Pope Benedict XVI's Address to Italian Seminarians

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
Dear Friends of the Regional Seminaries of Las Marcas, Puglia and Abruzzo-Molise

I am particularly happy to welcome you on the occasion of the centenary of the foundation of your respective regional seminaries, encouraged by Pope St. Pius X, who appealed to Italian bishops, especially of the center and south of the Peninsula, to come to an agreement to concentrate the seminaries, in order to be more effective in the formation of aspirants to the priesthood. I greet you all affectionately, beginning with archbishops Edoardo Menichelli, Carlo Ghidelli and Francesco Cacucci, whom I thank for the words with which they wished to express the sentiments of all. I greet the rectors, formators, professors and students and all those who live and work daily in your institutions. In such a significant event, I wish to join you in thanking the Lord, who in this century has accompanied with his grace the life of so many priests, formed in such important educational realities. Many of them are occupied today in the different sections of your local Churches, in the ad gentes mission and in other services to the universal Church. Some have been called to fill posts of high ecclesial responsibility.

I would now like to address you in particular, dear seminarians, who are preparing to be laborers in the Lord's vineyard. As the recent assembly of the Synod of Bishops also recalled, among the priority tasks of the priest is that of spreading with full hands the Word of God in the world, which, like the seed in the Gospel parable, seems too small a reality, but once it has germinated, it becomes a great bush and bears abundant fruit (cf. Matthew 13:31-32). The Word of God that you will be called upon to spread with full hands and which brings with it eternal life, is Christ himself, the only one who can change the human heart and renew the world. However, we might ask ourselves: Does modern man still feel a need for Christ and his message of salvation?

In the present social context, a certain culture seems to show us the face of a self-sufficient humanity, anxious to carry out its projects on its own, which chooses to be the sole architect of its destiny and which, consequently, believes that the presence of God does not count and so excludes it from its choices and decisions.

In a climate marked by a rationalism shut-in on itself, which considers the practical sciences as the only model of knowledge while the rest is subjective, non-essential and determinant for life. For these and other reasons, today, without a doubt, it is increasingly more difficult to believe, more difficult to accept the truth that is Christ, more difficult to spend one's life for the cause of the Gospel. However, as we see every day in the news, modern man often seems to be disoriented and worried about his future, seeking certainties and sure points of reference. As in all ages, man of the third millennium needs God and seeks him perhaps without realizing it. The duty of Christians, especially of priests, is to respond to this profound yearning of the human heart and to offer all, with the means and ways that best respond to the demands of the times, the immutable and always living Word of eternal life that is Christ, Hope of the world.

In face of this important mission, which you will be called to carry out in the Church, the years spent in the seminary take on great value, a time allocated to formation and discernment; years in which, in the first place, must be the constant search for a personal relationship with Jesus, a profound experience of his love, which is acquired above all through prayer and contact with the Sacred Scriptures, interpreted and meditated in the faith of the ecclesial community.

In this Pauline Year, why not propose the Apostle Paul to yourselves as model in which to be inspired for your preparation to the apostolic ministry? The extraordinary experience on the road to Damascus transformed him, from persecutor of Christians to witness of the resurrection of the Lord, willing to give his life for the Gospel. He was a faithful observer of all the prescriptions of the Torah and of the Hebrew traditions; however, after having found Jesus "whatever gain I had -- he writes in the Letter to the Philippians -- I counted as loss for the sake of Christ" (cf. 3:7-9). Conversion did not eliminate all that was good and true in his life, but enabled him to interpret in a new way the wisdom and truth of the Law and the prophets and thus be able to dialogue with all, following the example of the Divine Teacher.

In imitation of St. Paul, dear seminarians, do not tire of encountering Christ in listening to, reading and studying sacred Scripture, in prayer and personal meditation, in the liturgy and in every daily activity. In this connection, dear ones responsible for formation, your role is very important, as you are called to be witnesses for your students even before being teachers of evangelical life. Because of their typical characteristics, the Regional Seminaries can be privileged places to form seminarians in diocesan spirituality, inscribing this formation in the largest ecclesial and regional context with wisdom and balance. Your institutions should also be vocational "houses" of welcome to give greater impetus to vocational pastoral care, taking care especially of the world of youth and educating young people in the great evangelical and missionary ideals.

Dear friends, while thanking you for your visit I invoke over each one of you the maternal protection of the Virgin Mother of Christ, which the Advent liturgy presents to us as model of those who watch while awaiting the glorious return of her divine Son. Entrust yourselves to her with confidence, take recourse often to her intercession, so that she will help you to stay awake and vigilant. For my part I assure you of my affection and daily prayer, while I bless you all from my heart.

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP tells his vocation story

If you are like me, you enjoy reading about how God has worked in people's lives in order to bring them to Him and their vocation. Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP has posted his vocation story on his blog. As any vocation story should be, it is a bit lengthy so I won't post it here - but do take the time to go read it HERE.

Cardinal Foley on Seminarians in the Holy Land

When you think it is tough being at your seminary...

From Zenit

ROME, DEC. 1, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Life for Palestinian Christians is ever more stressful, but seminarians there are making the necessary sacrifices for their formation, says the leader of a group that seeks to aid the Church in the Holy Land.

Cardinal John Foley, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, affirmed this today in an address which marked the beginning of a week-long planning session for the order. This consulta, which takes place every five years, will conclude Friday with a papal audience.

The cardinal welcomed the knights and ladies of the order: "I am truly honored to be with you in reflecting on how we can help more effectively and more extensively our fellow Christians in the Holy Land and on how we can thus deepen our spiritual lives in union with Jesus Christ whose life, death and resurrection, in the land we seek to serve, made it truly holy."

This chivalric order seeks to form in its members the spirit and ideal of the Crusades from which it originated. This includes preserving the faith in the Middle East and defending the rights of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.

Speaking of his own recent visit to the Holy Land, Cardinal Foley highlighted "the difference which our order makes in the Holy Land in the number and quality of the schools, parishes and charitable institutions which we help to support."

He gave particular mention to the seminary in Beit Jala that receives support from the order. He said, "I was very favorably impressed not only by the quality of the clergy of the Latin Patriarchate but also by the quality and spirituality of the seminarians, many of whom make great sacrifices to continue their priestly studies, especially since many of them are unable to return home during holiday periods, because of restrictions on their mobility imposed by Israeli authorities."

Since his first visit to the Holy Land in 1965, "the situation of our fellow Christians has become ever more stressful," said the cardinal. "Especially in the Palestinian territories, their opportunities for housing, for employment, for travel, and even for access to their land have become increasingly more difficult."

Cardinal Foley expressed his hope for the consulta to draw out ideas for helping "the descendants of the original Christians in the land made holy by the presence of Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ."

"Pioneer In Atlanta Permanent Diaconate, Deacon Tom Zaworski, Is First Silver Jubilarian"

It is always my preference to post pictures with an article when possible. However, I may have posted this one rather hastily this morning. Going back and looking at it, I'm realizing I must have been half asleep. I try to maintain a high level of fidelity to the Magisterium on this blog, as well as upholding the beauty and dignity of the Church and vocations in the stories and pictures I post. Somehow this photo slipped through. I'm not quite sure what that is in the background (carpet? quilt?), and I'm even more concerned by the flagon of wine on the altar. The Church has been very clear that the Precious Blood of Our Lord is NOT to be poured. Since there is a pall on the chalice and there are concelebrating priests around the altar, I can only assume that the wine in flagon is there to be consecrated, not because someone forgot to remove it from the altar. My apologies - I'll make sure I've had more coffee before posting!

