Vocations don't just happen by accident

When asked by Catholics why God has not answered their prayers, many a priest and nun over the centuries has said: "He did answer, and His answer was no." Is God giving the same answer to our prayers for religious vocations?

There is no doubt the Church has a vocations crunch. As reported last week in The Evangelist, the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan, will soon begin eliminating some Sunday Masses in order to use their dwindling supply of priests more efficiently. Church officials there estimate that within seven years, they will have only 10 priests under the age of 50. And that's only one example of a general trend.

In our own Diocese, over the past few weeks alone, The Evangelist has printed dozens of obituaries of women religious as the older generation of sisters dies out. Stories of women entering the convent to take their place are rare. As a nostalgic article this week recalls (see page 7), just one city in the Diocese could produce several priests 40 years ago. This year, one man was ordained from the entire Diocese.

But we also print something else every week: stories of how priests, nuns and brothers make a difference in the Church and in the world. An outstanding example (see page 1) is Rev. Peter Young, whose work with imprisoned and addicted men has changed scores of lives for the better and will soon be the subject of a national TV special. Another example (page 6) is Sister Rosina Pandolfino, who, like so many nuns, quietly spent her life touching people's hearts and souls through her parish ministry.

Such people are walking advertisements for why Catholics should consider a religious vocation. They are living invitations that echo Jesus' "follow me." But is it God who says no, or is it young people? Surely, young Catholics have an urge to serve others. We have witnessed their selfless generosity in service projects too often to believe otherwise. But lured by materialism, tempted by secularism, and -- perhaps most significantly -- seldom encouraged by their parents and Church workers to think about a vocation, they turn to other careers.

Laypeople, priests and religious should pray for Church vocations; indeed, it is part of a papal prayer for families that appears on our back page this week. But they should do more as parents and as people with religious vocations; they should also give vocations an equal footing with other choices in life when they talk to young people about their futures. Then the answer from both God and youth might be "yes."

(02-25-99)

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