This Sunday, we begin to celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week until November 11th, 2017. This annual event is a special time for parishes in the United States to actively foster and pray for a culture of vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life, especially since we continue to hear of the decline to priestly vocations across the United States. It is said that the number of Catholic priests in the United States has seen a drastic decline since 1965 from nearly 60,000 priests to 37,500 in 2015. We see this decline in the Diocese of Greensburg where we belong. For the past few years, we heard of some parishes being closed or merged because of many old and retiring priests with no young priests to replace them. We also heard of the presence of the international priests, which I represent, because there are just not enough priests to accommodate the 78 parishes in the entire Diocese of Greensburg.
We may wonder why there is such a decline in the priestly vocation. There may be many reasons, but Pope Francis pointed out that modern culture is very seductive, tempting people away from religious life with promises of easy sex, material gain, and instant gratification.
Unfortunately, these attractions are empty. The packages are beautiful, but the rewards they contain leave much to be desired. Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Chair of the US Bishops' Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, reminds us that each of us in the Church has a key role to play in the witness of our vocation in ordinary circumstances. "As we go about our everyday life and most especially this week, we must keep vocations in our prayers, while, at the same time, being a mindful witness with our own vocation. We may never know how our lives may have an impact on someone else's story. Simply living out our call as disciples of Jesus Christ fully and joyfully in the world bears witness to the love of Christ as He generously bestows on each of us our own personal call."
Let us pray for more vocations to the priesthood, especially to the Diocese of Greensburg. May we be an instrument to promote vocations, even among our family.
Mary, mother of priestly vocations, pray for us.