From The Georgia Bulletin

By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer

FAYETTEVILLE-The journey toward Deacon Tom Zaworski's silver jubilee has been wrought with personal triumphs and, at times, painful challenges.

But it was all worth it March 19, as he celebrated 25 years as a permanent deacon, the first silver jubilarian in the history of the archdiocese's permanent diaconate program.

At the Church of St. Gabriel, where Deacon Zaworski serves, fellow deacons joined their brother in ministry to celebrate his jubilee. Archbishop John F. Donoghue celebrated the Mass, along with several priests under whom Deacon Zaworski has served, including St. Gabriel pastor Father Jimmy Adams.

Deacon Zaworski's jubilee Mass reflected his strong Catholic foundation, as well as his active involvement in the ecumenical community. Rev. Dr. John Hatcher of Rivers Edge Community Church, Fayetteville, offered the second reading, while Msgr. Frank Giusta, with whom Deacon Zaworski has served in several parishes, gave the homily.

Msgr. Giusta, who has been on special assignment in El Paso, Texas, said he met Deacon Zaworski in 1976, while he was in the diaconate formation program.

"It was the first time I had been in contact with a permanent deacon, and I was very interested," he said.

The permanent diaconate program was restored in the United States in 1968. Msgr. Giusta spoke of the challenges Deacon Zaworski faced on the road to ordination, namely, opposition from members of the church concerning this new ministry.

"Tom Zaworski never gave up," he said. "At times he was sincerely discouraged, but he kept going anyhow."

Many dioceses in the United States do not have permanent deacons, Msgr. Giusta told the congregation.

"I think something would be missing in our church community without deacons," he said.

Deacon Zaworski honored Msgr. Giusta by asking him to give the homily at his jubilee Mass, he said.

"Whenever (Deacon Zaworski) makes a commitment he follows through," he said. "He never tired to go to the hospital, to visit the sick . . . to prepare people to receive (the sacraments). And he never tires to preach and to pray."

Following Communion, Archbishop Donoghue offered his gratitude for the jubilarian, as well as for all the deacons of the archdiocese, who now number 153. He spoke of the first deacon of the church, St. Stephen, who suffered martyrdom for speaking the truth of Jesus.

"I think that's very appropriate and applies very well to Rev. Mr. Zaworski," he said. "He preaches what he believes is truth, day in and day out, not just in what he says, but in the way he lives his life."

"I am grateful to Tom and the many other deacons in our archdiocese," he said. "I want to thank all the deacons who serve this archdiocese with such generosity. We are far richer because of their service."

The archbishop also offered thanks to the deacons' wives and prayed that the future would bring more vocations to the church.

"Deacons could never be successful unless they had the cooperation and support of their wives," he said. "I pray that the Lord will continue to bless the church with many more vocations to the priesthood, to Religious life and to the permanent diaconate. As this church continues to grow, many more laborers will be needed to feed the flock."

Though he has been feeding the flock for 25 years as a deacon and even longer when his lay ministry is included, Deacon Zaworski has worked hard to get where he is.

In 1968, as a layman, he was ministering at the state prison in Jackson. At that time, there were no priests, or anyone serving the Catholic inmates, Deacon Zaworski said. After an interview with the inmates to determine their religious belief, if there was a Catholic slant to their answers, then Deacon Zaworski would notify a priest in that area.

"At that time six percent of the inmate population were Catholics who had never been served," he said.

In 1969, Archbishop Thomas Donnellan asked Father Frank Ruff, a Glenmary priest, to investigate establishing the diaconate. The priest approached four men including Zaworski with the idea of becoming deacons.

"It was not a total shock to me (that I had a vocation)," he said, adding that he and his wife had long prayed for vocations in their family of four sons. "We were quite certain with four boys that a vocation would come about. Well, it did come about-it came about to me."

Working for Delta Airlines as a flight superintendent, Deacon Zaworski was fortunate to work in various shifts, allowing him more time to minister. He began his formation in 1970, but the program itself was "on again, off again," as Archbishop Donnellan pondered the role that deacons would have in the archdiocese.

Finally, in 1974, the diocese made arrangements for the diaconate classes to be taught at Our Lady of Holy Spirit Abbey in Conyers. Deacon Zaworski and the late Deacon Charles Moore completed their formation and were ordained in 1977. Thus began the uphill climb.

"We were met with a lot of resistance from clergy, a lot of resistance from the laity," he recalled. "People didn't understand who we were, what we were about and what we were going to do."

He said it was especially difficult for his wife, Helen, because she was excluded. Many people had a hard time accepting a married minister of the church, he said.

Deacon Zaworski first served at St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro, and in 1980 began full-time jail ministry. He was also the first chaplain for the Clayton County Sheriff's Department. He served in this capacity until 1984 when he was reassigned to St. Philip Benizi.

In 1987, he helped to begin the new mission of St. Gabriel. From 1989-95, he served as a pastoral assistant at Fort McPherson, until funds were cut off for his position and he began serving with Msgr. Giusta at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Atlanta.

He stayed there until 1999, and then began working as a chaplain at Fayette Community Hospital. In 1999 he was reassigned to St. Gabriel, where he currently serves.

His life has also been marked by personal tragedy, as two of his sons died-his 16-year-old son of cancer in 1973, and his 21-year-old son in an accident in 1984.

However, the deacon has also received much happiness from his ministry.

"One of the greatest joys I have ever had has been the witnessing of my third son's marriage and the baptism of his two kids," he said.

Though it has been a roller coaster ride, Deacon Zaworski said it has all been worth it because "I am doing what God wanted me to do. He didn't promise me a rose garden."

He said he is fortunate to have a "wonderful and very, very devoted, spiritual wife."

Helen Zaworski said that she is a proud wife and that it showed during the jubilee Mass.

"It was a very nice celebration. I felt happy to see him recognized for what he has contributed-many times not under the best circumstances," she said. "We have come through all of this and it has strengthened our faith and, I think, our marriage."

"Many types of vocations blooming in Missouri diocese"

From Catholic News Agency
By Jack Smith

Encouraging and supporting vocations to the priesthood and religious life has been a top priority for Bishop Robert Finn since his installation in the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph. Currently, the diocese has nearly 30 men studying to become diocesan priests while others have been called to nearby religious orders.

While 27 men are currently in various stages of formation to serve as diocesan priests in the diocese, others have been called to different communities. Over the past year, at least three women and one young man from the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph entered religious life in other dioceses. Our Lady of Good Counsel parishioner Rebecca Restivo entered the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan. St. Pius X grad Therese Ringel and St. Mary's High School alumna Lisa Gordon both entered the School Sisters of Christ the King in Lincoln, Nebraska. O'Hara High School grad and Benedictine alumn, Carl Baker, recently became a novice at St. Benedict's Abbey in Atchison, Kansas.

When asked if Baker was the “fish that got away,” Keith Jiron, Director of the Office of Vocations for the diocese remarked that they would “never say 'don't do the order' out of our own greed because we have to be faithful to God's call in their own life."

Vince Huber, a local man studying Theology in Rome for the Apostles of the Interior Life, spoke with the Catholic Key, the newspaper from the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph, about his journey to the religious life. Huber is the oldest of four children to Randy and Debbie Huber. He grew up first at St. Peter Parish in Kansas City and then Nativity in Leawood.

When Huber began studies at the University of Kansas, he felt he had a big decision to make - Would he continue to go to Mass each Sunday? "The whole experience of going to college was very important," Huber said. Now with independence, he had the ability to decide if he really wanted to go to Mass. If he did, he "didn't want to go just because my family did."

