Give Us Shepherds!

In our series during this “Year of Faith” on the 16 documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), we turn to the first of two conciliar documents on the ordained priesthood, namely Optatam Totius, the 1965 Decree on Priestly Training. In a forthcoming post we will look at Presbyterorum Ordinis, the 1965 Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests.

Optatam Totius should not be read apart from Bl. John Paul II’s 1992 document Pastores Dabo Vobis (“I Will Give You Shepherds”) written at the conclusion of an international synod discussing the promotion of priestly vocations and the training of men for the priesthood in today’s cultural climate.

Both Optatam Totius and Pastores Dabo Vobis provide significant teaching on seminaries and the various aspects of formation provided there–human, spiritual, intellectual (philosophical and theological), and pastoral.

Paragraph 2 of Pastores Dabo Vobis drives home the priority of this topic:

“The formation of future priests, both diocesan and religious, and lifelong assiduous care for their personal sanctification in the ministry and for the constant updating of their pastoral commitment is considered by the Church one of the most demanding and important tasks for the future of the evangelization of humanity.”

Yet, I’d like to focus today on the fostering of vocations to the priesthood, which according to Optatam Totius is the work of “the whole Christian community” (no. 2). We can build the best seminaries in the world, and meticulously devise the most comprehensive formation program possible, but if young men aren’t willing to step forward in the first instance, we have a problem. A serious problem.

Now, the priesthood today is a complex topic, and any talk of a “shortage” or “crisis” must be tempered by Bl. John Paul’s exhortation that our first response must be a total act of faith in the Holy Spirit. We must be ”deeply convinced that this trusting abandonment will not disappoint if we remain faithful to the graces we have received” (Pastores Dabo Vobis, no. 1). We trust that the Lord will always provide us shepherds after His own heart (cf. Jer. 3:15; 23:4), yet we are called to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in this great work of inviting young people to “come and see” (cf. Jn. 1:39).

For that reason, I want to highlight today this quote from Vatican II:

For What Do We Pray?

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle in formulating my prayers of intercession. Often I am tempted to pray for my own selfish interests and comfort, perhaps for my team to win (and for the team(s) ahead of them in the standings to lose–which in the Royals’ case is just about everybody), for balmy 75 degree days (not too many of those lately), and that my kids live happily ever after (after they set me and the missus up at a nice retirement home near a golf course).

Even when I go out of myself to pray for others, I can be at a loss. For instance, when we hear of tragedies such as what occurred last week in Colorado, how do we raise our grief and concern and compassion in a meaningful way?

I don’t claim to have all the answers to these questions, but I have come across two things lately that can help shape our approach to intercessory prayer. First, there is this paragraph from paragraph 33 of Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical on Christian hope, Spe Salvi:

“When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well. In prayer we must learn what we can truly ask of God–what is worthy of God. We must learn that we cannot pray against others. We must learn that we cannot ask for the superficial and comfortable things that we desire at this moment–that meager, misplaced hope that leads us away from God. We must learn to purify our desires and our hopes. We must free ourselves from the hidden lies with which we deceive ourselves. God sees through them, and when we come before God, we too are forced to recognize them. . . .”

We don’t know how to pray as we ought (cf. Rom. 8:26), so we need to allow the Holy Spirit to purify us and to teach us to seek in prayer what is truly good for us and for others.

Also, I’ve been reading a wonderful little book entitled A Deacon’s Retreat by Deacon James Keating. He identifies four intentions that are especially “worthy of God,” given the deacon’s unique role as leader of the prayer of the faithful at Mass:

(1) Holiness, for ourselves and for others in our orbit of relationships and responsiblities.

(2) For the strength and grace to faithfully live out our vocations (and not depend on our own steam).

(3) For the welfare of others. It has been said that it is God’s job to think of us, while it is our job to think of others.

(4) Deacon Keating says we should “intercede for those who are severely suffering because they are on the cusp of losing faith or truly entering the paschal mystery and becoming saints.”

For these and all the intentions that we hold within our hearts, Lord hear our prayer!

The Vocation of John the Baptist

Yesterday was the birthday of my son Samuel John. It was also the liturgical feast of the Birth (or “Nativity”) of St. John the Baptist. It’s one of the three birthdays set aside for special celebration in the Church, the others of course being the Birth of Jesus (Christmas) on December 25th, and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8th.

Christ Himself was the eternal Son of God who came into the world as our Savior. The Blessed Virgin Mary was “saved” from the moment of her immaculate conception by a special grace of God, in anticipation of the merits of Christ. John the Baptist was conceived a fallen human being like the rest of us, but remarkably was filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb (cf. Lk. 1:41, 44). The rest of us come into the world in a state of alienation from God. That’s why saints’ feast days are usually the day of their death–the day they enter eternal life. (And note, the Church also celebrates the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist on August 29th.)

