Did you see them?

Franciscan Friars walked from Roanoke,VA to DC. It took them six weeks and they relied on the kindness of strangers. I think St. Francis would be proud. The Washington Post has the story.

Welcome Visitors

Welcome to the folks visiting from Catholic and Enjoying It! Have a look around. And if you have stories about vocations,priests or religious we'd love to hear from you. Just click on the email address in the sidebar and drop us a line. We'd love to publish your story. God Bless!

Vocations: A Gift to the Church, a Gift to the Family

Speaking of the Archdiocese of Washington (see below), the Catholic Standard is running another great story on seminarians. This covers a Seminarian Family Day in which Archbishop Donald Wuerl visited with the seminarians and their families. From the article:

During his homily, the archbishop noted the recent Ordination Mass marked the beginning of the Year for Priests declared by Pope Benedict XVI. Archbishop Wuerl said in the Year for Priests, "We are reminded of the unique role and the identity of the priest." He added that the priest "continues the work of redemption on Earth."Archbishop Wuerl noted that the Seminarian Family Day also marked the feast of St. James, an early Christian martyr who understood what the priesthood is all about. The archbishop said, "What the priest brings to the world today...is surpassing power...nothing less than the presence of Christ."The archbishop also quoted St. John Vianney, who is the patron saint of parish priests. St. John Vianney said priests must be men of prayer, hear their calling, share their identity with Christ, and show and live that identity by caring for those entrusted to their care.Archbishop Wuerl said priestly formation makes it "possible for the earthen vessels to be strong enough, to hold that gift of surpassing power."

Then Msgr. Panke spoke about the role of families in the formation of priests:

Msgr. Panke said, "What God asks us to do makes us happy. If you say 'yes' to that, then your life is beautiful.""Parents play such an essential role" in the formation of the priest, Msgr. Panke said, and he added that the role of parents in a priest's vocation is lifelong. "When we (priests) become ordained, we bring our families with us." Likewise the commitment of the priest "oozes out into the family," he said.That point was illustrated by two sets of parents of future priests who gave testimonials during the picnic. In their testimony, Dan and Judy Wells -- the parents of Deacon Dave Wells, a seminarian for the archdiocese -- said his vocation to the priesthood has been an "invisible osmosis that's affected our family," noting that their son's vocation has had a good influence on their whole family.Tom and Cecilia Royals -- the parents of Father Andrew Royals, a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Parish in Bowie -- said although they have more than one son, for families who only have one son, it can be difficult for him to be "given up" to the priesthood. But the couple said instead of grandchildren, parents of a priest have "spiritual progeny."

Go read the whole thing.

Quo Vadis?

The Archdiocese of Washington is sponsoring a terrific four day camp/retreat for high school age boys from August 9 - 12th. It's called "Quo Vadis" meaning "Where are you going?" There will be lots of fun, games, sports, hiking, and talks and great food. Go to this link to find out more!

Ordination of Archbiship Augustine DiNoia

For some reason the video won't embed but you can view the entire ordination here.

Speaking of "Vocationally Aware"....

The Catholic Standard ran a marvelous story about a terrific parish in my town that has had great success in forming vocations:

Strong evidence of daily and numerous prayers for vocations showed up in a small, informal picnic for priests who grew up at Sacred Heart Parish in Bowie. Three priests and a seminarian, most in their twenties and thirties, came to the July 12 picnic with their parents to enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs, deviled eggs, fruit salad and other food. The only questionable thing being served at the picnic was water - parents joked that there must be something in the parish's water that is awakening the call to so many vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Msgr. Charles Parry, pastor of the parish, said "the environment of the parish, and the environment of the home are just the right ingredients," for vocations. The parishioners "really have a great love for the Church, and the Church's teachings, and a great respect for vocations," he said. The parish also boasts the early formation of two sisters who joined the Institute of the Servant of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara, two men studying to be priests with the Legionnaires of Christ, and several permanent deacons. Father RobWalsh, the secretary to Cardinal McCarrick and the assistant director of vocations, is another priest who grew up at Sacred Heart Parish, but couldn't attend the picnic. "The hand of God is on this place; from the day I came here I saw the hand of God is on this place," Msgr. Parry said.The pastor said parishioners pray for vocations at every Mass, and they know the vocations prayer by heart. Msgr. Parry was inspired to write the prayer while walking the parish grounds.

Read the whole thing.

Is Your Parish "Vocationally Aware?"

The following came from a vocations summit in the Archdiocese of Baltimore:

These 8 points for establishing a ‘vocationally aware’ parish were highlighted by a pastor who currently has 6 parishioners in religious discernment:

-Eucharistic Adoration
-Active Youth Group
-Happy Priests
-Opportunities for youth to connect to the greater church: retreats, world youth day, attending archdiocesan events, ordinations, connecting to the pope
-A Place/Role for everyone
-Family Friendly Church: parish picnics, annual events
-Openness/support of homeschooling
-Seminarian Presence

The Priest Game

Want to learn more about the priesthood and the Mass? Get the game.

Holiness in our Priests and in ourselves

My friend, Barb Reese, recently gave a wonderful talk on the Year for Priests and has given me permission to post some of it here.