Deciding that he would go to Mass, Huber felt he must make a full and conscious commitment to his faith. He first decided to pray daily. In his sophomore year he began going to Mass daily at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center and made a commitment to pray for a half hour before classes. "That experience of prayer really started transforming me," Huber said. Huber also began taking theology classes at the Center.

Aside from deepening his spiritual life, Huber also acquired a girlfriend in his sophomore year. Already though, the seed of a vocation began to surface. "The night we broke up," Huber explained, his girlfriend said, "I think you need to be a priest." It may have been said with a touch of anger, but it was also the truth.

One influence on Huber's discernment of a vocation was the Center's director, Monsignor Vincent Krishe (then Father Krishe). It wasn't necessarily any conversation they had, Huber explained, "The most important thing was his presence and what he had done at the Center. He represented Christ to us as students." The Center had begun an hour of Eucharistic adoration at 6:00 a.m. daily. When the leader of that group had to drop his involvement because of conflicts with schedule, "Father Vince took over," Huber said. Huber was profoundly moved by Father Vince's example and commitment. He kept it going for an hour each day even though much of the time, Huber and Father Vince were the only two there.

Following his junior year, Huber took the summer off in order to seriously discern a call to the priesthood. He even began the process to enroll for studies with the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

But then in his senior year, Sisters from the Apostles of the Interior Life joined the staff at the Lawrence Center and his life took a different direction. He began receiving spiritual direction from the Sisters and eventually felt "called to be an Apostle instead of entering the diocesan seminary."

Huber had already wanted to be a priest and was "inspired by the priestly life." Some things attracted him more than others. An aspect of the priesthood that most attracted Huber was "forming people in the image of Christ and the Sisters were doing that." While he was inspired also by the priest's role as minister of the Sacraments, he also saw the importance and need of "preparing people to receive the Sacraments well," which was another thing the Sisters were doing.

These were things Huber felt called to, while at the same time he was realizing that a "parish priest has to do so many very practical things," which while essential to the life of the Church, were not where his interest or calling led.

The Apostles of the Interior Life are consecrated women dedicated to evangelization and the "interior formation of all who seek to know and love Jesus Christ." They were founded under the direction of Father Salvatore Scorza, a priest of the Diocese of Rome. The first member, Sister Susan Pieper, is an American and the group has houses both in the U.S. and Italy. In 2002, Father Scorza founded a men's branch which consisting of men from the U.S. and Italy, including Vince Huber, who live in community in Rome and are studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical University of St. John Lateran. More information about the Apostles, their ministries and charism can be found at www.apostlesofil.org.

Like most vocation stories, Huber's includes his family. "A vocation doesn't come out of nowhere," Huber said, "I've been privileged to have a great family. They've always been a model of love and faithfulness to each other." It's a model which will serve Huber well.

Central Michigan University SGA vice president attending seminary after graduation

From CM Life.com

By Dana DeFever

On a typical Thursday night, Brad Sjoquist is at St. Mary's Catholic Parish, kneeling among his peers while leading them in the Rosary.

The weekly gathering of the Catholic fellowship group is practice for what he will devote his life to.

In May, the Student Government Association vice president will graduate with Spanish and psychology majors and a philosophy minor. Afterward, he plans to go on to study to become a priest at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He currently is in the process of being accepted.

"That is sort of where I'll be the happiest right now," the Kingsford senior said. "My faith is really what animates me."

Religion a top priority

Sjoquist has spent a lot of time contemplating his decision and in the end, its pros outweighs the cons, he said.

As a priest, Sjoquist would be working with people during their happiest and saddest moments. Investing in people, whether making time to have lunch with good friends or praying for those around him, is what fuels Sjoquist.

The Rev. Will Prospero at St. Mary's said Sjoquist possesses such qualities as humility and makes an effort to get to know and see God in all people. Sjoquist also has a generous spirit, and volunteers within the parish, he said.

"A man of his gifts could be intimating to some people. He's humble," Prospero said. "He truly has the heart of a servant."

Sjoquist considered attending law school before deciding to go into the seminary. However, as much as he considered other options, he knew neither choice would make him as happy in the long run.

Close friend and roommate Sean Nolan said he was not surprised by Sjoquist's decision.

"I think that is a big part of who Brad is," the Muskegon senior said.

Sjoquist has had a great effect on those around him, including Nolan.

Nolan said Sjoquist helped him grow as a Catholic by praying together, encouraging him to go to confession and simply answering questions that Nolan had.

"He pushes in a good kind of way. It's encouraging," Nolan said.

Before coming to Central Michigan University, Sjoquist deliberated about going into the seminary right out of high school. But after receiving the Centralis Scholar Award - a full-ride scholarship - he decided to attend CMU.

"Central was one of the last places I wanted to come," Sjoquist said. "It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made."

Read the rest of the article HERE.

Church out to amplify 'the call'

Recruiting priests no easy job

From the Cincinnati Enquirer

By Dan Horn
Photo by Amie Dworecki

The Rev. Kyle Schnippel places his prayer book on the table and takes a seat, waiting for the future of the Catholic Church to arrive.

It's an early Monday morning in November and Schnippel is among dozens of job recruiters preparing to make a pitch to students at La Salle High School. He hopes to find a few interested in the priesthood, but he knows he could be in for a long morning.

He's competing for the teens' attention with engineers who have built high-tech equipment, businessmen who run multimillion- dollar companies and military recruiters with cool gear and tales of adventure.

"They have better toys," the priest says of his competition.

But if anyone can convince teenage boys to consider a lifetime of celibacy, prayer and a $24,000 salary, it's Schnippel.

At 31, he's one of the youngest priests in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He talks easily to teenagers, carries a BlackBerry and once earned the nickname "Rock Star Priest" from high school students impressed by his youth and shaved head.

Schnippel is part of a younger, more aggressive generation of priest recruiters determined to expand the ranks of a profession that in recent years has diminished in size and prestige.

Recruiters often travel hundreds of miles a week to schools and job fairs in search of young men who feel "the call" to the priesthood but need some encouragement to heed that call.

They use time-honored methods, such as heart-to-heart talks and meetings with parents, while at the same time embracing the modern tools of a corporate recruiter: PowerPoint presentations, informational videos and glossy handouts vetted by focus groups.

They also bring an unabashed passion to a job the Catholic Church had, until recently, taken for granted.

"I can't emphasize this enough," Schnippel told the La Salle students that morning. "I love being a priest. I love what I do."

Schnippel's mission - and the mission of recruiters like him across the country - takes on greater urgency as a worsening shortage of priests threatens parishes, programs and the spiritual life of the American church.

The number of Catholic priests in the United States has fallen by about 30 percent since 1965, from about 58,000 to 40,000, while the nation's Catholic population has risen by 40 percent. In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the number of priests has tumbled from 466 to 278 in less than four decades.

The trend has forced the church to trim programs, move priests out of Catholic schools and end the practice of assigning almost every parish a full-time pastor.

The clergy abuse scandal made the recruiters' job tougher, but the numbers had been falling for decades as smaller and increasingly wealthy Catholic families opted to send their sons to college instead of the seminary.

Cincinnati's next archbishop, the Most Rev. Dennis Schnurr, has said reversing the decline will be a priority when he takes over sometime next year. He and other church leaders know they can't sit back and wait, as they did in the 1950s and 1960s, for young men to enroll in seminaries already flush with students.

"I don't think there's any seminary that doesn't have some kind of active recruitment plan in place," said the Rev. Francis S. Tebbe, president of the Catholic Coalition on Preaching. "We didn't have to do it before. We were filled."

