Vocations should not be a secret

If Catholics want more religious vocations, they have to stop treating the topic like a great big secret or, worse, something taboo. That goes for parishioners in general, parents specifically, and even priests, nuns, brothers and deacons.

Study after study has concluded that young people are attracted to religious life when they are encouraged to consider it among their career options. The trouble is that many people never offer that encouragement.

Ironically, that silence ultimately harms the silent people. They are the ones who long for more priests in parishes, who seek additional sisters and brothers to staff schools and hospitals, and who want deacons as models of ministry in the workplace and Church.

Parents could have their wishes fulfilled if they sat down with their children and suggested they consider a vocation. That goes for parishioners at large, too. They have a role in calling forth from their churches men and women who might one day return to minister there.

And those in collars and habits also have a responsibility, through their words and example, to show that a religious vocation is something fulfilling, worthwhile and meaningful.

To hear God's call, many young people are listening to the voices of their families, their fellow Catholics, and their role models in ministry. If those voices are silent, God's call is muted. This is National Vocations Awareness Week (Jan. 11-17; see pages 11-18), the perfect time to end the silence, break the taboo and say something that may inspire a religious vocation.

(01-15-98) [[In-content Ad]]