Recent scandals involving Catholic priests and bishops have not exactly encouraged vocations to the priesthood.

But failed priests are not the only priests.

The steroid athlete is not sold as the icon of his sport.

The icon of the priest today is not some disgraced criminal but John Paul II.

The more society seeks to paint all priests with the same brush, the more we must hold up those who are saints and martyrs, canonized or not.

The priesthood will and must go on because Jesus still needs men to share his lot, to act in his name, in his person and with his power.

 You still need these men to be your fathers in God, to lead you on Christ the Way, to teach you Christ the Truth and to feed you Christ the Life.

Usually, the best seed-ground of priestly vocations is a happy family rooted in a happy marriage.

When a married couple really live their marriage as a call from God, it will not be difficult for a boy to understand the notion of vocation.

The first priest a boy encounters is his own father, because in him he sees the face of God.

When a boy sees how his father sacrifices himself for his mother, loving and honoring her, laying down his life for her if need be, that constitutes a powerful symbol of Christ laying down his life for his bride, the Church.

When a boy sees his mother and father participate with faith, love and devotion in the Mass;

when he sees them pray together;

when they teach him how to pray and talk to him of God, of the love of Jesus, of his sacrifice for our sins;

when they discipline him to distinguish right from wrong;

when he sees them give and take, forgive and forbear; when he sees their openness to God’s will in the brothers and sisters he may have;

when he sees them endure suffering and maybe even death with trust in the Cross of the Savior: in all of this, a boy will see that Jesus is the core meaning of his parents’ life and, therefore, of his own.

Good vocations come above all from good marriages, because both require love unto death, fidelity in life, self-sacrifice, self-surrender in body and soul, the transmission of life (human or divine), the building-up of community and the quality of pointing beyond themselves to God.

Now, this does not mean that the Lord will not call anyone he wishes. The life of the Church is filled with exceptional priests who have come from troubled backgrounds. Their human suffering itself can often lay the foundation for a deep understanding of the Cross, something essential for priestly life.

However, it is above all the example of your marriages, my friends, which will draw your sons to let themselves be seized by Jesus and share in his spousal love, not for one individual woman, but for that collective woman who is the Bride of Christ, the holy Church of God.

But there must also be prayer for vocations.

The Spirit who inspires our prayer is the same Spirit who inspires vocations. He is the Spirit of Jesus the Priest.

Everyone can and should pray for vocations, even if their own marriages are weak or broken.

Six practical suggestions:

first, at least resolve to pray one prayer every day for vocations;

second, join or start a club or circle of people who pray for vocations;

third, come as a group before the Blessed Sacrament to make these prayers;

fourth, sponsor a seminarian with prayer and perhaps with financial help;

fifth, talk to any sick person you know and ask them to offer up their sufferings for priestly vocations.

Last but not least: talk also to the young, to your sons and grandsons, to your nephews and godsons;

ask them if they have ever thought of the priesthood;

tell them that they should pray about it;

tell them to mention it to the parish priest and ask his advice;

tell them why you love the priesthood, how a priest has helped you; explain to them in your own words why there is no greater thing that a man can do than give himself completely to the sanctifying work of Jesus for the sake of his brethren.

Stir up his feelings, appeal to his idealism, his zeal and the noble generosity of his young heart.

Our Holy Father, in his Message for this 43^rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations, makes some beautiful points.

He calls young men not to give in to the temptation of feeling self-sufficient to the point of closing themselves to God’s plan for them. For, indeed, our existence is not a random thing: God has a plan for each one of us!

The best use of our freedom is not a “couldn’t-care-less-about-anybody-else” one: no, it is to seek out and embrace that path which the Lord in his wisdom and love has set for us.

Pope Benedict also says that it is not necessary to be already perfect to answer God’s call. The prodigal son began his journey precisely because he was aware of his own sin. He was purified by that journey and by the Father’s embrace.

Weaknesses and human limits do not present obstacles as long as they make us more aware that we need the redeeming grace of Christ.

God does not call us because we are “all set”, but for his own purpose: in calling us, he will transform us with his love and strength.

The work of the priest does not depend on his own holiness, but on the grace of the priesthood itself.

No priest is worthy of the priesthood.

The priesthood belongs to no priest: it is the priest who belongs to the priesthood, that is, to Christ as servant of God and humanity.

And so, to any man or boy here who has not already discerned God’s will for his life, I ask you, I challenge you: what are you doing with your life?

Where are you going, really going?

To what are you giving the precious energies of your being?

Consider thoughtfully, seriously and prayerfully whether the Lord calls you to the priesthood!

Fear neither you own sins and weaknesses, nor the reactions of other people whoever they may be!

Give space and time to the Lord and listen to the deeper movements of your hearts!

I know there are many things that might attract you elsewhere and even things you perceive in the priesthood itself that may put you off. But are these things not often passing and superficial, the result of men’s failings and sins rather than of the power of Christ?

Have you any passion in you for the souls of men and women?

Do you never tire of the world’s broken promises and its blustering self-importance?

Do you ever feel the desire to offer it true promises, words without deceit, which give direction and real hope?

Do you ever wish to cure others of their blindness and mortality and offer them true light and real, everlasting life?

Does the name of Jesus ever cause your heart to thump?

Does his Cross move you to make some sacrifice for his sake?

Do you ever feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when you profess the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church?

These and other such things may well be signs that you should at least try a vocation discernment process. Otherwise, how are you ever going to know what the Lord desires of you?

Do not bumble your way through life!

I will soon have been a priest for 25 years. I cannot ever imagine not being a priest, sinful though I most certainly am, because He who called me has been faithful. His fidelity is stronger than my infidelity.

I know I can never belong to anyone else. I know he has won; he has conquered me.

I know I can only be at peace serving him and letting him serve you through me.

I know my very flesh belongs to Jesus the Priest, my mind and my will are branded “property of the Great High Priest.”

He who called me, and he alone, has done this.

Is he calling you?

Msgr. Peter Magee

Sunday, May 7^th, 2006

Annunciation, DC: 7.00 and 8. 30 am