'A busy life'

Schnippel's daily calendar is a constant reminder that recruiting is a priority. As the archdiocese's vocations director, he's on the road most days and had a total of five nights off in October and November.

"I try to go where the young people are," Schnippel said. "It's a busy but exciting life."

His visit to La Salle's career day was typical of the events that pack his schedule. The 15 kids who attended the three half-hour sessions expressed varying degrees of interest, ranging from a boy who was active in his church to one who wasn't even Catholic.

"That's kind of a requirement for the priesthood," Schnippel told the non-Catholic with a laugh. "But we'll work around it."

Patience and good humor are crucial because Schnippel can spend a year traveling the archdiocese's 19 counties to find just a half dozen new recruits. The archdiocese has 28 students in its seven-year seminary program and averages five graduates a year.

Schnippel, who hopes to triple the number of graduates, wants to make sure potential recruits don't dismiss the priesthood because of peer pressure, parental expectations or worries about how society perceives priests today.

He tells potential recruits that the call to the priesthood often comes quietly and can be drowned out by the noisy world around them.

"There are rarely trumpets or midnight visions," Schnippel said. "If only it were that simple."

Schnippel begins his presentations by telling prospective recruits why he dropped out of a pre-med honors program at Ohio State University to enroll in the seminary. He described feeling pulled to the church, not by a clear voice from God, but by a persistent feeling his life had another purpose.

"I gave it up to become a priest. I do not regret it one bit," he told the La Salle students. "To be a priest is to be a man for others."

The personal story struck a chord with some of the boys.

"When he said he dropped med school for it, that was impressive," said Kevin Gines, 16, a junior who is considering religious life. "I'm not sure I'm that called."

Marketing the priesthood

Schnippel senses the uncertainty in many students, and he understands it. The decision to give up everything they are expected to want - a secular job, a family, a big house - is a tough one for anyone, let alone a young man just beginning his adult life.

Chris Winiarski, the director of campus ministry at La Salle, said a student once told him he felt called to the priesthood but was trying to "push it out" of his mind.

"Our kids just don't hear this message," Winiarski said. "They hear you've got to get the newest cell phone, the best car. It's something that isn't grasped overnight."

Schnippel and other recruiters try to change that dynamic by changing the way they get their message to young people. They recognize that while the spiritual aspect of the priesthood is crucial, prospective priests also have practical concerns about the low pay, the lifestyle and the commitment to seven more years of school.

The La Salle students don't ask many questions, but Schnippel knows from experience what they're thinking.

"What about celibacy?" he asked. "Will I be lonely?"

He answered his own question by telling them how fulfilling it is to devote his life to Christ. He described the humility of presiding over the funeral of a child and the responsibility of absolving someone of their sins.

But he also talked about the family and friends who make his personal life rewarding, about going to football games, cooking out with friends and doing the things anyone else might enjoy.

Modern recruiting techniques help get that message out. Schnippel sometimes uses a PowerPoint presentation and hands out DVDs on priestly life.

He also can direct recruits to a church Web site, www.cincinnati vocations.org, which addresses some of the thorniest questions facing recruits and their families.

Click on the heading "I like women" and recruits will be assured that feeling sexual attraction "does not preclude us from being called to the priesthood." Click on the heading "We want grandkids" and parents will be urged to reflect on the impact a priest has on others, and to accept their son's sacrifice as their own.

"Forty years ago, we sent you a letter and maybe a visit," Tebbe said. "Now, we have blogs, sophisticated Web sites and text messages. This is how young people communicate. It's how we reach them now."

Personal touch matters

Recruiters even use the most modern of marketing techniques: the focus group.

What they have learned, Schnippel said, is that acknowledging a priest's life is hard can be a strong selling point. He said the slogan teens responded to most favorably was "a life of sacrifice."

"It's almost a reaction against the narcissism of our culture," Schnippel said. "This is so radically different from that. It causes guys to sit up and take notice."

But slogans and marketing campaigns can't change the fact that many of those drawn to the priesthood need time to make up their minds.

Schnippel said that's why personal contact still matters most.

Recruiters sometimes invest years in a potential recruit, keeping in contact through phone calls, text messages or an occasional visit. They also try to match recruits with mentors who can give them a sense of the job before they commit to it.

Brian Phelps, 28, a seminarian at Mount St. Mary's in Mount Washington, needed years to decide the priesthood was right for him. "I realized something was missing," he said. "I was doing everything I wanted to do, but something was missing."

Schnippel knows Phelps' story is typical. As he speaks to the kids at La Salle, his expectation is not to walk out with a dozen commitments to the seminary.

Maybe a few will become priests someday, or maybe they will just spend a little time reflecting on how they'll use their God-given abilities to run businesses, build skyscrapers or raise families.
Either way, Schnippel will walk away feeling he's done his job.

"The challenge I give you guys is to be remarkable," Schnippel told the students as his session ended. "Don't be humdrum. God has given you the gifts to do something dramatic in this world. Take him up on that challenge."

"In Italy, convents are emptying"

From St. Louis Today
By Christine Spolar
MCT
11/27/2008

BOLOGNA, Italy — This city of red brick towers and delicately painted porticoes once boasted the most convents of any city in Italy: Nearly 100 sanctuaries sprang up in the 16th century for women committed to teaching, caring for the ill and giving their lives to God.

These days, the nuns of Bologna are part of an uncomfortable countdown in Italy and the rest of the Roman Catholic world. Every week, it seems, there are fewer nuns, fewer convents with full houses and almost no Italians who care to make the commitment to a wholly religious life.

Schools and hospitals, in particular, have seen a loyal work force wane. Nuns from the order of Serve di Maria Addolorata di Chioggia left their convent in the Villa Erbosa private hospital in the last week of October. There were four sisters left of the dozens who used to cater to the physical and spiritual needs of the sick.

Across town at Ospedale Sant’Orsola, 40 nuns were among the caregivers. Now there are six, and they are mostly too old to work hard or long. Sister Superior Maria, 79, admits no one else is knocking at the door.

Schools in this renowned university town long ago gave up relying on Italian nuns as educators. The drop in nurses parallels work trends across Italy. The most fresh-faced nuns and novices taking up the hard chores in Bologna now hail from Africa and India.

The most populous convent — with 300 nuns — is home to mostly African and Indian women. It is a cultural leap in conservative Italy, where immigration itself is relatively new. As one nun explained: "Our culture is a European culture and theirs is completely different. ... Sometimes the Italians misunderstand them and sometimes they misunderstand the Italians. It’s not constant, but no doubt there are difficulties."

But the new novices also bear some things in common to their Italian elders. They do not come from wealth or have expectations that, as Sister Maria explained, can overshadow their religious prospects.

"The young in Italy have TV. They have cell phones. They have these laptops they carry around," the nun said quietly, her slight voice echoing across the wide hallway of the convent. "When you are going to discos, how can you expect to hear the word of God? You need silence to hear God."

The vanishing of Italian nuns reflects a decades-long trend within the Roman Catholic Church, as gender barriers in education and jobs fell in Western countries.

Changing demographics also played a role. Smaller families — Italy has one of the lowest birthrates in Europe — meant fewer parents were seeking help from the church.

When families were larger, they were more likely to send a girl to a convent, said 80-year-old Sister Domenica Cremonini, who first walked into Visitandine dell’Immacolata when she was 11. Sister Domenica, a tiny, bright-eyed keeper of the faith, is also the keeper of records inside the vast monastery walls.

