Vocations Shortage

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.