We already have enough vocations!

Since the time of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, all of creation has been flawed and imperfect, awaiting restoration. As He planned providentially for us, at a specific moment in time and for a reason known only to God Himself, our Heavenly Father chose to send His only begotten Son to walk among us, to abide with us, to tabernacle with us (John 1:14). Incarnate in the virginal womb of the Blessed Mother after having given her fiat to the Holy Spirit, this is what creation was awaiting—to once again walk in the garden with its Creator. Since then, all of creation has awaited the New Jerusalem where we will all once again live in harmony and perfection together (Romans 8:19-22). 

“This sacrifice is so decisive for the salvation of the human race that Jesus Christ offered it and returned to the Father only after he had left us a means of sharing in it as if we had been present there.” (St. John Paul II, Ecclesia De Eucharistia, sec. 11)

 Jesus came with very specific plans of how He would continue to live with us after His resurrection and ascension into Heaven. As St. John Paul II pointed out, Jesus didn’t leave this earth until He had first provided this means for His Real Presence to remain; that is, in the Eucharist. 

And for that reason, we need priests. 

The priesthood is a calling, not a career.

As Catholics, we trust in God’s providence that He has a plan for each of us. It is a plan that He’s had from the beginning, when we were just a thought in His Divine Mind. We stand here today with much need and opportunity to evangelize, to bring Him more children. We need more priests to bring them into His family through baptism and to bring Him to us in the Eucharist. So we pray, “Lord, please bring us more vocations to the priesthood!”  

And yet, why do we think that God hasn’t already provided those vocations? At the moment of our conception, when He simultaneously creates our soul and the first cell of our body, He already knew our purpose and the vocation we would take on to live out that purpose. There isn’t a moment that we exist without our soul, and so not a single moment is lived without the purpose He has chosen for each of us. It is that purpose for our existence, and our living it out in this world, that will bring glory to Him and harmony for us with creation. For those who have a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, He has already instilled their calling to that vocation within their soul. 

What we need is for young men to respond to that calling.

We already have the vocations around us that God planned for us in this very moment of time in salvation history. In this time we face both known perils (those which the enemy has always used to distract and tempt us to self-harm) as well as new and yet-to-be-seen challenges brought on by modern science and technology. We were conceived with our purpose already in place as well as the future vocation by which we will live it out. We need to respond to our calling. And that is why we have what we perceive as a shortage of priests. It’s not because we need more vocations; God has already provided for those in this particular moment of time. It’s that we need to answer that call. 

Why, then, have boys and young men not been responding to their calling? Many young people leave the faith in high school or even middle school, before they have the chance to live the faith in an adult relationship with God. It is easy to identify the negative influences surrounding us: a sexualized culture; technology and AI; the prominence of New Age, New Thought, Eastern Religions, and other pagan spiritualities that have pervaded education, medicine, government, and even churches; etc. But the finger is rarely pointed at the domestic church, the home environment spawning our future clergy. Areas of particular impact include: 

A secularized faith and lifestyle: in past generations, Catholics stood out for their moral conscience, other-centeredness, and virtue-orientation. Today Catholics are unrecognizable outside of their church services. Often secular ideologies (and associated politics) have become their god. Materialism and consumerism, so-called ‘entertainment’ containing sinful behavior and secular ideologies, much of this is prominent in Catholic homes and lifestyles.

Syncretism: the blending of outside religions into the Catholic faith spread rapidly since the 1960’s. A PEW report of 2021 estimated that 38% of American Catholics believe in reincarnation and a significant number practice Buddhism with their Catholicism. Both are incompatible with Catholic doctrine. Catholic parents are often unaware of the extent to which the concepts and language of pagan spiritualities have infiltrated and skewed their beliefs which are then passed down and modeled for their children.

Domestic abuse and volatility in the home:  a priest is married to the Church; a nun is married to Jesus. In the home, marriages with a master-slave relationship between husband and wife do not prepare children to have a proper relationship with the Church.  Too many Catholic families look happy on the outside but within the walls of their home, children are subjected to volatile arguments between parents. These often include the emotional and physical abuse of a parent and/or the children themselves. Alcohol or drugs further exacerbate the dynamic. The interior of the child spins like a compass that can’t find north. Coupled with shame, anger, and other effects of the home environment, the child’s inner ‘storm’ makes it difficult for them to hear the Holy Spirit let alone believe God would call them to Himself in this way. Or at all. 

Even in homes in which the parents speak with their children about vocations to the priesthood and religious life, attend mass, participate in parish activities, and consider themselves in a ‘state of grace’, the impact of secularism, syncretism, and domestic abuse/volatility present a model of the living-out of religious beliefs that is quite contrary to the parents’ stated beliefs. The domestic church should be a communion of souls that need to want the holiness in each other, and to see it in each other; to love it in each other. As St. John Paul II stated, “family, become what you are”.  

As the Church goes, so too society. The crisis in the Church is a crisis in the domestic church. We need to rediscover God who has never left us. Sit with Him fearlessly in silent prayer and allow Him to heal the wounds that currently manifest in disordered anger, control, perfectionism, diversions into worldly offerings, and seeking feel-good spiritualities. All of these prevent you from receiving the very grace that will heal you. 

Yes, we already have enough vocations as God has already provided those. Healing the domestic church will give children the freedom to discover and respond to their calling. All for the greater glory of God. 😊 

Call to me, and I will answer you; I will tell you great things beyond the reach of your knowledge. Look! I am bringing the city recovery and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them an abundance of lasting peace. (Jeremiah 33:3, 6)

(Images: servers at altar by VNVN Nguyen Tien Thinh VNVN; boy with candle by Cottonbro Studioes; both from Pexels)