Family the Focus of US Vocations Week

Click HERE to visit Vatican Radio website and listen to audio file of an interview with Fr. David Toups, director of the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, discuss obstacles to the promotion of vocations in the US. (look for small speaker icon at the end of the paragraph)

'Responsible, family-focused and vocation-oriented -- meet Generation XD"

While the article below is not an article about Catholic Vocations, it is an interesting article none the less...

From The Independent (UK)

Today's 8-14-year-olds will embrace their digital culture to create a financially responsible, ambitious and environmentally-aware generation, according to the largest poll of its kind in Europe.

Nicknamed "Generation XD" by entertainment giant and the survey's commissioner Disney, the digitally-aware European adults of the future will be fundamentally different from today's Generation X, the report suggests. Disney predicts that today's young people will eschew their celebrity-dominated upbringing to focus on traditional family values and traditional vocations. In every country surveyed, "Mum" and "Dad" were the two people most admired in the world, whilst the top five future professions overall were vet, teacher, footballer, doctor and police officer.

"As the kids of Generation X, who embraced all mod cons in their twenties, you'd expect Generation XD to be fully versed in how the internet can help them." said Tom Dunmore, consulting editor of technology magazine Stuff. "What's interesting though, is how they are embracing both cutting edge technology and traditional family values in their approach to life."

"While David Beckham does inevitably get a mention, fame and celebrity are secondary to family and they aspire to be vets and teachers rather than singers and celebrities, which is both surprising and encouraging."

Disney also believes that the credit-crunched environment today's 8-14-year-olds have grown up in has had a profound effect on their attitude to finances. The survey revealed that 70 percent save their pocket money instead of spending it immediately, and 64 percent would rather work for themselves than for somebody else. An impressive 97 percent of Generation XD believed that it was important to care for the planet, with 74 percent already recycling regularly.
Disney interviewed over 3,000 8-14-year-olds in six countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain) to compile the study, the largest pan-European survey of the age group. Despite the fact that children born between 1995 and 2001 have witnessed more technological developments during their youth than any other generation, respondents overwhelmingly used technology to improve face-to-face interaction - face-to-face contact is still the most preferable way to meet up with friends (30 percent) beating texting (15 percent), online chat (14 percent) and mobile (8 percent).

Pope Benedict XVI - Safeguard the Family Founded On Marriage

VATICAN CITY, 27 DEC 2009 (VIS) - Before praying the Angelus on this Sunday of the Holy Family, the Pope reminded the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square that "God wished to reveal Himself by being born in a human family, and hence the human family has become an icon of God.

"God is Trinity", he added. "He is communion of love, and the family - with all the difference that exists between the Mystery of God and His human creature - is an expression thereof which reflects the unfathomable mystery of God-Love. ... The human family is, in a certain sense, the icon of the Trinity because of the love between its members and the fruitfulness of that love".

Commenting then on today's Gospel reading which narrates how the twelve-year-old Jesus stayed behind in the Temple without His parents' knowledge, the Pope explained that "Jesus' decision to remain in the Temple was above all the fruit of his intimate relationship with the Father, but also the fruit of the education received from Mary and Joseph".

And he went on: "Here we may catch a glimpse of the authentic meaning of Christian education. It is the result of a collaboration that must always be sought between the educators and God. The Christian family is aware that children are God's gift and project. Hence it cannot consider them as it own possessions but, serving God's plan through them, is called to educate them in the greatest of freedoms which is that of saying 'yes' to God in order to accomplish His will".

The Holy Father them addressed some remarks to participants in the Feast of the Holy Family which is being celebrated today in Madrid, Spain. "God, by having come into the world in the bosom of a family, shows that this institution is a sure way to meet and know Him, and a permanent call to work for the loving unity of all people. Thus, one of the greatest services which we as Christians can offer our fellow men and women is to show them the serene and solid witness of a family founded upon marriage between a man and a woman, defending it and protecting it, because it is of supreme importance for the present and future of humankind.

"In truth, the family is the best school in which to learn to live the values that dignify individuals and make peoples great. There too sufferings and joys are shared, as everyone feels cloaked in the affection that reigns in the home by the mere fact of being members of the same family".

Benedict XVI prayed to God that family homes may always experience "this love of total commitment and fidelity which Jesus brought into the world by His birth, nourishing and strengthening it with daily prayer, the constant practice of virtue, reciprocal understanding and mutual respect.

"I encourage you - trusting in the maternal intercession of Mary Most Holy, Queen of Families, and the powerful protection of St. Joseph, her husband - tirelessly to dedicate yourselves to this beautiful mission the Lord has placed in your hands. Be sure of my closeness and affection", he concluded, "and I pray you carry a very special greeting from the Pope to those of your loved ones who suffer greatest need and difficulties".

BENEDICT XVI ENTRUSTS FAMILIES TO INFANT JESUS OF PRAGUE

VATICAN CITY, 26 SEP 2009 (VIS) - At 12.30 p.m. today the Pope arrived at the church of Our Lady Victorious in Prague, which was built by German Lutherans between 1611 and 1613 on a site once occupied by a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Trinity. Following the victory of the Counter Reformation in Bohemia, emperor Ferdinand II gave the building to the Order of Discalced Carmelites and it was consecrated to Our Lady Victorious.

The church houses the famous image of the Infant Jesus of Prague. The statuette, made of wax over a wooden frame, comes from a convent in southern Spain and was given to the Carmelites by princess Polyxena von Lobkowitz in 1628. The cult of the Infant Jesus spread during the Baroque period and is associated with the visions of St. Teresa of Avila, the great reformer of the Carmelite Order.

Benedict XVI was greeted by the rector as he arrived at the church, which was crowded with families and children. He adored the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel of the Infant Jesus then placed a golden crown on the statuette before moving on to the main altar to greet those present.

"The image of the Child Jesus calls to mind the mystery of the Incarnation, of the all-powerful God Who became man and Who lived for thirty years in the lowly family of Nazareth", he said. "My thoughts turn to your own families and to all families ... as we call upon the Child Jesus for the gift of unity and harmony. ... We think especially of young families who have to work so hard to offer their children security and a decent future. We pray for families in difficulty, struggling with illness and suffering, for those in crisis, divided or torn apart by strife or infidelity. We entrust them all to the Holy Infant of Prague, knowing how important their stability and harmony is for the true progress of society and for the future of humanity".

"In the Holy Infant of Prague we contemplate the beauty of childhood and the fondness that Jesus Christ has always shown for little ones. ... Yet how many children are neither loved, nor welcomed nor respected! How many of them suffer violence and every kind of exploitation by the unscrupulous! May children always be accorded the respect and attention that are due to them: they are the future and the hope of humanity!"

The Holy Father concluded by thanking all the children who had come to greet him and he asked them to pray for their parents, teachers, friends, and for him.

