From Called By Name, the blog of Fr. Kyle Schnippel, Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati …
I was raised in a very small town, roughly 1,000 people all together, even including the surrounding countryside. To say everyone knew everyone would be an understatement! Despite the small size, and the fact that only 50% of the town is Catholic (Lutherans and Methodists make up the rest), my home parish has sent five sons to the seminary in the last 20 years. Two of us have been ordained, two were in the seminary and left, one is currently in the college seminary. A remarkable feat, which continues to stun me, even seven years after my own ordination.
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Even though my home parish is so small, there is a dedicated army of ‘adorers’ who spend at least an hour a week in front of Our Eucharistic Lord, present in the monstrance. From the close of the last Mass on Sunday at noon through Friday evening, at least one person (and usually two) is scheduled to spend an hour to watch and pray with Our Lord. In no mere coincidence, this dedication to prayer started roughly as this little vocation wave started to take shape. Because it is such a small community, everyone feels an obligation to keep Our Lord company: from the elderly who cover some of the early morning hours while everyone else is home asleep or the midday hours as others work, to students from school who walk over after school to spend an hour with He who created them. Moms and dads of young families take the late evening shift, after the kids have been tucked safely away. Others fill in as they can and are able. From the time this started when I was in high school to today, I know not to call my mother on Tuesday evenings, for she has to keep her hour at Church.
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Especially in periods of Adoration, we see Christ face to face, as it were, and encounter Him at a deeper level. During these times, are hearts are opened to experience the great love of Christ who came that we might have life through Him. In these moments, the initial stirrings of a vocation are heard, the longing of the heart is kindled, and the soul is strengthened to follow where ever God calls. For this, and so much more, whenever someone asks what they can do to support vocations, I urge them first and foremost to prayer before Our Lord during Adoration. It is a prayer time unlike any other.
Full post here.
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Anon 11:06. Your comments appear to have a lot of passion behind them. I’m sorry you are impacted in this negative way by poor decisions of fallible men and women. I hope and pray you will find peace in the near future and carry your cross with joy and love for Jesus while being as respectful to our spiritual fathers as possible. Please note all of the passages in the bible regarding this such as proverbs 30:17 which I believe applies to not just biological fathers. I could be wrong though because I am a novice Christian biblical scholar at best.
Young men and women who are considering a virtuous life in service; to be a good example, are drawn by others who are straightforward and solid, without the double-talk, two facedness, secretiveness with backdoor dealings. They can intuitively sense the back handedness and the resulting phoniness. They must percieve that to be a part of the in crowd would be selling out or an obstacle to virtuous aspirations. They must see Buffalo Road as at a stage to be above and past, like they are stuck in an ambiguous sophomoric rebellion that they are blindly lost and wallowing in. These blog postings have a beat on the diocese where there is such a vacuum. It is interesting to witness and reassuring… as well as surprising. Very nice post.
Those who want vocations get them. It’s not like God stopped calling young men to the priesthood. Multitudes were denied, even more never realized their vocation. We need not pray for more vocations, but rather more REALIZED vocations!
Your comments appear to have a lot of passion behind them.
What they have are a lot of history and facts behind them.
Thank you, Father Schnippel, for writing such a wonderful piece.