Fostering vocations: What's the next step?

Vocations director grapples with challenge of parental opposition

Father Michael T. Butler, director of the archdiocesan Vocations Office, said he is witnessing a challenge among young men and women considering a possible religious vocation — gaining the acceptance of their parents.

According to a 1997 CARA study, parental encouragement of religious vocations leads to dramatically higher positive attitudes toward becoming a priest or religious. The nationwide study was conducted for U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops with the support of the Serra International Foundation.

"It becomes important then for parents to reflect on their own attitudes toward their faith, the Church and on the value of young people consecrating their lives to Christ, and to make a conscious effort to address any negative attitudes that they might outwardly or subconsciously be communicating to their children in the home," he said.

"In fact, I have five guys who would love to come into the seminary this year, but they won’t because of their parents," he said. "One mother, a couple of years ago, even went as far as to say to her son, ‘If you go to the seminary, don’t ever come back home.’"

If you do not belong or participate in the Serra Club in some way, perhaps it would be worthwhile to do so.

There appears to be an often overlooked reason why parents may be disinclined to encourage a vocation to the priesthood. It seems that contraception plays an important part in the equation. Families are much smaller now than they were years ago, therefore the 'pool' of good young men is less. It seems that the scourge of contraception has not only lead our nation and others toward the legalization of abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality and other grave immoralities but has lead us to a decline in the priesthood as well. This, combined with the pursuit of the almighty dollar, the radical feminist movement, the diminishing of the faith, and other things has a direct bearing on one's ability to become more virtuous and learn to the practice of self-sacrificing love.

Anyway, the article discusses some of the efforts of the Serra Club and has some other good points but I would add that perhaps more people need to spend more time praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament and asking our Lord to help us overcome the evil in our midst, and if it be His Will, raise up good men to continue His ministry for the sake of His people and to give courage and strength to those parents whose sons may have been graced with this special calling from God.

Article is here.