"Called to Love: Common Vocation, Uncommon Joy"

Getting Beyond a Hope-Killing Culture

By Carl Anderson

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, SEPT. 14, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A couple of years ago, when Benedict XVI visited with some students, two of them asked him a question that could have come from anyone, Catholic or non-Catholic alike.

They asked: "Is there someone or something by means of which we can become important? How is it possible to hope when reality negates every dream of happiness, every project of life?”

I think many people share these questions. The poor, the elderly, the sick, the immigrant, the stay-at-home parent or the 9-to-5 worker -- nobody wants to be dispensable or to feel worthless or trapped. Unfortunately, many people feel that way in different areas of their life. And I think it’s a dangerous symptom that we can’t overlook. It’s a symptom that something about our culture is so unhealthy that its people lose hope.

But although the two students asked what seemed to be a secular question, the only good cure is returning to one’s original vocation: the call to love.

Often, when speaking about youth and the future of the Church, people bring up the “vocation crisis.” However, in order to respond to the crisis it is vital that we respond in a way that underscores the underlying sameness of the vocations.

However different each vocation is -- priesthood, marriage, consecrated life -- they each have the same goal. All are different manifestations of the vocation we all have in common: the vocation to love.

Each vocation requires a total gift of self. Each vocation endures for a lifetime. Each is a path on a journey by which we become more like God who is love. Each has a component that is loving toward each other, manifesting God’s love.

Of course, the reality of this isn’t always clear.

This is especially true looking at the state of Catholic marriage.

Hypothetically speaking, if 23% percent of priests left the priesthood, would we believe we had given them adequate formation for the priesthood? So when in the United States 23% of adult Catholics divorce, is this adequate formation for marriage?

When three out of five failed Catholic marriages are between two Catholics, what does Catholic marriage mean?

When 69% of Catholics between 18 and 25 years of age believe that “marriage is whatever two people want it to be,” what obstacles has their Catholic education faced? And when there is still a paucity of people entering priesthood and religious life, we need to ask ourselves, “What is the future of our vocations?”

Now, this may seem like a hopelessly dire situation. But there is good news. We were created for love, and nothing -- not even secular culture -- an eradicate the call to love from our sensibilities.
The fact is, we cannot dismiss the avoidance of vocational commitment as a result of rampant immaturity. It is also in part due to the fact that people are questioning the authenticity of the love they experience.

Inauthentic love has a name: hypocrisy.

It speaks the language of love, but not its meaning. It offers a unique, unrepeatable gift, but then is quick to take it back. It can be seen in a loveless or careless marriage, a self-centered or apathetic priest, a religious sister or brother without compassion.

The consequence of seeing only inauthentic love is this: Love is seen as something that doesn’t belong to the structures created for love. When families are separated from love, then love is seen as something to be separated from family. When the Church family becomes unloving, then loving becomes something to be found outside the Church.

But there is more good news: Living our own vocations well helps other people live their own vocation.

It helps those already in a vowed vocation to be true to it. It helps those who have not yet given themselves through a specific vocation to be open and to have the courage to say yes to their vocation. A vocation well lived restores trust in love.

The answer is, in Pope Benedict’s words, to have a “harmony between what we say with our lips and what we think with our hearts.”

Another facet of authentic love is perseverance. The witness each of us can give is to continue to love through one’s vocation even during times of spiritual aridity, like Mother Teresa experienced, and St. John of the Cross and many other saints. Such an experience shouldn’t simply be looked on as a step in the spiritual journey of life. It is an experience by which we can relate to all of those who feel disconnected from the love of God in some way.

In a way, this type of spiritual aridity, this failure to “feel” the power of love, is exactly what so many young people feel today. In other’s perseverance, they can find and see the strength of love, the strength of a heart that does not simply feel but a heart that sees and loves according to the truth.

And for many, a litmus test of this authenticity is joy -- and rightly so. And perhaps the greatest obstacle to the reputations of each vocation is not scandal but joylessness -- or what we might call the scandal of joylessness. For this reason, too, before becoming Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger said the Church doesn’t have “such urgent need” for reformers, but rather what the Church really needs are “people who are inwardly seized by Christianity, who experience it as joy and hope, who have thus become lovers. And these we call saints.”

Each vocation offers a particular answer to the questioning of authentic love. And thus all vocations are necessary.

Additionally, Christ’s transformation of the vocations of marriage and religious life is only made possible -- and fulfilling -- through something else: the establishment of the Church. We are relatives not by our own blood but by Christ’s blood.

In Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, family -- in the eyes of God -- was broadened to everyone. God redeemed and involved himself with not just a Chosen People, a people defined by bloodline, but with all people, a people defined by a common origin, the Creator, the one who instilled in us all that common call: that vocation to love.

As Pope Benedict wrote in "Sacramentum Caritatis," “Communion always and inseparably has both a vertical and a horizontal sense: it is communion with God and communion with our brothers and sisters.” We can’t have communion with our fellow human beings unless we have a proper communion with Jesus Christ.

This is why Ratzinger described the whole of human history as a yes or no to Love. And we can only say yes to love with a complete gift of self, first to God, then to neighbor, but to both always in love.

"Laypeople have duty to nurture vocations, says N.Y. archbishop"

By Ashlee Schuette - Catholic News Service

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, keynote speaker at the 67th Serra International Convention in Omaha, Neb., said the lay faithful of the church have a duty to nurture vocations to the priesthood.

"Ordained priests have the duty to call forth the gifts of the lay faithful as they share in the role of Jesus of teaching, serving and sanctifying,” Archbishop Dolan said Aug. 30.
“And the lay faithful have the duty to take care of vocations to the sacramental priesthood.”

The archbishop is the episcopal adviser to the Serra Club, an international organization that promotes and fosters vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. He was one of several speakers at the convention held at Omaha’s Qwest Center and attended by more than 500 people.

Need for vocation culture

Archbishop Dolan said one way to start promoting religious vocations is to begin with emphasizing the vocation of marriage and family.

“Only 50 percent of our Catholic young people are approaching the sacrament of matrimony,” he said. “Vocations to the priesthood and religious life come from vocations to lifelong, life-giving and faithful marriages.”

“There is a climate of fear, suspicion and discouragement when it comes to vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life,” he said. “Many boys or young men are afraid to publicly say, ‘I want to be a priest.’”

During the late 1980s, Archbishop Dolan said, only 51 percent of Catholic parents said they would be happy if their son wanted to be a priest. Today, however, he believes that perception is changing because of Serra International and other similar groups.

Serra International has more than 1,100 Serra clubs in 46 countries. Thirteen of those countries, including the U.S., were represented at the convention.

Serra International’s president, Cesare Gambardella of Italy, said the greatest trait of Serra is its internationality and its ties with the clubs of the world.

Some of those attending the convention said they like to take advantage of those connections.

Reaching out to youth

Patrick Ugbana, president of the Serra Club of Lagos in Nigeria, said he is inspired by the work of his fellow Serrans and noted that their work inspired him to attend the convention.

He said eight new Serra clubs are forming in Nigeria and half of the members are under 35.

