Two weekends ago was the 4th Sunday in Easter, also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” and it was the 57th Annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which was instituted by Pope St. Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council. The entire Church, including the laity (not just priests and consecrated religious) are charged with the work of fostering and promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life, as well as marriage, the permanent diaconate, and consecrated single life. We need to pray that our young people, especially those here at St. Mary, will hear and answer God’s call to them.

The role of the family is crucial for vocations promotion and fostering. The family can be a cradle for voca- tions...or it can be a grave. Some of the least flashy vocation stories begin like this: “I grew up in a normal Catholic fam- ily....” Such stories often go on to describe some non-dramatic entry into seminary at a relatively young age. We can all think of a few families here at St. Mary that are likely to produce these sorts of vocations. If only we had even more such families in addition to all of the amazing families whom we already do have! God be praised!

The reality, however, is that families actually can (and, sadly, often do) put a damper on vocations. Consider priests in particular; surveys of newly-ordained priests find that many of them were initially discouraged from entering seminary by family members closest to them. Why? Because for some strange reason, there is a widespread mispercep- tion that priests are chronically lonely, distant from their families, and lead uninteresting lives. False! Lies, all of it!

Chronically lonely? My social calendar just amongst our own St. Mary parishioners is booked two months in advance – even with the pandemic going on right now! Our youth group alone makes darn sure that I never even have a chance even to think about being lonely, are you kidding me?

Distant from families? Please! My grandmother, Cathy Ramsey, is a St. Augustine parishioner, but she has more friends here at St. Mary even than I do! And my parents: they had been coming here for Mass on a frequent basis, and soon after my arrival here at St. Mary, I recruited them to help me with some landscaping at the parish rectory. If any- thing, I see them too often! (Not that I would ever tell them that of course!)

Lead uninteresting lives? I wish! First of all, our school. Enough said. And I already mentioned our parish youth. There have been more days than I can count when I have had to administer not one, not two, not three,
but four of the seven Sacraments in a single day. There have been days when I have had to anoint someone near death, only to turn it all around within the hour to officiate at a marriage. On one occasion, I had to do that for the same fami- ly! Uninteresting lives? Absolutely untrue.

“But I just want my son to be happy, and priests are not happy.” Sheer absurdity! A scientific survey, data com- piled over the course of a decade, concluded that not only are priests happy, but the priesthood in fact is the happiest pro- fession with the highest recorded satisfaction rate of any professional job in the United States. You can read the study’s results for yourself in a book written by Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, called (appropriately enough): Why Priests Are Happy.

And so, I hereby issue three challenges to each parishioner of St. Mary: one, pray one Hail Mary each day for a new vocation for priesthood or religious from our own parish; two, pray for vocations before every Mass that you attend; three, attend a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration and offer that Holy Hour for vocations (because Jesus is there in the Eucharist, and He is the Master, and He tells us in the Gospel to “ask the Master of the harvest to send out laborers for His harvest.” (Lk 10:2)

If each of us does this...if the entire parish does this...then I guarantee it: in very short order, we will have plenty of laborers for the Lord’s harvest coming out of St. Mary parish. God bless you all.

~ Fr. Lewis