The oldest nun among the seven sisters of the Visitandine is 94, she said. The last novice who came under Sister Domenica’s watch is now 70. Still, this convent is doing well compared to its neighbors. Down the street, at Figlie del Sacro Cuore di Gesu, the number of nuns has slipped to two — one below the standard that designates a religious community.

Sister Enrica Martignoni, who directs novice schools in Bologna, said the number of nuns has dropped by more than a third in Italy since the 1990s. Recent years add little hope: In 2007 there were 856 nuns. In 2008 the figure fell to 808.

"When I joined, you’d have 25 novices in a class. Now you might have one," Sister Enrica said. "And yes, of course, we worry. There are a lot of people who pray over this."

Sister Domenica said she believes young religious women working in the community are an important spiritual component to well-being.

"We nuns add something. In the hospital, they tell me we are like good health — and when we are not around, you fall sick. I am not saying the doctors or nurses are not good, but nuns bring another kind of spirit."

The Vatican has reported in statistical surveys that the number of Catholics in religious orders around the world has declined. The latest worldwide data from 2006 found 993,171 active and cloistered nuns — a drop of 7,887 from 2005. The biggest drop was seen among active community-based nuns, with 753,400 in 2006, down from 760,529. Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate focused on the U.S. nun population since 1965, when there were 173,865 religious women. By 2000 the U.S. nun population had dropped to 80,000, records show.

Native-born Italians who come to convents now tend to be older, more educated and much more weary of the worldly life they have been leading. All the nuns interviewed said they see a spurt in the proportion of nuns seeking the cloistered life.

"There’s a lack of nuns," Sister Enrica said. "But if someone wants to become a nun, more and more, she wants to be in a cloister.

"Perhaps when you face so much superficiality in life, people want to pull away from it all," she said. "They feel a need for an interior life. Because society doesn’t offer that much anymore."

"Growing numbers train to be priests"

From Irish Times
By Patsy McGarry

IT IS “a myth” to say there is a continuing dearth of vocations to the Catholic priesthood in Ireland, the church’s national co-ordinator of diocesan vocations, Fr Paddy Rushe, has said.

Noting that 30 men entered seminaries to train as priests in Ireland last September, with 31 having done so in September 2007 and 30 in September 2006, he contrasted this with the situation at the beginning of the decade when, in 2000 for instance, 13 men entered. Of that number nine were ordained last year.

Of those entering in recent years, he expected that at least 18 would be ordained in each year. “The problem is that when people sign up, it takes six or seven years for them to be ready,” Fr Rushe said.

This meant that “we are only starting to see people emerge who signed up in 2001, which was a bad year for the Catholic Church as scandals broke and we were at the height of the Celtic Tiger”.

Should the numbers of seminarians continue to rise, he expected an influx of new priests to the Irish Catholic Church by 2014.

He forecast that “in 2014 we will see twice, if not three times as many new priests emerging”.

Another factor, Fr Rushe added, was that while the average age of seminarians in Maynooth now was about 34, this was coming down. In his own diocese of Armagh the average age of entrants was 24. Currently there are 70 men training for the priesthood at St Patrick’s College Maynooth.

Others are training for service in Ireland at St Malachy’s College, Belfast, in Rome and in Spain.

Despite increased seminarian numbers Fr Rushe believes that church structures will still have to be changed. “Some parishes these days have only one priest, making it impossible for someone to take a holiday,” he said.

He said the church’s vocations drive was now pro-active and contemporary. “We have a YouTube site, a website, we go to recruitment shows, whatever has to be done.”

On the Clergy Shortage

"It’s not just oil, priests are also a scarce resource"
From Intermountain Catholic
By Priscilla Cabral

SALT LAKE CITY — The number of Catholics and the number of priestly and religious vocations in the world has increased thanks to the vitality of faith in Africa and Asia, said the last edition of the Yearly Statistics of the Church. However, there has not been an increase in the number of priests in America and the need for priests is evident in the United States. In this country, approximately 41,000 priests serve over 64 million Catholics; a number of parishes have had to receive foreign priests to compensate the scarceness.

Nevertheless, there is trust that “God has never abandoned, and will never abandon, his Church. God is still inciting vocations to his service,” said Father Javier Virgen, vicar for Hispanic Affairs.

Then, why is the number of priests increasing in Africa and Asia while the numbers in the U.S. remain stable?

A survey to seminarians in the U.S. and Canada – made by the Secretariat for Vocations and Priestly Formation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – pointed a materialistic culture as the biggest hurdle to an increase of vocations in North America.

“The materialistic environment makes young men and women focus on a lucrative profession,” said Fr. Virgen.

The values of service and generosity are shadowed by selfishness and individualism, he added. “They don’t make the decision to pour themselves for others.”

There is also the lack of appreciation for celibacy. According to Fr. Virgen, the message from fashion, music, magazines, and other media say: “Let yourself be driven by pleasure.”

“But celibacy is not reduced to sex,” said Fr. Virgen. “Celibacy is a commitment of love and generosity.”

It is also “a symbol and a sacrifice that is offered in order to be consecrated to the community,” said Father Langes Silva, judicial vicar for the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

“The commitment of the priest with his community would possibly not be as devoted as it would be without the vow of celibacy,” he said before adding that Saint Paul considered that if a man has to choose between marriage and devoting his life to God, then the obvious option is to choose a life dedicated to the Creator.

Still, there are some who think St. Paul’s recommendation is no longer adequate to the current situation of the Church.

“The promise to celibacy is a disciplinary norm, which means the Church can change. I think this will be debated thoroughly,” said Fr. Silva. (It may be debated, but the discipline will not change any time soon and there is no sense that even if it did, that a married clergy will "solve" the vocations shortage)

Among those who are opposed to a change on celibacy is Fr. Virgen. This vow is “the way to pour yourself in body and soul using your talents and gifts to serve others in the name of your love for God,” he said.

Materialism and depreciation for celibacy are not the only factors in the lack of priests. The number of men that would consider the priesthood significantly depends on how priests are perceived. “The priest has a relevant role in society… He is someone active in society, an extremely prepared person, not only on spirituality, but also in the professional life aspects such as education, finance, family, politics,” said Fr. Silva.

A priest is also a “happy, satisfied person who irradiates,” said Fr. Virgen.

A few priests have given the Church a negative light with financial, sexual, and substance abuse scandals, said Fr. Silva.

On the other hand, a committed priest is an effective tool in generating more priests. The Secretariat of Vocations revealed that more than 70 percent of the seminarians who were surveyed received a personal invitation to consider the priesthood from a priest.

Yet, those considering a priestly or religious life said their families were their main source of motivation.

Parents should “educate their children in the Christian faith and invite them to respond to the vocation for which they are called,” said Fr. Virgen. The community also has the obligation to “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field,” he said.

Meanwhile, in anticipation to a crisis, bishops, religious brothers and sisters, academics, and different groups have started to debate the possibility of including women and married men as candidates to receive the sacrament of the priestly order, said Fr. Silva. (Debate away, woman will not be ordained to the Priesthood. From Pope John Paul II in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis - "Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.")

But the change that we will probably see is that “The commitment of the lay will increase and they will assume greater responsibilities in every kind of authority,” said Fr. Silva.