“We want more young people to join,” he told the Catholic Voice, newspaper of the Omaha Archdiocese. “But I also want my older members to serve as long as possible because service to God never ends.”

Thomas Wong, a member of the Serra Club of Hong Kong for 15 years, said his club of 40 members is beginning to get some young people to join.

“The energy and enthusiasm of these young members will make our club stronger,” he said.

Archbishop Dolan on Promoting Vocations

From the National Catholic Register

The newly-installed Archbishop of New York City, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, uses this Year for Priests to give us laity four distinct ways of promoting vocations:

The first, said Archbishop Dolan, is by emphasizing the vocation of marriage and family. Citing data from a Pew Research Center study, Archbishop Dolan stated that only about 50% of Catholic young people are approaching the sacrament of marriage.

“Taking care of the first crisis will take care of the second,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Vocations to the priesthood and religious life come from lifelong, life-giving faithful marriages.”

Secondly, Archbishop Dolan spoke of re-creating a culture of vocations.

“There were no good old days in the Church,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Every era in Church history has its horrors and difficulties.”

“We need to recapture the climate/tenor/tone/ambiance in the Church where a boy or man isn’t afraid to publicly say, ‘I want to be a priest,’ and where his family, relatives, neighbors, parish, priest, sisters, teachers and even non-Catholics are robustly supportive.”

Thirdly, Archbishop Dolan said that the laity need to not be afraid to ask their priests to help them be holy.

“For a faithful Catholic, a priest is essential for growth in holiness because he gives us the sacraments, and without the sacraments we can’t be holy,” said Archbishop Dolan. “When you ask us to help you be holy, we realize that we must be holy, and you remind us that there is something unique in the Church that only a priest can do.”

Finally, Archbishop Dolan said that priests must be reminded that they are here to help the laity get to heaven.

“A priest is an icon of the beyond, the eternal, the transcendent,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Heaven gives us hope and meaning in life.”

"Families are “fertile ground” for priestly vocations, says the Pope"

From Asia News

Castel Gandolfo (AsiaNews) – “When husband and wife devote themselves generously to the education of their children, guiding and steering them towards the discovery of God’s loving plan, they prepare the spiritually fertile ground from which vocations for the priesthood and consecrated life spring and mature. This shows how closely tied and mutually enlightening marriage and virginity are, beginning with their joint rootedness in Christ’s nuptial love,” said Benedict XVI during his reflection before today’s Angelus in Castel Gandolfo.

The Pontiff said that in this ‘Year for Priests’ we must pray so that “through the intercession of the Saint Curé d’Ars, Christian families may become small churches, and every vocation and every charism, given by the Holy Spirit, may be welcome and valued.”

In order to highlight the importance of family education in stimulating vocations for the consecrated life, Benedict XVI gave as an example the life of Saint Monica, Saint Augustine’s mother, whose liturgical memories were celebrated in the last few days. Saint Monica is in fact viewed as a “model and matron for Christian mothers.”

“A lot of information about her is provided by her son in his autobiographical book, the Confessions, one of the most read masterpieces of the ages. In it we learn that Saint Augustine drank the name of Jesus with his mother’s milk and that he was educated in the Christian religion by his mother, and that its principles remained with him during years of spiritual and moral disorientation. Monica never stopped praying for him and his conversion, and was rewarded for this when he came back to the faith and was baptised. God answered the prayers of this holy mother, to whom the bishop of Thagaste said: ‘it is impossible that the son of these tears should perish.’ In fact, not only did Saint Augustine convert, but [also] chose to lead a monastic life and, upon his return to Africa, founded a community of monks. In a quiet house in Ostia (Italy), the final spiritual exchanges between him and his mother —who was waiting to return to Africa— were moving and uplifting. For her son Saint Monica had become ‘more than a mother, the source of his Christian faith.’ For years her one wish was to see Augustine convert, and now she could see him even consecrate his life to the service of God. She could thus die a happy woman, which occurred on 27 August 387 AD, at the age of 56, after she asked her children not to worry about her burial, but to remember her, wherever they were, on the altar of the Lord. Saint Augustine used to repeat that his mother had ‘generated him twice’.”

The history of Christianity, the Pope stressed, “is marked by countless examples of holy parents and truly Christian families, who accompanied the life of generous priests and pastors of the Church.” As an example, in addition to Basil and Gregory of Naziansus (4th century), who came from a “family of saints”, the Holy Father mentioned Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi Mr and his wife Maria Corsini, who lived from the late 19th century till the middle of the 20th, both of whom were beatified by John Paul II in October 2001.

After the Marian prayer, Benedict XVI said that in Italy ‘Save Creation Day’ will be celebrated on 1 September this year; its theme, “air, an element indispensable to life.” He explained that working on behalf of the environment is ecumenically significant because it is an issue that fruitfully brings together Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants.

“As I did during the general audience last Wednesday, I urge everyone to do more for the protection of God’s gift, Creation. In particular I encourage industrialised countries to work together responsibly for the future of the planet so that the poorest populations are not the ones to bear the heaviest burden for climate change,’ he said.

"Father Raymond J. de Souza: Why priests don't have kids"

From the National Post

By Fr. Raymond J de Souza

Childlessness advocates tell us, in sum, that children require a lot of sacrifices. That's not news. What may be new is that people now feel confident enough to argue publicly that those sacrifices are too great -- in short, that the child is not worth it. I say "may be" new because while the technology has changed over the millennia, the human heart has not. No doubt in every age there were a few who thought children not worth the bother.

The book excerpted in these pages this week makes the argument that life would be more convenient, and therefore happier, without children. That does not really follow. Many things, including most things that give meaning to life, are inconvenient on one level or another. A life of great ease and convenience and even wealth is not necessarily a happy one. Surely the mother at home with toddlers is more constrained than the jet-setting sybarite, but if you know people in both categories, you know that the latter is not necessarily happier than the former.

But any father or mother could tell you that. I, as you would correctly intuit, have no children. Catholic priests of the Latin rite are celibate (the Catholic eastern rites have married clergy).

Understanding the celibacy of the priest requires an understanding of what marriage and children are all about. If they were bad things, or wicked things, or merely things constraining human flourishing, then celibacy would simply be required for everybody. Only if they are good things, very good things, does it make sense to sacrifice them for something greater. So if children are such a good thing, why does the Catholic priest remain celibate?

The first answer is that is how Jesus lived. He chose not to marry and have children, contrary to the norms of his time--and our time too. In the Catholic sacramental world, the priest acts not merely as a representative of Christ, but in the person of Christ Himself. What a priest does no merely human power can do--baptize, forgive sins, consecrate the holy Eucharist. So when the priest acts in the sacraments, it is Christ who acts. The priest then is meant to be an icon of Christ. That is understood, incidentally, even by those who are not Catholic, which is why priestly wickedness occasions so much attention and legitimate opprobrium.

