Bishop's Message: Every Person Has A Vocation

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This week I was with our diocesan seminarians at their summer convocation at Cedarbrake Retreat Center. We celebrated Mass each day, prayed together, and spent time getting to know one another. Our diocese is incredibly blessed that 36 men, 11 of whom are new to seminary this year, have heard and answered God’s call to enter more deeply into discernment for the priesthood. 

I ask our entire diocese to reflect on the importance of priestly and religious vocations to care for this local Church and beyond. The word vocation comes from the Latin word vocare, meaning to be named or called. Every person has a vocation – has been called by name by God for a particular mission in life. Helping men hear God calling them by name is a major priority for the Church. As I listen to the lived experience of each of these men, I am profoundly impacted by their passion and love for Christ and I am assured that God will indeed provide good and holy shepherds for our future.

We know it is ultimately the Holy Spirit who calls men and women to ministry. We also know that we have a role in being that familiar voice as God can sometimes call people to their vocation through family, friends, fellow parishioners, teachers and clergy. Join me in looking for men in our parishes who have the qualities that would make an excellent priest, and then telling them as much. Finally, let us pray in thanksgiving for those who have accepted the call to the priesthood and religious life; those living, retired, and who have passed away, asking God’s continued blessings on their ministry.