Anyway, I thought I would refer our readers to this 2007 article at Catholic Exchange on the birth of St. John the Baptist. I especially appreciate the author’s focus on St. John’s vocation as it unfolded throughout the life of the herald of the Messiah:

“John was given a mission, a vocation, while still a mere babe. It would be many years before he would carry it out. He still would have needed help preparing for it. John would have needed his mother and father to help him learn about the faith of his ancestors, in coming to know of the God of Abraham and his relationship with the people of Israel. He would have needed someone to help him learn his prayers and all that the Scriptures contained. In other words, I imagine Zechariah and Elizabeth had an important part to play in helping their son discern what God was calling him to do.”

This reflection reminds all of us who are Catholic parents of the immense dignity and responsibility we have as “vocation directors” in the home.

A Vocation for My Child?

“For an increase of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, we pray to the Lord . . .”

I’m sure many of us have heard this intention at Mass and dutifully added our own “Lord, hear our prayer.” But from where will this requested “increase” come? It seems this petition isn’t simply about numbers. While we do need an increase of vocations in the universal Church, this petition involves us in the process. We must be willing to help foster vocations in our own communities, parishes, and families as part of our own “fruit-bearing” mission.

When it comes to promoting vocations in the family, we must strive to find the right balance that encourages religious vocations without either forbidding or coercing them.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a tremendous section on the role of parents in the doctrinal and spiritual formation of their children (nos. 2221-31). This formation provides the groundwork for each child to discover and freely choose his or her vocation in Christ.

Catechism no. 2230 summarizes it well: “When they become adults, children have the right and duty to choose their profession and state of life.” But it goes deeper than that.

Catechism nos. 2232-33 stresses that family ties are not absolute. God calls each person by name, including our own children. As parents, we must respect this fact and encourage children to follow wherever God leads them. As my wife likes to say, they’re really God’s children; He just lets us have them for a time. This truth has particular relevance to religious vocations:

“Parents should welcome and respect with joy and thanksgiving the Lord’s call to one of their children to follow Him in virginity for the sake of the kingdom in the consecrated life or in priestly ministry” (no. 2233).

In many families I’ve encountered, the problem is that religious vocations are not adequately valued. The natural but at times inordinate desire for grandchildren, lukewarm faith, poor formation, and secular values are but a few of the factors that come into play.

As the father of a young woman who entered religious life out of high school two years ago, I am more sympathetic than I used to be to the concerns of parents who don’t want this for their children. Admittedly, it is difficult to give the child back to God a little before we’re ready to let go. (Are we ever ready?)

We all want the best for our children. We want them to be happy. Well, the consecrated life is objectively the highest calling in the Church. What more could we ask for? On top of that, if our child truly is called to this beautiful life, he or she will subjectively experience a level of happiness rarely found in this life. I’ve seen this already taking place in my own dear Sr. Evangeline.

At the other extreme, surely we don’t want to push our children, directly or implicitly, against their will. It’s their choice, their vocation.

Now, I did want assurance that my daughter was choosing a solid community that suited her personality and gifts. In that regard, almost all of the sound religious communities in our country are affiliated with the Institute on Religious Life (IRL), which has a helpful directory.

Other than that, the single best encouragement is to bring our children up in a family, however imperfect it may be, that strives to put first things first, that makes the Eucharist the center and goal of daily living. If we do that, we just might see an increase.

Will Shields and the Objective Superiority of Consecrated Life

As Pope John Paul II affirmed in his 1996 apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata (Consecrated Life), “Christian tradition has always spoken of the objective superiority of the consecrated life” (no. 18).

In today’s world, there is a built-in suspicion of any and all claims to objective truth. But in this particular case, even some faithful Catholics have difficulty accepting the truth that consecrated life, and also the sacred priesthood, are objectively higher callings than vocations to marriage or to the single life.

At the same time, Vatican II rightly emphasized the “universal call to holiness” of all baptized Christians. In other words, we’re all called to be saints, and we all therefore have a vital role to play in the Church’s mission. In that sense, all the baptized are “equal” and play a vital role in building up the Church.

So we need to balance, on the one hand, the “objective superiority” of consecrated life, and on the other hand, the “subjective superiority” of being faithful to our personal vocation in Christ, whatever it may be.

As a long-standing, diehard Kansas City Chiefs fan, I need to trot out my Will Shields analogy:

We all know that the quarterback is objectively the most important position in football. Quarterbacks handle the ball on every play. They are typically acclaimed when the team wins, and they are blamed when the team loses. Ask Matt Cassel. They make the most money, and they get to do most of the commercials, especially when they’re “6′5″ with laser-rocket arms” like Peyton Manning.

Meanwhile, offensive linemen do much of the grunt work in relative obscurity. They’re rarely noticed except when they commit a penalty or the defensive lineman they’re suppose to block crushes the quarterback.

Will Shields, a long-time offensive lineman for the Chiefs, retired a few years ago. He was named to the Pro Bowl about a dozen times (after awhile I lost count), and one day he will be enshrined among pro football’s elite in the Hall of Fame, having achieved a level of greatness on and off the field that very few quarterbacks have achieved. In fact, this year he is a semi-finalist for this honor, in his first year of eligibility.