The identification of the priest with Jesus Christ is deeply rooted in the apostolic tradition. Though the apostles were certainly drawn from married men, the biblical witness indicates that they left married life behind, or never married, in response to their vocation. The apostolic tradition has roots even farther back, in the priests of the Jewish covenant, who refrained from conjugal life when engaged in their sacred duties.

There is another dimension at work -- what we call the eschatological dimension. The priest lives now as we all hope to live one day, in the blessedness of heaven. In heaven, there is no marrying or giving in marriage, as Jesus teaches. Marriage and family are for this world. To be sure, it is precisely through marriage and family that most learn the virtues that prepare them for blessedness in heaven. But it remains a preparation.

The priest, and others in consecrated celibacy, lives now as a sign of the world to come, with his life fixed upon the promise of the eternal fulfillment God provides. In freely renouncing the great good of married life and children, the priest points to the world to come. Indeed, without the world to come, the celibacy of the priest would make little sense.

The childless by choice are aiming to maximize some of this world's goods -- education, professional advancement, travel, wealth and, to be blunt, consequence-free sex. For this they are willing to sacrifice their most enduring stake in this world: The only enduring thing we leave in this world is our children. The priest's motivation could hardly be more different. He sacrifices his enduring stake in this world not for more of this world's transitory goods, but for those things that are more enduring than this world itself.

The child by his very nature points to the future. The childless advocates reject the future in favour of the present. The celibate priest points to the future beyond the future even children promise-- eternity.

"Thank you, Father: Catholic sisters reflect on their lives as daughters"

From the Modesto Bee...

Photo at left: Sisters, Cecilia Corona, Estela Hernandez, Regina Alonzo and Adela Graciano, at Sisters of the Cross. Photo by Debbie Noda.

We thought it would be interesting to hear from sisters about fathers for this Father's Day. So we asked a handful of nuns at the cloistered Sisters of the Cross in Modesto and Sister Terry Davis, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Stockton, to share their memories of their dads. Here is what they said:

Learning the ABCs of life

There are many dimensions of my life and myself which I owe to my dad, Jim Davis, but there is one for which I am especially grateful. My dad regarded education as one of the most valuable gifts any of us could be given. He sacrificed much to ensure that each of us was well-educated and grew up delighting in discovery and knowledge.

I am on the board of directors for a new Catholic high school in south Sacramento, Cristo Rey, which offers young people from low-income families a college-prep education. Every year at the scholarship dinner for the school, I toast my dad and thank him publicly for his vision and commitment to education. He taught me that education is truly the only way out of poverty.

It is no accident that I joined a religious community dedicated to education, especially for poor women and children. I thank my dad every time I approach a problem with research, critical thinking and a reasoned approach. And I thank him whenever I pass on to anyone a love and opportunity for education.

- Sister Terry Davis,
Sisters of Notre Dame

Thankful for strict father

As a teenager, I thought my dad was not very nice with me, but firm and severe

instead. It was really hard to get his permission to go to dances, which I enjoyed very much. Now I understand God gave me the most wonderful parents on earth, and I give thanks I had a strict father.

When I decided to became a nun after meeting the sisters during a trip to Europe, we flew from Los Angeles to Mexico City. When we arrived at the Mother House of the Sisters of the Cross of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, my dad jokingly told the Mother Superior General: "I understand that my daughter will learn how to be obedient. I think she must learn the way to follow Christ as a little child and start crawling before walking."

My mom, Soledad Hernandez, is 91 years old, and my dad, Jesus Hernandez, is 93. They celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary on June 9. Today, happy and thankful as I can be, I praise, and glorify the Lord, because my parents are the reflection of his wonderful love for us.

- Sister Estela Hernandez,
Sisters of the Cross

The greatest gift from God

I am the youngest of seven children. My father, Miguel Alonzo Romero, was my hero. His love built a family life that gave us honesty, hard work of self-giving, culture, humor, love, service and charity to God and those around us.

He played the guitar and sang. He taught me to dance. He knew how to love, correct, listen and keep secrets. You could always trust him.

After my Catholic faith and my call to a total belonging to God in religious life, I consider my father as the greatest gift I received from God. I was about 7 years old, when I had the sense of understanding what a vocation to the consecrated life was. I remember saying to God, "That is great, Lord, but not for me. I could not leave my father."

When I decided to follow the Lord's call to be a contemplative cloistered sister, I said to him, "Daddy, you always told me that when we have an ideal in life, we must follow it in the best way, and even give our life for it if necessary. This is how I have seen you live your life."

Yes, my father will always be my hero, and I know he is now only a little ahead, waiting for me in heaven.

- Sister Regina Alonzo

Father supports calling

From the first moment I felt my calling, I had to share my joy with someone. For me, that someone was my father. I felt naturally close to him in everything. Therefore, he was the first person I went to as soon as I knew that I wanted to be with Jesus, giving him my entire life.

My father knew how important a priest is for spiritual direction, so he told me to go talk to one. I said, "Dad, I was planning to see a priest, but I wanted you to be the first to know that I want to give my life to God."

My father was a humble instrument of the Lord. He made me feel secure about my vocation. Everyone in my family was expecting me to work as a dentist because I had just passed my professional exam. The support of my father was instrumental in leading me to my real vocation. My parents, Daniel and Teresa Corona, are now 80 and 76.

- Sister Cecilia Corona,
Sisters of the Cross

Take me out to the ball game

When we were little, it was a feast every day when my dad came home from work. All of us ran out to meet him, hugging and kissing him. He was very loving with all his family. He was very strict, but also very kind and generous with everybody. He had always a very good sense of humor; he was joyful and was easy to make friends. He was hard-working, responsible and wise.

My dad, Jesus Graciano Liera, was my hero. I used to follow him to be close to him. I was the sportiest girl at home, and when my two older brothers were attending university, I went with dad to see baseball games and had fun with him. He was very supportive and encouraged us to get a degree from the university since he didn't have that opportunity. He learned to read and write, but never attended school.

My mother, Gregoria Graciano, has died and my father is 88 and has Alzheimer's, but he keeps his sense of humor and his piety and is still very loving.

- Mother Superior Adela Graciano,
Sisters of the Cross

POPE CALLS FOR PRAYERS FOR VOCATIONS

VATICAN CITY, 3 MAY 2009 (VIS) - Following this morning's Mass in the Vatican Basilica, during which he conferred ordination on nineteen deacons, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his private study to pray the Regina Coeli with faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.

Today, the fourth Sunday of Easter, also known as "Good Shepherd" Sunday, is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the theme of which this year is "Trust in God's Initiative and the Human Response". The Pope dwelt on this fact, remarking that "trust in the Lord, Who continually calls everyone to sanctity and some in particular to a special consecration, is expressed in prayer. Both individually and in the community, we must pray for vocations, that the greatness and beauty of the love of God may attract many to follow Christ along the path of the priesthood and consecrated life.

