Think Priest

Each year I have the privilege of giving my witness to the seminarians of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ who will be ordained that spring. One of the things I have noticed over the last several years is that the particular class I speak to is comprised mainly of older men. Now by older I mean generally between 30 to 40 years of age, with some slightly younger and sometimes even older. This is wonderful. These men bring to their priesthoods maturity and life experience.
However I think it is important that younger vocations be fostered as well. I also firmly believe that it is our Catholic youth that will play a major role in revitalizing our Church.
Over the last month or so I have heard more stories of teens discerning vocations to the priesthood or consecrated life. This is so refreshing to hear. I admire their courage in taking these holy nudges into consideration. One such young man is a 15 year old named John whose blog I have enjoyed following. Please take some time to visit his blog, Writings of a Boy Discerning God's Call.
The other instance I came across was in an article from the Catholic Herald posted at Catholic Online. It tells of a Kenosha, Wisconsin parish where the associate pastor and youth minister have set up a discernment group for teens. The article mentions a 16 year old discerning his call to the priesthood. You can read the full article here.
In this Year For Priests, let us pray not only for our current priests and seminarians, but also for those young men who may become our future priests.

Comments

Judy Dudich said…
Thanks so much for encouraging our youth Karinann...I agree that the HOPE OF THE CHURCH lies with them!
Anne said…
Karinann, this is wonderful! I live in Milwaukee, and Kenosha is part of our Archdiocese. Brian Magliocco has done some wonderful things with the youth in our Archdiocese. He is part of a group called the Rosary Evangelization Apostolate and they host an annual youth rally. John has the privilege of attending last Spring and was so fired up by the day.

Our Seminary has also been doing some great things with young boys in middle school and high school. They host a summer camp for boys discerning the call and this year they are moving beyond that to host a monthly gathering to keep all of those boys who attended the camp connected. They meet for adoration followed by sports, they will be attending a "Day in the Life of a Priest event" this November...just wonderful, wonderful things! The number of boys attending the camp doubled in the past year! We are so blessed here with a fabulous seminary with fabulous staff!

Thanks for the mention of John, and for this great post!
Anne said…
Do you mind if I forward this to our Rector and Vocations Director?