"In regards to our prayer life, the Holy Father asks us to reflect on the ways each of us has shown an attitude of disregard for the true dignity of the priesthood and the effect these attitudes may have had on the spirit and attitude of priests, as well as on the promotion of vocations to the priesthood. (Great meat for EOC)
He also asks us to offer a prayer for the interior sanctification of the priests who serve in your parish and for all priests.
To highlight the importance of a priest’s holiness, we can turn to the passage from Soul of the Apostolate :
If the priest is a saint, the people will be fervent. If the priest is fervent, the people will be pious; if the priest is pious, the people will be at least decent. But if the priest is only decent, the people will be godless”…..
And the Holy Father responds by saying: “the sanctity of the priest can be positively influenced by the depth of sanctity of the people he serves. So, it can also be said…If the people strive to be saints, the priest will be drawn toward greater fervor. If the people tend toward fervor, the priest will gravitate toward piety. At the same time, if the spiritual sights of the people are set quite low then this can be a source of discouragement for the priest and cause him to set his sights even lower. Thus, if the people strive only for surface piety, then their priest will be content with decency. If the people are content with decency then they may actually prefer a godless priest.”
So, we must see that we don’t live in a vacuum- we are the body of Christ- we must help our priests persevere. We are challenged here by the Holy Father’s words to see the connection between our striving for holiness and that of the priest’s !

....In RomeReports.com on June 18 there is a reference to the Pope’s letter to all priests which I found really interesting…. he encourages them to follow the example of St John Vianney and “ to not be confined to their parishes but to also dedicate their time to the confession of people, visiting families, preparing feasts and taking care of the liturgical objects…. and also to the devout celebration of the Mass and the formation of people.”

This calls to mind the reality that without the priestly ministry, there would be no Eucharist, no mission and even no Church.
There are many roles that the laity are being asked to fill since the number of retiring priests increases, and we are still suffering from the decline in vocations in past decades.
However, as Catholic lay leaders we must be very sensitive to the tendency to devalue the priesthood as the laity is being promoted, so to speak.
Pope Benedict says “we must guard against this tendency and not allow any further diluting of the priestly ministry….. instead, we are called to provide a firm foundation for an authentic renewal of reverence and respect for the priestly office.”

Our challenge is to know who we are in relation to God and to his priest, and who we are not.
We can humbly serve God and the church in appropriate ways without ever forgetting our call to obedience and with great hopes that our prayers for vocations will soon return some of these areas of responsibility to the ordained and when that day comes, we humbly step aside again.

...I’d like to close with some interesting statistics that were reported in the NCR[Register] by Tim Drake in the June 14-20 issue :

The total number of Archdiocesan ordinants in the class of 2009 = 465 which was up from 401 last year.
The largest classes are in the Arch of Newark (13), Chicago (10) and DC (8)

The average age at ordination was 37 in 2006 and has been dropping since… and this year the median age was 32.

90% of all priests say they are happy in their vocation.

The only unfortunate statistic was that nearly 45% of priests who were ordained this year said that they had been discouraged from considering a vocation.
Of those, 60% said a parent or family member was the source of the discgment.
51% said a friend or classmate was the source of discouragement.
15% said a priest was the source.

The laity have a role to play, both contemplative and conquering, during this Year of the Priest to reelevate the dignity of the Priesthood to that during the time of St John Vianney, to help reinforce the internal strength of priests, and to renew their motivation and enthusiasm for their mission."

Pope Benedict's Letter Proclaiming the Year for Priests

I can't believe I hadn't read this in its entirety until now. Just beautiful for meditating on the great dignity of this vocation. Read the whole thing here. Excerpts:
…
"The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”, the saintly Curé of Ars would often say.[2] This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself. I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as “friends of Christ”, whom he has called by name, chosen and sent?

…Yet the expression of Saint John Mary also makes us think of Christ’s pierced Heart and the crown of thorns which surrounds it. I also think, therefore, of the countless situations of suffering endured by many priests, either because they themselves share in the manifold human experience of pain or because they encounter misunderstanding from the very persons to whom they minister. How can we not also think of all those priests who are offended in their dignity, obstructed in their mission and persecuted, even at times to offering the supreme testimony of their own blood?

The Holy Father acknowledges the recent unpleasantness:

There are also, sad to say, situations which can never be sufficiently deplored where the Church herself suffers as a consequence of infidelity on the part of some of her ministers.

Then he moves forward:

What is most helpful to the Church in such cases is not only a frank and complete acknowledgment of the weaknesses of her ministers, but also a joyful and renewed realization of the greatness of God’s gift, embodied in the splendid example of generous pastors, religious afire with love for God and for souls, and insightful, patient spiritual guides.
…[The cure of Ars] spoke of the priesthood as if incapable of fathoming the grandeur of the gift and task entrusted to a human creature: “O, how great is the priest! … If he realized what he is, he would die… God obeys him: he utters a few words and the Lord descends from heaven at his voice, to be contained within a small host…”.[4] Explaining to his parishioners the importance of the sacraments, he would say: “Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, always the priest. And if this soul should happen to die [as a result of sin], who will raise it up, who will restore its calm and peace? Again, the priest… After God, the priest is everything! … Only in heaven will he fully realize what he is”.[5] These words, welling up from the priestly heart of the holy pastor, might sound excessive. Yet they reveal the high esteem in which he held the sacrament of the priesthood. He seemed overwhelmed by a boundless sense of responsibility: “Were we to fully realize what a priest is on earth, we would die: not of fright, but of love… Without the priest, the passion and death of our Lord would be of no avail. It is the priest who continues the work of redemption on earth… What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of his goods … Leave a parish for twenty years without a priest, and they will end by worshiping the beasts there … The priest is not a priest for himself,

Year For Priests Coloring Contest

Here's a fun coloring contest brought to you by Illuminating Ink