The Good Shepherd: Come, follow Me.
Dear Sursum Cordians,
'I have separated you from other people, that you should be Mine.' Says the book of the Leviticus.
548: This is the total number of potential ordinands for the class of 2016. It is slightly down from 595 in 2015. The average age for the Class of 2016 is 35. Three in 10 of the ordinands (30 percent) were born outside the United States. Seven in 10 (70 percent) indicate they served as an altar server. About seven in 10 report regularly praying the rosary (73 percent) and participating in Eucharistic adoration (73 percent) before entering the seminary.
In 1950, the number of both diocesan and religious priests in the United States was 50,500 in 1975, 58,909 in the year 2000, and 45,699 in 2015, 37,192. If we believe that there are still 70.4 million Catholics in the US, that’s about 1 priest for nearly 2000 faithful; Good luck! Thanks be to God we had 595 priestly ordinations in 2015.
Catholic sisters and nuns in the United States: 200,000 in 1965, falling to 56,000 in 2010. We lost, in 45 years, more than two thirds of them.
The reason is not that God doesn’t call any more workers to work in His vineyard. God is still calling vocations. His infinite love for man cannot cease despite the storm that seems to shaken to very fundaments of our Faith. “If the Priest understood fully his priesthood on earth, he would die, not of fear, but of love!”, says our dear Patron of priestly vocations, Saint John Vianney. He continues, “St. Bernard tells us that everything has come to us through Mary; and we may also say that everything has come to us through the priest. Yes, all happiness, all graces, all heavenly gifts. If we had not the Sacrament of Orders, we should not have Our Lord. Who placed Him there, in that tabernacle? It was the priest. Who was it that received your soul, on its entrance into life? The priest. Who nourishes it, to give it strength to make its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, by washing that soul, for the last time, in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest -- always the priest. And if that soul comes to the point of death, who will raise it up, who will restore it to calmness and peace? Again, the priest. You cannot recall one single blessing from God without finding, side by side with this recollection, the image of the priest.”
What is the image we have of the priest? What is the image we give around us of the priest? What is the image your children have of the priest? The priest remains a human being, affected by original sin, weakened because of his imperfections; but the character that he received on the day of his ordination set him apart, it has consecrated him for the exclusive service of God for the salvation of souls. "O my child,” writes Saint Francis de Sales, “bethink you that just as the bee, having gathered heaven's dew and earth's sweetest juices from amid the flowers, carries it to her hive; so, the Priest, having taken the Savior, God's Own Son, Who came down from Heaven, the Son of Mary, Who sprang up as earth's choicest flower, from the Altar, feeds you with that Bread of Sweetness and of all delight."
Young men, young women, in your prayers ask yourselves seriously: Is God calling me? I am open to his call? Am I ready to leave father and mother, friends and family, to work in His divine vineyard? This is a legitimate question that every good Catholic should ask himself or herself. Not that everyone is called to follow him in that more intimate union, but some might be called but afraid to answer to the voice of our Lord. How can I know if God is calling me? How can I be certain that I am called to follow Him? Blessed Columba Marmion has these touching lines: “I pray for you with all my heart and I ask Our Heavenly Father to guide you according to His holy will. If I may give you a piece of advice I will tell you not to worry. God will make you know His will and His designs in His good time, so then if you do not see very clearly during your retreat, don't torment yourself. Say to God ‘I want to be Thine entirely, but in Thy way.’ No, my child, you are not a saint. Your virtue is still very weak, but Our Lord is calling you to perfection. He wants your heart. But you must have a great reverence for the will of God Who is the supreme Master and Who alone has the right to call you where He wishes you to be. For the moment, God does not manifest His will clearly. Therefore, let us wait in peace. While waiting to know God's will, do all for His love.” From this passage two attitudes can be perceived in the way we should listen to the call of our Master: Openness and Peace. Always be open to his Divine Will, rejecting with your whole heart anything that can be an obstacle to His love. Open wide the gates of your heart, let His love penetrate your entire being, and a deep interior peace will be as a sign of His presence.
Families, pray now for your priests. Pray for your future priests and for religious vocations. Pray now for those who will bring your children and the children of your children on the path of salvation. You must ask the Lord to whom the harvest belongs to send laborers out for the harvesting. Pray daily: O Lord give us priest, give us holy priests, give us many holy priests, oblates, and religious vocations!
(from today’s sermon)
Canon Jean-Baptiste Commins
