So
often we hear about a vocations shortage. And, why not? There surely is
a grave vocations shortage, but in more ways than one.
Problem
1
I
truly believe that we have been failing and continue to fail, not because
of the people, but because of the way we teach. For example, the number
of annulments that are granted each year is astounding. I do not
doubt for a minute that these annulments are valid proclamations. For the
most part, Catholics do not understand the Sacrament. Ask a Catholic married
couple to explain the difference between their Sacrament and civil
marriage? Ask them what makes it holy? What makes it a vocation? How can
they seriously approach a Sacrament without proper teaching... from childhood.
The subject usually does not come up until the passions rise, and then
communication is barely possible. The concept of holiness never makes it
past the paperwork. Even after that, is there a sense of vocation to pass
on to their children?
For
years now, I have been part of a team for a program called "Evenings for
the Engaged." How appalled I was to see an instruction that said
to the priest as he taught, "Don't get too theological..." My younger
brother's words just rang in my ear, "It's interesting that my Sacrament
of Matrimony is just as much of a Sacrament as yours. I had to go away
for a weekend and you had to study for eight years." This thought still
reverberates in my head. Why do we treat adults like children? Why do we
guarantee their ignorance? Do we as a Church have a control problem?
As
you know, NO Sacrament is secret. Even when one goes to the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, there is a public witness. The moment one sees another
go through the door, an unspoken statement of sin and the belief in forgiveness
is present. But, how often does one hear, "What goes on in my marriage
is no one's business!" Matrimony is a public witness of the reality of
the relationship between God and His people, Christ and His Bride.
Now,
where am I going with all of this? The first vocation a child ever sees
is that of parents. How can a child possibly grow with any concept of intention,
commitment, and public holiness if not seen through the Sacrament
of Marriage? Surely, a child cannot ever grow into an understanding of
celibacy if Matrimony is not understood as its complement. For the most
part, children are raise with legalities, arrangements, and professionalism,
rather than covenants, commitments, and vocation.
Problem
2
When
I wanted to enter the seminary, I had the support of many people. I had
done a great deal of ecumenical work in the field of music ministry. I
was in touch with many other churches. My Southern Baptist friend, minister,
was all enthusiastic and happy for me. My friend, the Lutheran Minister
said, "Go for it!" My friend who was an Episcopal priest said "God
bless." Even my Methodist dentist said to me as he backed up from working
on me, "Look at the hair on my arms... I've got to stop for a minute...
this is great!" However, when I told my Catholic friends, the response
was quite different. The two major responses were, "Are you burnt
out on women?" "Are you Gay?" It would have been the last straw if I hadn't
had the moral support of my parents who, as non-practicing Catholics, didn't
understand my choice. Still, they stood by not only as my parents, but
as my friends. I finally found support from Catholics all the way into
Raleigh, North Carolina. They stuck by be through even the most insecure
times. But why not the general Catholic population?
Problem
3
Another
trend that I've been seeing is that the pendulum has been swinging back
to the more orthodox. It's time for the days of teaching "butterflies and
balloons" as a substitute for religious instruction to be over. And, it's
happening. Since young men are more educated about the faith before they
enter the seminary because of the availability of materials, they are often
stamped "too conservative" before they ever set foot in the door. They
are sent on their way because someone who's been given authority doesn't
like their opinion. And this comes from a church that boasts of diversity
(...as long as one agrees with the one with authority.) These men are not
even given a chance to learn more to expand their views. So, even modern
day vocations offices now turn down "committed" men even before they get
a chance to expand their education. And yet, I've seen so many of the so
called "perfect prospects" leave the priesthood after ordination.
Mother Church must not abort the children that are provided by Her Groom
because of diverse spiritualities within the family.
One
of the reasons for this is lack of focus. Sometimes when I hear priests
speak of "my priesthood" I want to scream. It is never "my" priesthood.