In a real sense, he embraced his calling and used his gifts appropriately and well. Surely if he insisted on being a quarterback at 300+ pounds, he would never have had anywhere near the same level of success. The offensive line was his particular path to football immortality, and he fully embraced it.

Similarly, the “superior” vocation for any given individual is the one that the Lord has chosen for us. Fidelity to our own calling and gifts is our road to sanctity. We need to emphasize the personal vocation in Christ given to each and every Catholic at their Baptism, yet without denying the objective beauty, desirability, and yes, “superiority” of a life fully consecrated to Our Lord.

Together as a Church we have to come to a proper balance on all this, as the Church has many members, but is truly one Body.

Right Here, Right Now

I spent a couple wonderful years with a religious community in the 1980s as I was discerning a possible vocation to the priesthood and religious life. One day, they brought in a well-known retreat master to give the two dozen or so seminarians a day of recollection.

The first words of the priest to begin the day of recollection really startled me. He bluntly said, “None of you are called to the priesthood.” I looked around the room at all the postulants and said to myself, “Boy, Father Tom (the community’s vocation director) sures knows how to pick ‘em!”

The priest then explained that our vocation is “now,” that we must respond wholeheartedly to the Lord right here, right now by being holy seminarians. In five or six years, God willing, the bishop will lay hands on some of us, and then–and only then–would we truly be called to the priesthood.

As it turned out, I wasn’t one of the men called to become a priest. Yet, this important lesson has always stayed with me as a lay Catholic.

A crucial part of the lesson is to seek eternal life right now. This can be quite challenging given the pace of daily life in the world. Further, we already tend to think of eternity exclusively as the sequel to this life. In other words, we live our thirty or sixty or ninety years on this earth, and then only when we die does eternal life begin.

However, eternal life is a present reality. Sure, in this life “eternity” (literally a dimension outside of time) and temporality coexist, while only after we die will we experience eternal life in its fullness without the admixture of time. But make no mistake–there are seeds of eternity in us now. If there weren’t, we’d have no basis for believing that we will continue to experience life–the eternal, “abundant” life (Jn. 10:10)–after we die.

Scripture frequently presents eternal life as a present reality. For example, in John 17:3, Jesus says, “This is eternal life, to know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.” He doesn’t say, “This will be eternal life . . .”

The present moment is the junction between time and eternity. The past and the future are real, but they are exclusively temporal realities and so they lack the dynamism of “right here, right now.” God’s grace, which plants and nourishes in us the seeds of eternal life, is encountered in the present moment as we strive to live in God’s presence and accept His sovereignty in our lives.

Scripture does present us the case of St. Dismas, the good thief who converted at the very end of his life so that “this day” he was with the Lord in paradise (see Lk. 23:43). However, we can’t presume that when we come to the end of our lives that we’ll have the time and proper disposition to accept our Lord’s invitation. That’s a future thing. God speaks to us right here, right now.

We do well, then, to heed the Psalmist’s words, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps. 95:7). Or, as St. Paul puts it, “Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation! (2 Cor. 6:2).

Or, as a retreat master once told a bunch of fledgling seminarians, “Vocation is now.”

What Is a Vocation?

Vocation comes from the Latin verb vocare, which means “to call.” A vocation is a calling from God and to God. A vocation naturally includes what we do “for a living,” but it goes much deeper than that. God has a personal plan for each one of us. This “plan” is our personal vocation, as God invites each one of us to a special relationship with Him through Christ.

Let’s take a closer look at how this plays out.

All the faithful, by virtue of our Baptism, have a vocation in the Church. All of us are called to a deep, personal, and communal relationship with the Lord and His family, the Church; all of us are called to holiness—to become saints; all of us have a role to play in bringing the Gospel to the world, one precious soul at a time.

The faithful who have not received Holy Orders and who do not belong to a religious state approved by the Church are known as laity. The vast majority of Catholics are lay men and women. Laity may either be married or single, and they are called to serve as leaven in the midst of the world—usually within our families and local community, but sometimes in the missions.

Praying for Vocations

This Sunday, the Church throughout the world will celebrate the 48th World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

This year’s theme is “proposing vocations in the local Church,” which brings home the importance of promoting vocations in our own families, parishes, and archdiocese. The Church desires that young people feel “welcome” in the Church and learn to take responsibility for responding to God’s call in their lives.

While praying in gratitude this weekend for the many vocations we already have—including our new deacons—we may wish to remember in a particular way the three men who will be ordained as priests for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas later this month: Nicholas Blaha, Barry Clayton, and Michael Peterson. 

While any and all prayer will do, I’ve reproduced below a traditional Catholic prayer for vocations. Why not say this prayer now. for an outpouring of vocations in Eastern Kansas and throughout the Church?

Lord Jesus Christ, Shepherd of souls, who called the apostles to be fishers of men, raise up new apostles in Your holy Church. Teach them that to serve You is to reign: to possess You is to possess all things. Kindle in the hearts of our people the fire of zeal for souls. Make them eager to spread Your Kingdom upon earth. Grant them courage to follow You, as You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Amen.