An Update on the Soccer Pro turned Seminarian

Part of me is hesitant to post another story about Chase Hilgenbrinck. Then again I am very happy to post about him. While Chase has created more positive media attention about vocations to the priesthood than anybody I can think of, I'm not sure if it puts him in a good situation from a formation and discernment standpoint. Seminary is enough of a challenge without the pitfalls of celebrity. And from the point of discernment, I would imagine it is even more challenging. What if he should discern that he is not called to the Priesthood? Most seminarians, discerning they are not called, have to work through the reality of telling their friends and family, as well as the many people from their parish and diocese, and they have to deal with the sense that they are "letting people down." Can you imagine the pressure that will be placed on Chase Hilgenbrinck? Should he leave the seminary, just imagine the articles then! I'm sure that there are other challenges as well, like being the celebrity seminarian amongst your peers. However, all this said, what a blessing he has been for the promotion of vocations. Since the story broke of his announcement to leave professional soccer for the seminary, I have seen several dozen stories done on him in high profile media outlets. There is no question that he has lended a very credible and relevant voice to the fact that God is still calling men to His Priesthood. So I post the story below with some reluctance, but with a great deal of joy and daily prayers for Chase and all the seminarians in the Church! May they draw closer to the Eucharistic heart of Christ everyday, and may Mary Our Mother watch over them always.

"Faith-Based Initiative"
For Chase Hilgenbrinck, a Professional Soccer Career Was a Dream. But Priesthood Was a Calling.

From The Washington Post
By Kathy Orton

Photo by Katherine Frey

Chase Hilgenbrinck sat in his apartment in Chile, clutching the phone, full of nervous energy. He was about to make a call that would change his life forever. After spending more than two years agonizing over his decision in solitude, Hilgenbrinck finally decided he was ready to tell someone of his intention to become a priest. (This does a great job of expressing what many a diserner goes through before making the call to a Vocations Office.)

That September 2007 day, the first person he called was not his mother, father, brother or girlfriend, but the vocations director of the Peoria, Ill., diocese, a man he had never met.

"I was nervous on the phone," Hilgenbrinck said. "I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth."

Father Brian Brownsey was thrilled to receive the call. It's not every day a professional soccer player phones to say he wants to join the priesthood.

Though many professional athletes have gone into ministry, usually with Protestant churches, most do so after their careers have ended. Few leave during their prime. Hilgenbrinck, a 26-year-old defender, had signed his first MLS contract earlier this year after four years of playing professionally in Chile. He had made it, achieving a dream he'd had since childhood. And now he was leaving it all behind to serve God.

Starting with his seventh-grade teacher, people had been telling Hilgenbrinck that he should become a priest. He was flattered, of course, but he really didn't think priesthood was for him. He wanted to play soccer.

Hilgenbrinck was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family in Bloomington, Ill. He and his brother Blaise were altar servers at Holy Trinity Church and attended Catholic schools through junior high. When it came time for high school, they had a decision to make: attend the Catholic high school with their friends or go to the public high school where they could continue their budding soccer careers.

With his family's support, Hilgenbrinck chose soccer over his religious education, a decision that contrasted with the one he would make more than a decade later. He believed the public high school provided him with the best opportunity to earn an athletic scholarship to college.

"That's what my future was at that time," Hilgenbrinck said.

Clemson offered him a scholarship and Hilgenbrinck picked the Tigers mostly because he felt their program would prepare him for a professional career. The ACC is widely considered the best soccer conference in the country, and Clemson is usually one of the stronger teams.

It wasn't only his soccer career that took off at Clemson. Being on his own for the first time, Hilgenbrinck discovered new depths to his Catholicism. He became actively involved in the Catholic student organization. As a freshman, Hilgenbrinck volunteered to lead his teammates in a prayer before each game.

"I grew up Catholic, but it was an inherited faith," he said. "I believed because my parents believed. . . . It was [at Clemson] that I didn't have to be there [at church]. I didn't have to believe anything. It was then that I really made the faith my own. I would say that's the first step toward what I am doing today, although at that time I still didn't feel that I was called [to be a priest], nor did I want to be."

With no offers from the MLS after college, Hilgenbrinck headed to Chile on a one-way plane ticket, hoping to catch on with a team there. At first, he was miserable. Homesick and lonely, he turned to the one constant in his life outside of soccer, his faith.

"That was really when I saw Christ as a friend more than this godly figure that I can't touch," he said. "My faith now became not just something that I should do and what I started to enjoy, but it was now my rock."

With more free time on his hands than he knew what to do with, Hilgenbrinck set a goal of reading the entire Bible. He read books on Catholicism, particularly those by Scott Hahn and Karl Keating that his parents gave him. He also prayed regularly.

"It started out a lot with me doing all the talking and me trying to say everything that I needed to get out," he said. "But it was in the silent times of prayer, whenever I shut up, it was like, 'Okay, now feel this.' . . . This idea of the priesthood kept permeating my heart. It was just there all the time."

The way he describes it, Hilgenbrinck's call to the priesthood came gradually. It is not like he woke up one day and God told him to become a priest.

"No miracles happened here," he said. "It was just I felt that way, and it progressively got stronger every single day for two years."

At first he resisted. He did not want to be a priest. All he could think of were the negatives. To begin with, he'd have to give up soccer. But that wasn't even the biggest obstacle for him.

"I can't be married," he said. "I can't have kids, and that was scary because I'd always envisioned myself as a married man."

Besides, he loved playing soccer. He was doing well with his team in Chile, Nublense. He figured he could just wait until his career was over before he had to make a decision. Then he read Hahn's book, "Rome Sweet Home" and came across the line, "delayed obedience is disobedience."

"That just spoke to me so clearly," he said. "Not only as just something I was reading that helped me along, but I took that as a sign because I was really struggling with that at the time. . . . That definitely gave me the strength to say, 'Okay, I'm not going to wait until my career is over.' "

In time, all the barriers he put up fell away, and Hilgenbrinck realized he was destined to become a priest. But before he told his family and friends, he wanted to make sure the church would accept him. He called Brownsey and began the extensive application process, which included written exams, essays, background checks, fingerprinting and evaluations by three psychologists.

"They do want to make sure they're making the right decision," he said. "Obviously, with the scandal that we've had in the Catholic church in the past few years, that mistake doesn't want to be repeated. So there's going to be a rigorous screening process for anybody who really feels called to this."

When he finally broke the news to his parents -- he had not wanted to get their hopes up until he was sure the church would accept him -- they were shocked.

"It probably took me, it seems like a long time, but probably 20 seconds before I even said anything," Mike Hilgenbrinck said. "I think [his first words were] probably 'Oh my gosh, Chase, I'm so proud of you.' We're so supportive of that decision. It's just an honor that one of our sons was chosen by God to become a priest."

Even as he was pursuing the priesthood, Hilgenbrinck had not given up on his dream of playing on an MLS team. He signed a contract with the Colorado Rapids in January, but was cut for salary cap reasons. Then in March, the New England Revolution brought him in for a tryout. The team offered him a short-term contract, one that lasted only until midseason.

Hilgenbrinck had been wrestling with whether he should tell the team of his intentions or keep quiet. When the Revolution made its offer, he saw it as another sign. He appeared in four games, starting one, before telling the team in early July he was leaving for the seminary.

"I will say it's a bit unusual to hear that from a player," said Mike Burns, the Revolution's vice president of player personnel. "It's not the norm, that's for sure."

Burns said the Revolution would have happily kept around the left-footed left back.

"He was just a guy you could depend on," Burns said. "He was a consummate professional both on and off the field. He came to play every day and gave you everything he had."

Snuggled into the Catoctin Mountains near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg is a quiet, contemplative place. The 200-year-old school, the second-oldest Catholic university in the country, educates lay students as well as future priests. Hilgenbrinck will spend the next six years studying philosophy and theology with the other 22 first-year seminarians.