No one personal theology or agenda should ever control the church. Those
who make decisions as to whether one goes to the seminary often compare
it with the "my" in his or her opinion. It is the priesthood of Jesus
Christ! The Church is the steward of vocations and the Sacrament of matrimony
becomes the stewards of children. The vocation is Christ's through the
person. It is inherited through the children of God. If the candidate
is within the boundaries of the teachings of the Church, why cut him off
at the pass?
Political
views within the Church often govern who gets accepted. For example, before
entering the seminary, I was turned down by a diocese because I did not
speak favorably of the idea of ordination of women. I didn't fit the role
of the "my" in the man's priesthood that was passing judgment. I learned
eventually to merely answer, "Well, I don't think I'm equipped to answer
that since I have no formal studies in that area." I wanted to remain
faithful to the teaching of the Authentic Church. Again, loyalty and commitment
to Jesus, trust in the Holy Spirit to lead us through the Magisterium of
the Church, and disinterest in Church politics on the part of a young man
often leads to disinterest in a candidate. On the other hand, those who
"play the game" seem to "appear" as a true vocation.
Some
get turned down because of age. While money and retirement is an challenge
that must be addressed, we need to examine this too. If we are a Church
that proclaims the abhoration of abortion of the unborn, we must not abort
the elderly from vocations using the same reasons people abort unborn children
such as finances and support or inconvenience to our bank book. We cannot
abort anyone from their calling to life and to its fullness according to
God's call. We must face and accept the challenge as we expect other mothers
to do. After all, we call ourselves "Mother Church." God can call anyone
at any age. All age is a valid response to God's call. We must not live
a contradiction.
Problem
4
One
other difficulty in the vocations crisis is a financial one. It does discourage
a lot of good and possible vocations. In my own journey, I found a real
insensitivity to the financial difficulty the journey posed. The policy
at the time I entered the seminary was that we were all responsible for
the college expenses up through a bachelor's degree because it was a secular
degree. One had to have a major with a minor in philosophy. I was not particularly
interested in a secular major. I wasn't looking for a career. I already
had a successful career! I was looking toward a vocation! I attained
a Social Science degree to fulfill the obligations of a "degree." I overloaded
my semester hours so that I could complete the college in three years so
I could move on to the graduate program in Theology and save money.
Through
this process, I liquidated my life insurance, IRA, and anything else that
I could to help defray expenses. It was even suggested to me by one of
the diocesan staff to turn over my home to the diocese "on faith."
By that time, I worked up the courage to say, "I will if you will guarantee
that I am ordained on faith." Being older and looking toward secular or
diocesan priesthood, I knew that I had to have some kind of security for
a retirement that I would ultimately be responsible for. A diocesan
priest is considered by the federal government to be self employed. He
doesn't take a vow of poverty because of the responsibilities of self-care.
Besides, if I didn't make it, I had to have a home to return to. Those
who were responsible had little concern for that.
After
entering Theology, my tuition and room and board were taken care of. But
there was still the question of the $300 per semester for books. We also
had to pay for health insurance. There were field assignments that required
transportation. It followed that a car was necessary along with all the
expenses of gas, upkeep, and insurance. This required that more loans be
taken out. By the time I was ordained, I owed a whopping $28,000 or more.
There was little sympathy by those who were "in charge." I couldn't really
blame them for they could not relate to the experience. Most of them had
either
come from religious orders, who paid for all of their education, or from
a time in which the Church handled all expenses. I was a fortunate one
though. After all this time a very close friend who was an understanding
priest, left a life insurance policy to help me out. That kind of generosity
cannot be guaranteed to all seminarians.
Problem
5
Not
to long ago, I was asked to proof read a study on the vocations process
and what a particular diocese was doing about it. It was a very positive
document that examined all sorts of issues. But as in many self studies,
it esteemed all the in-house programs and appeared as a self-applauding
"pat on the back." When I read this study, one question remained. "Where
was the part of the study that interviewed those who inquired and then
were turned away?" We can have as many studies as we want that can
tell us what we're doing.
We
can be very proud of what we do. However, we need to put as much energy
into examining what we lack. It is a time for Mother church to say "Where
are we going wrong?" This information can only be found by keeping in touch
with those who walked away to find out what discouraged them.