"It is also necessary", he added, "to pray for many holy husbands and wives, capable of showing their children, especially through example, the horizons towards they must strive. ... The saints, whom the Church presents for the veneration of all the faithful, are evidence of the mature fruit of this bond between the divine call and the human response".

‘Father of the Father’

The post below was written by Fr. Luke Sweeney, Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of New York, is from the website "Fathers for Good" which "is an initiative for men by the Knights of Columbus".

'Father of the Father'

By Father Luke Sweeney

Photo at left: Fr. Luke Sweeney, his father Luke Sweeney, and Archbishop Dolan

This article is printed in recognition of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, May 3.

My dad loves to recall a defining moment of his becoming a father late in life, at age 50. His habit was to come home and read the newspaper, but when I was a toddler, I must have come over and swiped the paper out of his hands. The light went on in his mind and he realized that in my childlike way I was asking my dad to play with me. He took the hint and threw his heart into doing things with me then and throughout the years.

The presence of a father is invaluable in a boy’s life. As a vocation director I witness the wounds left when fathers are physically or emotionally distant from a young man. There can be anger that builds up, problems of relating in an appropriate masculine way and difficulties in school.
I have been blessed with my dad’s continued active presence in my life.

While my mother was more vocally and explicitly Catholic, praying with me at bedtime and listening to Christian radio, my dad’s presence was always quiet, but clearly there. At different times he offered words of wisdom. He taught me how to golf, threw the football with me, and even once dug up grass from the backyard for a history project.

A short while ago I asked my dad if he had ever stopped going to church over the years. He said never. What a wonderful job his family and the priests and religious sisters did for him when he was young. They set him on a good path and he never strayed.

My father has recalled for our family on numerous occasions his days in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and how incredibly quiet and focused the crew was before a battle. Most were deep in prayer, begging for grace and preparing for death. Perhaps his trust and reliance on God during those years deepened his commitment.

My dad’s presence and practice in the faith was never lacking. I always felt encouraged to get involved with the Church through his example. He was involved as an usher, volunteer for the Cardinal’s Annual Appeal, and as a parish trustee. He went to Mass, stayed afterward for the rosary each week and would go to Stations of the Cross during Lent. We also did these things as a family.

I began talking about the possibility of a priestly vocation in the sixth grade, and my dad took me to the seminary to meet the rector when I was a senior in high school. His words of wisdom were, “No matter what you decide to do in life, your mom and I will love you and support you!” What a sense of freedom to follow God’s will and not be forced to live out a parent’s preconceived plan for my life.

My mom died of a brain tumor right after I was ordained a deacon. My dad and I were present at her passing. Now that I am a priest, my dad has become a person that I talk to about how things are going (he constantly tells me to pace myself), but also someone I now pray with. We pray the rosary when driving together in the car, and sometimes I have the privilege of offering Mass in a hotel room when we travel together. Whatever the occasion, my dad is prouder than anything to be the “Father of the Father.”

Recently, we both went to confession while on vacation. Without missing a beat, he took from his bag a little old military prayer book from the 1940’s which he had used all these years to prepare himself for the sacrament. His strong and basic faith had seen him through battles, and it continues to guide, renew and nourish him daily. His love and devotion to Jesus and the Blessed Mother have had a great effect on my life, and there is little mystery that I was able to hear God’s call.

Father Luke Sweeney, ordained in 2001, is vocations director for the Archdiocese of New York.

Hat tip to Jenna.

"Home Grown Vocations"

From Catholic Exchange

By Rachel Watkins (no relation)

With a daughter off for religious life I’ve been asked, “How do you do it? How do you raise children open to religious life and willing to pursue it?” Wondering myself, I asked other moms and dads we know who have sons and daughters either in religious life or discerning. I asked priests and religious their vocation stories. The results are in. We have no idea.

Seriously, each parent raised his or her child differently. Each family is unique in size and make-up. Several families are large in anyone’s eyes — 10 or more such as mine. Others are large in society’s eye — four or more and others have smaller families. Some families were committed to Daily Mass, a family rosary, novenas, the scapular, or other familiar Catholic devotions. Some families did all of them, some practiced a few and, surprisingly, a few religious tell me their families did none of those devotionals. Some families might be described as rigid in these commitments while others might be seen as more lax. Again, each family was unique.

How then?? In a sentence: They were called. Plain and simple, they were called by God to come and love Him completely and totally, forsaking all others for Him. In addition, just as in Matthew 20 when the landowner went to find workers for the vineyard they also found themselves called at a variety of hours. For some the call came for at a young age — the first hour, so to speak, as “the landowner went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.” Others were called at the last hour. However, they all heard Him call — at Adoration, during a family Rosary or walking on a beach after a long night.

So, with a lack of uniformity in family experience one might assume that it doesn’t matter how you raise your children to help foster a religious vocation. You may even say, if God is going to call them regardless of what you do, why bother?? Well, there are several very important reasons why you should.

First, He asks us to. Scripture is full of advice and admonitions on how to be holy. The simplest, and yet so complex, is the call to be like Christ. Read 1 Peter 2 as an outline of the life of a Christian in a hostile world.

Second, the Church asks us to. The Church makes quite clear the expected responsibilities of its members, including Mass attendance, frequent reception of the sacraments and more. Check out the Catechism if you have questions here.

Third, Our Mother asks us to. “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5).

Fourth is that it easier to recognize His voice if you’ve been tuning in to God’s voice all along. This fine-tuning comes through prayer, Mass and the sacraments on a regular basis. Teaching yourself and your kids to keep their hearts and minds tuned to Christ makes it easier to hear Him call for both the little stuff, “be reconciled with your brother” (Mt. 5:24), and the big stuff, “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt. 4:19). Keep your souls tuned to Christ and hearing the call is much easier.

Fifth, seek the support and example of families worth modeling. In our home, on a daily basis, my husband and I offer our children up to Mary and Joseph to raise. After all, they did pretty good with their boy Jesus. All kidding aside, we rest and rely on their intercession for our family. We get as unsure and afraid as everyone else when it comes to raising good kids in a seemingly increasingly bad world. Their protection and prayers give us strength, comfort and guidance. We ask the Holy Family every evening to help make us a holy family. But we also seek out like-minded families for friendship, barbeques and play dates. We aren’t living behind stone walls hiding from the world but helping our kids, with the help of others, to learn to navigate it safely and surely.

Lastly, offer your children to God. Simply put, God prefers what is generously offered. Children who are raised in a family that openly welcomes and supports a religious vocation do much better in their formation. Don’t worry about those grandchildren you may not have (not that you were guaranteed them anyway) or what the neighbors may say in the rebound from the scandals. When your child talks about having a vocation, don’t dismiss it, ignore it or tell them they’re too young, not smart enough, or not holy enough. I have spoken to many priests who have said that “good” parents have stopped their children’s vocations because they refused to see in them what God saw in them.

