the Basilica in Washington. I remember also my unique path of discernment—studying engineering in college to working abroad, then going to law school and practicing law in Washington, D.C.—and how the universe conspired with God to open my heart to priesthood. Every ordination reminds us that each of is created by God for a specific role—a vocation—in his marvelous plan of salvation. I am lucky to have found mine.
I serve as part of the vocations team in the Archdiocese of Washington, and one of my duties is to assist young men in discerning their vocation to the diocesan priesthood. Everyone has a vocation, and each of us has a responsibility to properly discern one’s vocations, not just priests or religious. The Church teaches that every person has a vocation to holiness, what Vatican II affirmed as the universal call to holiness. Regardless of our state in life or who we are, we are all called to be saints—to live out the life of Christ heroically in all that we do. The “state in life” vocations consist of priesthood, permanent diaconate, religious/consecrated life, marriage, and the single life. These must be specifically discerned through prayer, study, spiritual accompaniment, a discovery of one’s gifts, and an openness to share them. Finally, one vocation can also entail a “career,” although a vocation can never be limited or reduced to a job. If lived well and for the purpose of glorifying God, one’s “job” as an educator, doctor, lawyer, etc., can be a means for holiness.
As a Black priest, I have a particular desire to support young Black Catholics discerning the priesthood and religious life. No one can deny the dearth of Black and Brown faces in seminaries, convents, and Church leadership. We can blame the sin of racism present in the Church and in her members for that. But as a Church and as a community, we must do better and assist our young people to be open to a life of service in the Church. The Church needs her Black sons and daughters to respond to the radical call to give their lives to serve God and His Church. We need to create (or re-create) a culture of vocations in the Black community, one that promotes, supports, and sustains all vocations in the Church.
We do this by focusing on the family. All vocations begin at home, in the family. They do not simply fall out the sky. I was lucky to grow up in a family with parents who prioritized faith, prayer, and going to Mass, even on vacations. We must encourage families to pray together, attend Mass together, read Scripture together, and do service activities together. Parents have enormous influence on their children, and their encouragement about vocations gives them permission to be open to God’s call. It can be the spark that sets in motion a possible vocation that God has already planted in their hearts, over and above their own desires for their children.
The Church community also has a vital role in the vocational discernment of our young people. The slogan, “if you see something, say something” applies here too. Like my experience, each of the sixteen new DC priests ordained mentioned a family member, mentor, or a priest who was influential in their discernment, who saw something in them and encouraged them to pursue their vocation. Necessary too is for parishes to provide meaningful opportunities for young people to have an encounter with God and to foster a real relationship with Jesus Christ, so that the Gospel can convict their hearts.
Some challenges exist to creating this culture of vocations. The scandals of the Church—especially the sin of racism; the lack of visibility of Black priests and religious; the isolation and lack of sensitivity in seminary and religious formation programs; lack of family support; a diminished sense of religion generally in our culture; more options to pursue careers; the desire for money and material success; and fear. God responds to these challenges with an abundance of grace and never be outdone in generosity. He desires our happiness more than we do and would never call us to something that would make us miserable.
Essential to priestly and religious vocations is the vocation to marriage. None of the other vocations would be possible without it. Sadly, marriage rates in the Black community have been declining, and divorce rates have been rising. Marriage, like the other vocations, begins in the home. Children are formed in marriage by the interactions they see and observe in the home from their own parents and between family members. We must insist upon marriage catechesis for couples and provide robust marriage preparation as well as marriage enrichment. Strong marriages produce strong families; strong families form the backbone of our churches.
Many today think there is a vocations crisis in the Church with the shortage of priests and countless parish mergers and closings. I would disagree. We absolutely need more priests, but I believe there is a response crisis—we are not responding to God’s call. God is in the “calling business” since the days of Adam, Noah, Moses, the Old Testament prophets, the apostles, and the saints. He continues to call people to himself to share in his life. As a Black community, we do a disservice to ourselves and our children, and we impoverish the Church, when we do not promote and encourage vocational discernment. It is the job of everyone. The Church needs the gifts and witness of her Black sons and daughters in all vocations; she is not full herself without them. We pray that we may create a culture of vocations in the Black community, that our families may be strengthened and become places where faith grows and vocations emerge, and that there be a new springtime for our young people to respond to God’s call and discover the joy of living a life in service to God and His Church.