His arrival created a bit of a fuss around the usually staid seminary. Though he has received more media attention than any of his classmates, Hilgenbrinck has been welcomed by them unconditionally, according to Monsignor Steven Rohlfs, the seminary's rector.

"He's very popular with the men, and they consider him just one of the guys," Rohlfs said.

"It's too early to tell [if Hilgenbrinck will make a good priest], but he has all the external signs of it. He has a desire to want to do what God wants him to do. He's prayerful. He's energetic, and he has a pleasant personality and is a hard worker."

Hilgenbrinck's days are too hectic to allow him time to lament the void left by soccer. When his schedule allows it, he trains with the Mount St. Mary's team. He competed in the Rector's Cup, a soccer competition among the seminaries. But it's not the same as being on the field with an MLS team.

"Yes, of course" he misses soccer, he said, wistfully. "I definitely do, and getting to the point that I was at, playing professionally, that was always the dream, where I wanted to be."

Nonetheless, Hilgenbrinck appears content and at peace with his decision. He says he has no regrets about becoming a priest. Nor would he have wished his journey to this point would have gone differently.

"I feel very blessed to have lived the life that I have leading up to this point, and in no way would I trade it to do even what I am doing now," he said. "I feel blessed that the Lord allowed me to fulfill my dreams before pulling me into His plans for me. Not only is His will perfect, but His time is perfect as well. The timing of my call was meant to be exactly when it happened."

Students Learn About Vocations

UPDATE: The sisters in the photo to the left are members of the Trinitarians of Mary. For more information about their order go to their website - HERE. (H/t to the Anchoress!)

From Grand Rapids Press
by Aaron Ogg

Photo at left: Vista Charter Academy student Mitzie Guillen, who wants to become a nun, laughs with Sister Veronica Escudero, center, and Sister Ines Shoskey, right. They were listening the Rev. Dominic Grassi, at a rally on Saturday at Catholic Central High School.

GRAND RAPIDS -- Mitzie Guillen has a few rites of passage yet to hurdle: first day of high school, first driver's license, first chance to vote.

However, the 14-year-old Vista Charter Academy eighth-grader already is sizing up another: the right to wear a habit.

"I'm looking for more information," Mitzie said. "I really feel it's important to me, and I really feel comfortable being in church."

Mitzie and dozens of other curious teens sought to open their eyes, ears and hearts to the possibility of religious vocations at the inaugural God Persistently Seeking (GPS) rally at Catholic Central High School, 319 Sheldon Blvd. SE. The Diocese of Grand Rapids organized the event.

The Rev. Dominic Grassi (photo at left), of Chicago, visits Catholic Central High School to share a story about his calling to become a priest. He also discussed how young people can commit to serving God."It's a chance for you to ask, 'God, what is it you want me to do with my life?'" said Mark Mann, the diocese's director for family, youth and young adult ministry, to the assembled group.

"Let your hearts be enlightened while you're here today."

Topics discussed in six workshops included "How to Serve God and Still Be Yourself" and "Expressing Your Sexuality in Today's World."

Director of priestly vocations, the Rev. Ronald Hutchinson, said the aim isn't necessarily to recruit a new generation of nuns.

"I think that the real issue is many of our young people aren't hearing people inviting them into religious vocations," Hutchinson said.

"Somewhere along the line in the church, we stopped talking about it. We quit presenting it to young people as an option."

West Catholic High School student Patrick Harwood said he thought about being a priest in the second grade, but "(I) kind of changed my mind."

"I just kind of got older and got interested in different things," he said.

The 14-year-old said he thinks the church does plenty to reach out to youth. His image of a priest or nun is "a kind, caring person who helps you through your faith."

And your homework.

"I had a sister who helped me through grade school," he said.

Patrick and his friend, 14-year-old City High School student Josh Kozlowicz, digested what they'd heard over lunch with Sister Colleen Nagle, a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist.

Nagle's path wasn't immediately clear, she said.

"When I was in my twenties, I really wanted to get married and have a dozen kids," she said. "That was my goal.

"I enjoyed dating and I enjoyed being a single woman and having my own apartment."

Huge changes

However, Nagle saw "huge changes" in the Catholic church as a teen and college student. The three-year Second Vatican Council was under way, which sought to open new dialogue in a transforming world.

"Their life changed so much," Nagle said of women who had chosen religious life. "They became laicized."

After 31 years as a nun, Nagle said her life is anything but boring.

"I sure don't feel like I'm old, repressed -- whatever," she said. "Life continues to be very exciting."

Forest Hills Northern High School student Alex Beecroft, 16, was skeptical when he first attended the rally. However, he soon realized no one was trying to push him, he said.

"I thought I would just be sitting here being told stuff I already knew, and to be a priest, but it's more about understanding where you're being called," he said.

Beecroft said he's considering becoming a deacon -- still fond of the wife-and-kids idea.

"I could work for the church, but a family life is something I really strive to have," he said.

School rally

The rally included an adoration and benediction at the Cathedral of St. Andrew, 301 Sheldon Ave. SE. With silence "built in" to the activities, Hutchinson said the hope was to help encourage a prayer life among youth.

Time for reflection is important in a noisy iPod world, he said.

"I don't want to hear God's call all the time because it's a challenge," said the Rev. Dominic Grassi, keynote speaker at the event and pastor of St. Gertrude Parish in Chicago.

"My life gets comfortable and then I'm challenged."

Grassi differentiated between happiness and joy. While a big stash of gifts at Christmas might make a child happy, joy is more fulfilling, and its pursuit comes through realizing one's potential.

"You're in that important part of your life where finding out who you are is part of your life's work," Grassi said. "What kind of mark do you want to leave in life?

"The church needs you to preach its gospel -- by word, by sacrament, but mostly by example."

"Saint Alphonsa Inspires Young Women To Become Nuns"

From UCA News

BHARANANGANAM, India (UCAN) -- Women just entering the Franciscan Clarists and others confirming their life commitment say India's first woman saint inspired them to join Religious life.

The story of Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception "motivated me to join a convent," said Sister Helen, one of three Kenyan nuns who on Nov. 8 made their perpetual vows as full-fledged members of the saint's congregation.

At the same function, 98 Indian novices also received their Religious habit, a sign of their provisional entry into the congregation. The ceremonies took place in Bharananganam, the village in Kerala state where the saint spent her final years, 2,650 kilometers south of New Delhi.

Sister Helen told UCA News afterward that she had heard a lot about Saint Alphonsa, whom Pope Benedict XVI canonized on Oct. 12 at the Vatican. "I prayed to Saint Alphonsa to give me strength to emulate her life," the 24-year-old Religious added.

Sister Jacinta, another Kenyan nun, said she felt thrilled on making her final profession. "Saint Alphonsa inspired me to become a nun. In our country, only a few women join the convent. But here I found a large number of young women opting for Religious life."

More than 30,000 people attended the four-hour program, which began with a procession of novices and their parents from the saint's tomb inside a hilltop chapel to St. Mary's Church, 100 meters downhill.

Retired Bishop Joseph Pallikaparampil of Palai led the Mass, assisted by four other bishops and scores of priests.

Sister Sharon, one of the novices who received their habit, told UCA News she has prayed to Saint Alphonsa whenever she faced problems. "Saint Alphonsa taught us with her life to accept our sufferings as signs of God's love. I wanted to follow her steps as a nun," she added. Her family lives in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh state, 1,200 kilometers northeast of Bharananganam.

Sister Sharon's father Elvin Minj, a police officer, recalled encouraging his daughter when she expressed a desire to join Saint Alphonsa's congregation.