My children are not perfect, far from it. Matt and I liken ourselves to Mr. and Mrs. Idiot living on Stupid Island. We have fits of temper, selfishness and laziness. Nevertheless, God looks beyond us as sinful parents. He is a perfect Father who can work as a potter with any clay He’s been given. But He has to be given it. Let Him work His miracle on you and your child and you might discover your little hothead becomes the next Damian of Molokai or your clotheshorse the next Clare of Assisi.

And on a final note, if you hope for a religious vocation and one is not given it never means that you did something wrong. Raising good and holy children who will transform the world from behind a desk or at home with a baby is just as necessary for God’s plan of salvation. Just continue to pray for wisdom to help your child pursue with an open heart whatever God wills for them. After all, if your child becomes a parent, you get the grandchildren you always wanted… and one of them may enter religious life.

"Pope Urges Argentine Bishops to Promote Vocations"

Notes Challenges of Religious, Priestly, Married States

From ZENIT
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 17, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is urging Argentine bishops to promote vocations to the priesthood by supporting solid family structures and encouraging youth ministry.

The Pope said this Saturday in an audience with bishops on their five-yearly visit to Rome.

He told them, "The essential role carried out by priests will lead you to make a great effort to promote priestly vocations."

The Pontiff added, "In this regard, it would be appropriate to project a more incisive program of matrimonial and family pastoral care, which takes into account the Christian's vocational dimension, as well as a more audacious program of youth pastoral care, which will help young people to respond with generosity to God's call to them."

Thirty-one Argentine bishops, headed by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, primate of the country, listened to the Holy Father's words in the Vatican apostolic palace. That morning and on previous days, the Pope met personally with each bishop.

Benedict XVI reviewed the unique challenges facing each state of life in the Church -- bishops, priests, religious and laity -- and also appealed to the bishops to carry out "an effective and exacting discernment of the candidates to sacred orders."

At the same time, he continued, "it is necessary to intensify the formation of seminarians in all their dimensions: human, spiritual, intellectual, emotional and pastoral."

The Pope urged the Argentine bishops to intensify their mutual unity, which will be a "source of consolation in the grave commitment entrusted to you."

He continued, "Thanks to this affective and effective collegiality, no bishop is alone, because he is always closely united to Christ, Good Shepherd, and also, in virtue of his episcopal ordination and of the hierarchical communion, to his brothers in the episcopate and to him whom the Lord has chosen as successor of Peter."

The Pontiff asked the bishops to be close to their priests, "with the love of a father and brother."

He exhorted the prelates to be very charitable and prudent "when you have to correct teachings, attitudes or behavior that are unworthy of the priestly condition of your closest collaborators and which can, moreover, harm and confuse the faith and Christian life of the faithful."

He noted that "it is extremely important to recognize, appreciate and motivate the participation of religious in the diocesan evangelizing activity, which they enrich with the contribution of their respective charisms."

The Holy Father spoke about the lay faithful who "in virtue of their baptism, are called to cooperate in the building of the Body of Christ." He added, "To do so they must be led to have a more lively experience of Jesus Christ and of the mystery of his love."

Argentina has just over 40 million inhabitants of which approximately 92% are Catholics -- though less than 20% are practicing -- 2% are Protestants, 2% are Jews and 4% belong to other denominations.

"Better awareness of all vocations will lead to more priests, pope says"

From Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The key to increasing the number of candidates for the priesthood is helping all Catholics -- including married couples and youths -- understand that God is calling them to serve him and the church in a special way, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Meeting 30 bishops from Argentina March 14, the pope called for "a more incisive pastoral program for marriage and family life" that emphasizes that each Christian has a specific vocation and for "a bolder youth ministry that helps the young to respond with generosity to God's call."

The bishops were making their "ad limina" visits to report on the status of their dioceses.

"The fundamental role that priests play should lead you to undertake a great effort to promote priestly vocations," the pope told them.

Pope Benedict said the fatherly attitude of love and encouragement that must characterize a bishop's relationship to his priests is even more important in situations where a priest is in difficulty.

"I exhort you to demonstrate charity and prudence when you must correct teachings, attitudes or behaviors that are not fitting for the priestly character of your closest collaborators and that also can damage and confuse the Christian faith and life of the faithful," the pope told them.

The church in Argentina will grow and thrive if all the faithful are helped to have a "living experience of Jesus Christ and the mystery of his love," the pope said.

"Constant contact with the Lord through an intense life of prayer and an adequate spiritual and doctrinal formation will increase in Christians the pleasure of believing and celebrating their faith and their joy at belonging to the church, leading them to participate actively in the mission of proclaiming the good news to all," the pope said.

"Larger families see the attacks piling up"

And Baby Makes How Many?
"In an era of shrinking broods, larger families can feel under attack."

From the New York Times
By Kate Zernike

THE comment from the photographer at Sears was typical. “Are these all yours?” she asked, surveying Kim Gunnip’s 12 children.

“No,” Mrs. Gunnip replied, “I picked some up at the food court.”

But it was harder to find a retort for the man in line at the supermarket, who said within earshot of her youngest children, “You must have a great sex life.”

Now her family, like other larger families, as they call themselves, is facing endless news coverage of the octuplets born in California and a new round of scorn, slack jaws and stupid jokes.

Back when the average woman had more than three children, big families were the Kennedys of Hickory Hill and Hyannis Port, “Cheaper by the Dozen,” the Cosbys or “Eight is Enough” — lovable tumbles of offspring as all-American in their scrapes as in their smiles.

But as families have shrunk, and parents helicopter over broods tinier yet more precious, a vanload of children has taken on more of a freak show factor. The families know the stereotypes: they’re polygamists, religious zealots, reality-show hopefuls or Québécois in it for the per-child government bonus. And isn’t there something a little obsessive about Angelina Jolie’s quest for her own World Cup soccer team?

“Look at the three shows on TLC that have bigger families,” said Meagan Francis, the 31-year-old author of “Table for Eight,” which stems from her experience raising four children (she is expecting her fifth next month). “One is about religious fundamentalists, one has sextuplets, the other is a family of little people,” she said, referring to, respectively, the Duggars of “17 Kids and Counting,” “Jon and Kate Plus Eight” and “Little People, Big World,” about two dwarfs raising four children, three of average stature, on a pumpkin farm in Oregon.

“You get the feeling,” Ms. Francis added, “that anybody who has more than three kids is either doing it for bizarre reasons or there’s a medical anomaly.”

In the last several days, the British government’s environmental adviser declared it “irresponsible” to have more than two children. And Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, asserted that including contraception in the stimulus package could reduce government spending. Ms. Pelosi, herself the mother of five, was arguing against unwanted pregnancies, not families who choose to have big broods. But no matter — larger families see the attacks piling up.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

Vocation Formation - Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE FAMILY
PREPARATION FOR THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE

Vatican City State, May 13, 1996

Alfonso Cardinal López Trujillo President of the Pontifical Council for the Family
+ Most. Rev. Francisco Gil Hellín Secretary

1. Preparation for marriage, for married and family life, is of great importance for the good of the Church. In fact, the sacrament of Marriage has great value for the whole Christian community and, in the first place, for the spouses whose decision is such that it cannot be improvised or made hastily. In the past, this preparation could count on the support of society which recognized the values and benefits of marriage. Without any difficulties or doubts, the Church protected the sanctity of marriage with the awareness that this sacrament represented an ecclesial guarantee as the living cell of the People of God. At least in the communities that were truly evangelized, the Church's support was solid, unitary and compact. In general, separations and marriage failures were rare, and divorce was considered a social "plague" (cf. Gaudium et Spes = GS, 47).

