THE TABLET
April 12, 2008

Finding Laborers for the Vineyard

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday.  On the Third Sunday of Easter, the Church has always proclaimed the Gospel of the Good Shepherd, and has been chosen by the last three Pontiffs as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In fact, this is the 45th World Day of Prayer.  The theme chosen this year by Pope Benedict XVI is “Vocations at the Service of the Church on Mission.” When all is said and done, the Church is a missionary organization empowered by Jesus Christ in His last words to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28:19). 

Mission and evangelization are not only in foreign lands, but also in our own.  As we look to our own situation of vocations in the Diocese of Brooklyn, we recognize our success and yet our great need.  We have 38 seminarians in various stages of formation and in various seminaries; however, this number will not meet our needs in the future.  Several weeks ago in The Tablet, we saw the projection for ordinations and priests’ retirements and deaths.  The balance sheet is woefully lacking and so we must redouble our efforts to foster vocations.  This year, however, we are very fortunate that we have ten men entering first theology, and pray that we will continue to recruit this many candidates for theological study every year.

Clearly, the work of fostering vocations is a work of the Spirit.  Not one of us can give a vocation to another person, but we can foster it.  The Lord Himself told us to pray that the Master of the Harvest would send laborers into the vineyard.  There is no other solution except but to join in sincere prayer to the Lord that He grant us vocations to priesthood and religious life.  To that end this Sunday we will make petitions at Mass, and, it is my hope, our priests will preach about the need for priestly vocations.

In my last pastoral letter, “Do Not Be Afraid,” I mandated that each parish establish a vocation committee by this June.  Our Vocation Office is working on material that will assist parishes in establishing a vocations committee.  The role of the vocations committee is to promote vocations in the parish and collaborate with the Diocesan Vocation Office by promoting prayer for vocations throughout the parish, by raising awareness and educating the parish about vocation opportunities, helping to identify and invite people to vocation events and finally serving as a liaison between the parish and the Vocation Office.  There is no more important work in Church today, if we are to maintain our mission, i.e., to find laborers for the vineyard so that the harvest will be gathered.

Last Sunday, we blessed the John Paul II House of Discernment on Highland Boulevard.  The open house attracted many interested laity, priests, and religious and, even more importantly, the “Project Andrew” that followed was the largest that we have had in the four years of my tenure here in Brooklyn.  There were thirty men who stayed to listen to the witness talks by our seminarians and priests regarding what a priestly vocation is about.  Our “Project Andrew” reflects the event in the life of Andrew, one of the first Apostles, who invited Peter, his brother, to come to see Jesus.  Our “Project Andrew” continues the same action: someone invites a young man to come and to know Christ better and to discern if Christ is calling him.  We also annually run a Project Myriam, where young women are invited to attend a vocation discernment day.

It would be good to understand the vocation recruitment activities that we undertake in the Diocese.  Cathedral Preparatory Seminary has over 200 young men studying, all of whom have promised to discern a vocation to priesthood or religious life.  Annually for the last several years, we have gotten four or five men who have gone directly to the college seminary.  All of those men certainly have become better Catholics in discerning a vocation and, I  hope, will maintain their faith in their later years.  Creating an atmosphere where a young person can discern a vocation is critical.    To that end, I am assigning a new priest to Cathedral Prep, Father Kevin Abels, who will have several responsibilities.  He will teach religion at the Prep, but also he will be liaison to all Catholic high schools in Brooklyn and Queens, encouraging vocation work in these high schools.  We attempted to do this last year, but it was difficult without someone being dedicated particularly to this mission.  Father Abels will assist the Vocation Director, Father Kevin Sweeney, and will also continue the parish preaching on vocations.

Most interestingly, in the Holy Father’s message for World Day of Vocations, he says, “Vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life can only flourish in a spiritual soil that is well cultivated.”  This is the work of the whole Church, to prepare spiritual soil that will give rise to vocations and nourish them.  All members of the Church have this responsibility.  In our own society, which seems not to support the wholesome development of our youth, we truly are embarking on a voyage into the deep to create an atmosphere where our young people can develop and discern a vocation. 

When our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, comes, he will meet with over 22,000 youth at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie.  How important will this rally be to the almost 1,500 who come from our Diocese.  They will hear the words of the Successor of Peter encouraging them to lead lives that will witness to a Church in mission and for some to dedicate themselves completely to that mission.