Often,
when one brings up these challenges, he or she is labeled as one who is
being negative when in fact the issue is most pertinent. The accusation
of negativity is often used to manipulate another into submission when
one's agenda is shattered by constructive criticism by revealing a fault
in one's process or program. We as the Church who believes in the Truth,
the Way, and the Light, must embrace all truth... especially those truths
of our own weaknesses and incompetence. We who are quick to criticize the
world for the elimination of life must look to ourselves so we don't abort
or euthanize vocations.
Setting
Priorities of the Complementary Vocations
It
is time not to re-examine the way we look at vocations. It's time to set
priorities. I must admit that it's a frightening prospect when I examine
who will replace me. It's even more frightening to see the numbers of priest-less
parishes expanding. While we do have the priorities of special ministries
in the church to empower the lay people, should we really be making that
a priority over the possibility of priests? Are the sacraments so secondary
to other issues and what we think are our accomplishments? If the Eucharist
is the "source and summit" of our faith and the food for the journey, are
we ready to make the Sacrament of Holy Orders the highest priority so that
we might have this Food provided? Will we work to guarantee that we'll
have the truest and most powerful spiritual energy to make the other ministries
work?
The
Signs of Hope
Many
things have improved since I entered the seminary. We are making progress
in our attempts to improve our procedures all over the country. I
truly believe that much of this is because people are speaking up. There
is a term, a very Christian term... it is called layman or to be more up
to date, lay person. This term has been all but destroyed by professions
who think of the lay person as an "outsider." No!!! the term originally
meant, and still means "one who is fully initiated with full priviledges
and responsibilities in the Body of Christ." One is not a lay person if
one is not baptized.
People
have valid experiences that they are making public and there are those
who will listen. It is most important that we do not get discouraged as
a Church or as individuals. It is most important that we persevere and
continue to pioneer in the field of vocations as the Church adjusts to
its mission in a changing world. Since this article has been posted, I
have received numerous e-mails from young men and women all over the country
who have been turned down and given up. I have and will always encourage
them to keep searching. Often, what one place doesn't see as a gift is
welcomed by another place. Often one finds out that he or she doesn't fill
a religious role, but a diocesan, or, the reverse can be true. The Church
will apply those gifts if people will persevere and continue to make themselves
available. We must remember that courage is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
If this is so, dis-courage-ment is given by another realm and we must not
participate with it.
If
you have been turned down by a diocese or an order, there are plenty out
there. It might just be that the Lord is calling you to relocate. It could
be that your gifts and talents are better used somewhere else. I myself
had been turned down in many places. One place turned me down because the
psychological tests revealed that I would have a difficult time living
too far from family. That diocese was about 300 miles from my home in Florida.
I now have my own parish here in California... on the other side of the
country! The Church is infallible in some things, but many of her members
are not in others, no matter what kind of degree he or she has. People
make mistakes. Or, it could be that the Lord just needs your talents and
gifts somewhere else. Don't give up. Persevere! Take up your Cross. Hold
it high and walk. It might be difficult. But I can guarantee, you won't
find happiness unless you know you've persevered in the Lord's will for
you. I have never in my life known the happiness I have now. I have never
wanted to accept the challenges as I do now.
My
own parents will probably never know the impact of what I learned from
them as a Sacrament of Matrimony and commitment through their own hardships
and perseverance, and, their ability and willingness to learn about
themselves to serve the needs of their family as a vocation. As all couples,
they had their struggles. But they are a determined couple and have been
through much. God bless them both, for through their sacrament of Matrimony,
I learned what I needed to know to overcome many obstacles to become a
priest and to continue learning. I learned from them what we need to know
as the life-giving Mother Church; that is, the Sacrament of Matrimony
can teach us many things of what it means to be the bride of Christ and
give life to more fruitful vocations. I firmly believe that we need to
reinforce all vocations and continuously and relentlessly reveal the necessary
support they are for each other... because there is a vocations shortage.
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