Today, on the contrary, in many cases, we are witnessing an accentuated deterioration of the family and a certain corrosion of the values of marriage. In many nations, especially economically developed ones, the number of marriages has decreased. Marriage is usually contracted at a later age and the number of divorces and separations is increasing, even during the first years of married life. All this inevitably leads to a pastoral concern that comes up repeatedly: Are the persons contracting marriage really prepared for it? The problem of preparation for the sacrament of Marriage and the life that follows emerges as a great pastoral need, first for the sake of the spouses, for the whole Christian community and for society. Therefore, interest in, and initiatives for providing adequate and timely answers to preparation for the sacrament of Marriage are growing everywhere.

-

Read the rest of the document HERE.

"The other vocation crisis - marriage"

From FaithMag.com

By the Most Reverend Earl A. Boyea, Bishop of Lansing

We have a vocation crisis in America. This is not what you think. It is a vocation crisis in marriage. Many are no longer getting married – and too many do not see their marriage as a sacrament, a means of grace for themselves and their families. Yet marriage and family are the natural heart of our society and the spiritual core of our church. Pope John Paul II stated in St. Louis in January 1999: “As the family goes, so goes the nation!”

Now, most of us know the solutions to this difficulty since we have seen very healthy marriages and thus know what they look like. I think of my own parents, who have been married for 58 years. They are not perfect. However, they do exhibit that fidelity, commitment and love which are the hallmarks of a good marriage.

Marriage is a communion of persons wherein new life is the fruit of love. The two purposes of marriage are the unitive (love of the couple) and procreative (blessings of children). Sexual expression is to be the deepest manifestation of these two purposes. Unfortunately, for the past 50 years, there has been growing not only a division between these two, but a chasm. It began with seeking to have marital relations without having children. Soon, however, sexual relations became completely separated from both love and children.
How do we get out of this mess? I would suggest five things.

First of all, we, married and single, need to know better who we are as created by God. Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body is vital to that process. Fundamentally, this means that we see ourselves as created in the image of the loving Trinity, where we really become human only in the total gift of ourselves, imitating the gift of Christ to us. The Trinity and the cross must be the center of every Christian’s life. This will give meaning to marriage, as well as to religious and priestly vocations.

Second, we need to counter the contraceptive mentality of our society, which has helped to create this gap between sexual activity, and love and children. The best way to do this is to promote Natural Family Planning. We know that commitment and companionship, based on hard work and dedication, are the solid bedrocks of a successful marriage. NFP supports this completely, and clearly invites into the marriage that one partner who is most needed: God. NFP is simple, satisfying and effective; and it engages the couple more completely in the family planning process. NFP does not change our bodily nature nor our bodily relationship; rather, it respects what is God-given.

Third, we need to recognize that marriage is good for us. Marriage “helps to overcome self-absorption, egoism, pursuit of one’s own pleasure, and to open oneself to the other, to mutual aid and to self-giving.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1609) Marriage also can teach us the equality of men and women and their clear differences and complementarity by working toward a loving unity.

Fourth, we need to recall that marriage is good for children. Children in intact families are more likely to be successful and less likely to experience a myriad of evils that surround us. The roles of mother and father and their healthy interactions are important for the development of boys and girls and show them the beauty of faithful and eternal love. This is the best gift that a husband and wife can give to their children.

Finally, we need to pray and to celebrate the sacraments. Praying as a family, and praying as a couple are vital. Recourse to reconciliation and the Eucharist are essential for ourselves and for assisting our spouse and our family on their journey to heaven. Jesus commanded us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Not doing so would mean that we would have no life in us. How can we share life, our life or any life, with our spouse or children if we do not have that life within us.

Marriage is essential for our society, for our church, and mostly for our salvation. Let us work and pray for the building of this great sacrament of service.

"To All Parents of Religious"

From CatholicExchange.com

By Rachel Watkins (no relation)

So, your child has vocation. Congratulations! He or she has told you about the desire to enter a seminary, cloister, order or monastery. This is wonderful news. You thank God for this gift to the Church; you make telephone calls to family and friends to announce the news. You find yourself busy with all that this decision entails. Eventually, in the days and weeks that follow you also find yourself pausing over a cup of coffee, lingering over your rosary beads and you find yourself saying to yourself, “What does this mean to me?”

I know exactly how you feel as I am one of you. My oldest daughter wears a simple gold band as an outward symbol of her promises to poverty, chastity and obedience. She is a bride of Christ. Her vocation is a source of great joy for our family but it does cause for some awkward moments, the first of which may come from our own hearts and souls.

We find ourselves wondering because, while our child has been given the blessing of a vocation, we aren’t sure where that leaves us. Not that we are asking for anything specifically but understanding is always welcomed. The particular vocation known as “parent of a religious” is rarely discussed, so in a spirit of solidarity, I offer you my thoughts on our mission.

Who are we as parents of religious? I have some familiarity with this role as do my parents. My youngest brother is a priest, now serving as an Army military chaplain. I remember the joy in my hometown when he came to celebrate his first Mass there over 8 years ago. An older parishioner took my mother aside, giving her a hug, she said, “You must be so happy. You are guaranteed a place in heaven for this!” My mother thanked her for her sentiments. Later alone with me, she laughed at the opinion offered, “Great, now I can begin that life of crime I always wanted!” Little did I know, back then, that I would join my mother in this challenging role.

While I am still learning how it all works, I already know parents of religious are guaranteed nothing — not even a seat in heaven. We will share the same feelings and concerns most parents feel but in a different way. We miss our children deeply and worry about them. This worry is especially true of parents whose children are missionaries abroad. And while their needs are taken care of by their orders or dioceses, we have concern for their wellbeing and support them financially with as much as our incomes allow. Our lives can seem almost easier with the care they receive from their dioceses or orders but that is not always the case.

In truth, ours can be a difficult lot. This is not to discourage anyone from encouraging their children to listen for God’s call. My daughter does not know about what concerns me. I say it only in an acceptance of the fact that our child’s choice is atypical, making us as their parents also uncommon. Our children have chosen Christ first and foremost for their lives and their loves. We could not be more proud, could we? However, we know that this choice comes at a cost rarely understood. We often find ourselves at a loss. We may stumble when trying to tell others what our children are doing. A teacher, a plumber, an at-home mom, even a tattoo artist, is easily understood but a monk, a nun, consecrated? These often require an explanation that extends longer than the line at the deli will allow.