"We know about Saint Alphonsa and her life from our parish priest, who hails from Kerala. We are very happy today as we could visit her tomb and pray there," said Minj, who came with his wife and son to attend the event.

After receiving her Religious habit, Sister Theresa from Imphal in Manipur state, 3,880 kilometers northeast of Bharananganam, told UCA News she wants to serve as a missioner and take the saint's message to more people. Saint Alphonsa, she pointed out, proved that prayer and penance can heal the world. "I want to tell more people about this, because the saint's message is more significant today," the young nun added.

According to the congregation's superior general, Sister Ceelia Mankuriyil, Saint Alphonsa's simple life and devotion to Jesus continues to draw many young women to her congregation, which started in Kerala in 1888 with eight members. Sister Alphonsa led a life full of misery and pain, but took all her pains as a mark of God's love toward her, the superior told UCA News.

Her congregation now has 6,783 members in 20 provinces around the globe -- in Austria, Germany, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United States, besides India.

On Nov. 9, a day after the profession ceremonies, more than 100,000 people gathered around the saint's tomb to celebrate the canonization with a Mass and public meeting. Dignitaries included Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Vatican-based Congregation for Oriental Churches, and former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the Permanent Deacons of Rome, 2006

Address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the Permanent Deacons of Rome

Clementine Hall
Saturday, 18 February 2006

Dear Roman Deacons,

I am particularly glad to meet you today on the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of the permanent diaconate in the Diocese of Rome. I greet with affection the Cardinal Vicar, whom I thank for his words on behalf of you all. I also greet Bishop Vincenzo Apicella, until now in charge of the Diocesan Centre for the Permanent Diaconate, and Mons. Francesco Peracchi, Delegate of the Cardinal Vicar who has supervised your formation for years. I offer my most cordial welcome to each one of you and to your families.

In a famous passage from his Letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul says that Christ "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (2: 7). He, Christ, is the example at which to look. In the Gospel, he told his disciples he had come "not to be served but to serve" (cf. Mt 20: 28). In particular, during the Last Supper, after having once again explained to the Apostles that he was among them "as one who serves" (Lk 22: 27), he made the humble gesture of washing the feet of the Twelve, a duty of slaves, setting an example so that his disciples might imitate him in service and in mutual love.

Union with Christ, to be cultivated through prayer, sacramental life and in particular, Eucharistic adoration, is of the greatest importance to your ministry, if it is truly to testify to God's love. Indeed, as I wrote in my Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, "Love can be "commanded' because it has first been given" (n. 14).

Dear deacons, accept with joy and gratitude the love the Lord feels for you and pours out in your lives, and generously give to people what you have received as a free gift. The Church of Rome has a long tradition of service to the city's poor. In these years new forms of poverty have emerged.

Indeed, many people have lost the meaning of life and do not possess a truth upon which to build their existence; a great many young people ask to meet men and women who can listen to and advise them in life's difficulties. Beside material poverty, we also find spiritual and cultural poverty.

Our Diocese, aware that the encounter with Christ, "gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction" (ibid., n. 1) is devoting special attention to the topic of the transmission of the faith.

Dear deacons, I am grateful to you for the services you carry out with great generosity in many parish communities of Rome, dedicating yourselves in particular to the ministries of Baptism and the family. By teaching Christ's Gospel, a faculty conferred upon you by the Bishop on the day of your ordination, you help parents who ask for Baptism for their children to reflect more deeply on the mystery of the divine life that has been given to us, and that of the Church, the great family of God.

Meanwhile, you also proclaim the truth about human love to engaged couples who desire to celebrate the sacrament of marriage, explaining that "marriage based on exclusive and definitive love becomes the icon of the relationship between God and his people and vice versa" (ibid., n. 11).

Many of you work in offices, hospitals and schools: in these contexts you are called to be servants of the Truth. By proclaiming the Gospel, you will be able to convey the Word that can illumine and give meaning to human work, to the suffering of the sick, and you will help the new generations to discover the beauty of the Christian faith.

Thus you will be deacons of the liberating Truth, and you will lead the inhabitants of this city to encounter Jesus Christ.

Welcoming the Redeemer into their lives is a source of deep joy for human beings, a joy that can bring peace even in moments of trial. Therefore, be servants of the Truth in order to be messengers of the joy that God desires to give to every human being.

However, it is not enough to proclaim the faith with words alone for, as the Apostle James recalls, "faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (Jas 2: 17). Thus, it is necessary to back up the proclamation of the Gospel with a practical witness of charity, so that "for the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity... but is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being" (Deus Caritas Est, n. 25).

The practice of charity has been part of the diaconal ministry from the outset: the "seven" of which the Acts of the Apostles speak were chosen "to serve at tables".

You, who belong to the Church of Rome, are the heirs of a long tradition, of which the Deacon Lawrence is a singularly fine and luminous example. Many of the poor who come knocking at the doors of parish communities to ask for the help they need to get through moments of serious difficulty often come from countries very far from Italy.

Welcome these brothers and sisters with great warmth and willingness, and do all you can to help them in their need, always remembering the Lord's words: "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Mt 25: 40).

I express my gratitude to those of you who are employed in this silent and daily witness of charity. Indeed, through your service, the poor realize that they too belong to that great family of God's children: the Church.

Dear Roman deacons, by living and witnessing to God's infinite love, may you always be, in your ministry, at the service of building the Church as communion. In your work you are sustained by the affection and prayer of your families. Your vocation is a special grace for your family life, which in this way is called to be ever more open to the will of the Lord and to the needs of the Church. May the Lord reward the availability with which your wives and children accompany you in your service to the entire ecclesial community.

May Mary, the humble handmaid of the Lord who gave the Saviour to the world, and the Deacon Lawrence who loved the Lord to the point of giving up his life for him, always accompany you with their intercession. With these sentiments, I wholeheartedly impart to each one of you the Apostolic Blessing, which I gladly extend to all your loved ones and to everyone you meet in your ministry.

"Vocations Crisis Overstated, claims Priest"

Originally posted by "Sotto Voce" at Clerical Whispers Blog

The vocations director for Armagh archdiocese has said that concern about the country’s shortage of vocations fails to take into account a steady recovery in the number of people entering seminaries.

Speaking in the wake of Cardinal Sean Brady’s announcement of a reorganisation in his own Armagh archdiocese, Dundalk priest Fr Paddy Rushe said it is a “myth” that there is a lack of new people signing up for vocations.

"The problem is that when people sign up, it takes six or seven years for them to be ready,” he pointed out.

“We are only starting to see people emerge that signed up in 2001, which was a bad year for the Catholic Church as scandals broke and we were at the height of the Celtic Tiger” Fr Rushe said.

“So obviously, we got fewer numbers back then, but right now, for the first time in ten years, we have the highest number of people enrolling into vocations," he continued.

Fr Rushe said that if numbers of new recruits continues to rise, there will be an influx of new priests by 2014.

But he said that when this happens, Church structures that have had to be changed to cope with fewer priests should not be reversed.

"In 2014 we will see twice, if not three times as many new priests emerging”.

"The decline in numbers has brought some parishes into line -the way it used to be structured was as if we had the usual number of priests, but some parishes these days have only one priest, making it impossible for someone to take a holiday”.

“This had to change, but in the future when a parish will have more than one priest, there is no point changing it back to the way it was -we cannot change back just for numerical reasons," Fr Rushe said.

And he said the Church’s vocations drive was as pro-active and modern as that of secular employers and using up-to-date recruitment techniques.

“We are in the market more than ever these days r