The current secular atmosphere can make our children’s vocation suspect and our acceptance even more so. Even those who sit in the pews with us can question their decision in light of the scandals a few years ago. Their questions can range from the humorous, “Is there much a future in religious life?” “Eternal”, we want to reply.

“There certainly can’t be much money in that work,” rude folks may comment. And even the perplexing, “Don’t you think she should get a degree first so she has a back-up plan if it doesn’t work out?”

Doesn’t work out?

We do our best as parents to answer all the questions. However, quite honestly, after a while, it can become distressing. Some of the questions and concerns we can receive are so negative. My husband and I joke darkly to each other that we might have had a better reception if we had announced her decision to join a traveling band of jugglers rather than a recognized order in the Church. In the end, all these questions come down to this: Why would anyone choose religious life?

Why, indeed. Perhaps we have these questions ourselves. How did this call come to our family? While people may tell us we are holy for having a child with a vocation we know otherwise, don’t we? Their call from Christ came even with our failings as parents. Their “yes” to God came despite our many “no’s”.

Some of us may have rejoiced with the news, having prayed throughout our marriages for a religious vocation. Truthfully, though, for others it may have come as a shock or even a disappointment. For these parents, perhaps there is some shame in recognizing those feelings but perhaps not. These parents often find it hard to support their children in their call.

For those who are not parents of a vocation it may be hard to even understand this, but it happens; I know it does. My daughter tells me of her sadness in having companions who never get phone calls or letters from home. The perseverance these vocation “orphans” display despite the silence from home gives her additional strength for her own call.

In some families, such as my own, our children’s vocations were less of a surprise. While it may have come along without any real prompting on your part, you are pleased. In some instances, your child has always had a love for Christ and the Church that set him or her apart, like Samuel, hearing the Lord call his name when he was young. Their vocations seem more like an obvious choice. It is much like the parents of the gearhead who aren’t surprised when their child announces a decision to be a mechanic. Finally, he will be getting paid for all that he did for free, every chance he could. Finally, what he loves is also what he does.

So, here we are, parents watching them leave for seminary or college or the mission field. We packed them up, depending on their order, with many things or nothing. Depending on where they are located and their mission, we might hear from them every week or only a few times a year. There might be access to the Internet for e-mails or we may have to rely on erratic snail mails. They may be sent far from home or preach to us from a pulpit in our own dioceses.

Whatever your child’s call, they didn’t write about it in the parents’ books or magazines. There isn’t an article titled, “Now That You’ve Become the Parent of a Religious” to be found. As a result, much of what you learn comes as you go along. You come to know and accept the rules and norms of your child’s order. But honestly, some of these are easier to accept than others.

As much as I complained about shopping when my daughter was younger, I miss the fact that I don’t buy her clothes anymore. Her clothes are given to her and while I contribute to the costs of these through our donations, I don’t have the small pleasure of seeing a sweater that I know she would look great in and sending it to her “just because”. It is a silly thing I know, but one I take to prayer regularly.

Money as a whole is so different now. I am like so many other parents of a young adult, as I get letters requesting money, but mine come as those formal donation letters many receive. However, unlike so many other parents who might wonder where all their money goes, I know the money I send is never going to be spent unwisely on a weekend bash but on such necessities as milk and heating bills.

I worry about her daily, not with concern about what decisions are being made but more in regard with loneliness and acceptance. My daughter faces the rejection that Christ did during His life here on earth. I know people close the door in her face both figuratively and literally. I know they are really refusing Christ as they dismiss her, but I can’t stand the thought of anyone not liking her. She’s a great person. She’s beautiful, smart and funny. How could anyone not love her as I do? But they don’t, just as they don’t love God. I feel a closeness to Mary that I never had before, from the moment my daughter spoke her vows. She knows, more so than I, how painful it is watching your child be rejected.

But these are minor struggles and our lives are a blessing. As parents of religious, we all have peace knowing our children have found their vocations at a time when so many young people are still wandering. We miss them, but knowing where they are — a rectory, mission field or chapel — gives us a peace many parents lack. We also have a closeness that texting cannot replace. We join hands and hearts through the Tabernacle. Whenever my family communicates with my daughter, we close with the reminder that we’ll “see each other at the altar”. Every Mass reminds me of her and as I receive Christ I can imagine her doing the same though far away. We both say goodnight to the Blessed Mother and ask her to watch over us as we sleep.

So, there should be no complaints should there? However, if I could beg for a little latitude, I would like to grouse a bit without sounding ungrateful. A friend of mine told me of a recent visit to Italy to spend some time with her son who is a priest. As they walked about the city, her son in his collar, they were often greeted quite warmly. She blushed with pride as she told of the small items placed in her hand by shopkeepers and the kind words of thanksgiving given her. “The mother of the priest deserves great blessings!”, she was told repeatedly.

I do not often hear such words except from other families with religious. I get awkward smiles and “Oh, that must be nice!” before the subject is quickly changed. Or I will be subjected to the barrage of prying questions that reveal a dislike or distrust of the Church. I will openly admit that I wish my daughter’s vocation generated the same respect and pride that other professions do, such as doctor. The vocation of a religious should be seen to have equal value if not more. While a doctor may save the body, a religious is trying to save a soul. The body will eventually die; the soul, with good care and formation, will live forever. However, I know this adulation doesn’t often come and probably shouldn’t, as all praise and glory remain God’s and God’s alone. He called and my child answered; I am but a very small part of the picture. But, honestly and humanly, a more frequent favorable reception would be welcome.

Therefore, in companionship of a fraternity created by our children’s calls to serve Christ — Congratulations (again)! — you are not alone in your role. We may not have a weekly support group but we are in very special company, are we not? We have role models in the recently beatified Louie and Zelie Martin, parents of the Little Flower, St. Therese of the Child Jesus and her religious siblings as well as the Blessed Mother herself. May they watch over all of us and grant us the graces and comfort we need on the tough days. I also offer the prayer below, written together with my husband and with my daughter’s approval. May it give you comfort just as it does us:

PRAYER FOR OUR CHILDREN WITH RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS

Lord, I thank you for my child’s vocation. Never cease watching over him/her. Grant him/her all the graces necessary to fulfill his/her sacrificial call; especially strength, dedication, and fidelity. Though we are not together, allow my prayers to give him/her comfort and strength. May he/she never regret his/her gift of self, despite the cost. Keep us united through the Eucharist and the love of our mother, Mary.

Grant us the courage to continue to be open to his/her call and to help spread our generosity to others. Allow us eternity together with you where we will rejoice forever for the gift his/her vocation is to the Church and to our family. Amen.

Rachel Watkins is wife of Matthew, mom to 11 kids, creator of the Little Flower's Girls Program (http://www.eccehomopress.com/), and a weekly contributor to Heart, Mind and Strength Radio with Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak and a frequent blogger at their site, http://www.exceptionalmarriages.com/.

Commitment to the Family

Pope Benedict XVI on the family.