General interest

Don’t Let Uncertainty Stop You

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A fear of not having all the answers is stopping many young women from seeking a beautiful vocation as a religious sister, says a Franciscan sister from Illinois in a new video.

“That’s where the fear is,” explains Sr. Michael, of the Daughters of St. Francis of Assisi. “The person is hesitating to take that next step because they don’t have all the answers. You are not going to have all the answers, until you take that next step. And then the answers will come.”

In a candid, unscripted video interview, Sr. Michael, Vicar Provincial of the congregation, provides fresh insight on overcoming reluctance in pursuing a vocation, as well as the spiritual benefits of living in a community dedicated to following Christ through the life of St. Francis.

“Let me tell you what it’s like to be in a community of sisters,” Sr. Michael explains in a surprisingly popular 10-minute video. “It’s a mystery at first because you realize that there is a spiritual bond with each one of them. . . . We all come from different parts of the world and different parts of the country. Yet we all have that bond, that common bond. . . . That bond follows us into eternity.”

The video also features an interview with the congregation’s bishop, Most Rev. Daniel R. Jenky, Bishop of Peoria, who says, ”I am very happy to say I have great admiration for the zeal of the Daughters of St. Francis of Assisi.”

The Sisters’ provincial motherhouse is in Lacon, Illinois, and the congregation has its general house in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. They have been operating St. Joseph Nursing Home in Lacon since 1964.

Cloistered life

Poor Clares “Adopt” Diocese of Bismarck

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The Poor Clares of Rockford, Illinois have had a spiritual bond with the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, that goes back a few years. That bond increased dramatically October 19th, when their former chaplain, Msgr. David D. Kagan, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rockford, was named the Bishop-elect of Bismarck.

Several years ago, the vocation director for Bismarck asked the sisters to pray for all of the diocese’s seminarians. The Poor Clares had been faithful to that commitment ever since, and now their chaplain in Rockford will become the new shepherd in Bismarck!

The sisters were delighted to spend an hour with Bishop-elect Kagan in their visiting parlor recently, learning all about his new diocese.

A fellow “worker” at the chancery office, Border collie Dash (whose duty it was to keep the geese off the chancery grounds), will accompany the Bishop-elect to North Dakota. “At least he will enjoy the snow,” comments Msgr. Kagan.

There is a wonderful presence of religious men and women in the Bismarck diocese. However, since the diocese does not have a cloistered contemplative community, the Poor Clares are spiritually adopting the Diocese of Bismarck along with its new bishop!

The desire of St. Clare–that her sisters support the Mystical Body–is alive and well.

Cloistered life

For Those Who Pray

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Catholics throughout the world today are invited to celebrate Pro Orantibus Day, a special day set aside to honor the cloistered and monastic life.

“The primary purpose of Pro Orantibus Day (‘For Those Who Pray’) is to thank God for the tremendous gift of the cloistered and monastic vocation in the Church’s life,” noted Fr. Thomas Nelson, O.Praem., National Director of the Institute on Religious Life.

“Since the lives of these women and men religious dedicated to prayer and sacrifice are often hidden, this annual celebration reminds us of the need to support their unique mission within the Body of Christ,” he added.

In 1997, Bl. Pope John Paul II asked that this ecclesial event be observed worldwide on November 21, the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Presentation in the Temple. It is a most fitting day to thank those in the cloistered and monastic life for serving as “a leaven of renewal and of the presence of the spirit of Christ in the world.” It is also intended to remind others of the need to provide spiritual and material support “for those who pray.”

Pope Benedict XVI has also spoken often of the tremendous value of the cloistered, contemplative life. Speaking to a group of cloistered Dominican nuns in Rome, the Holy Father referred to such religious as “the heart” which provides blood to the rest of the Body of Christ. He noted that in their work and prayer, together with Christ, they are the “heart” of the Church and in their desire for God’s love they approach the ultimate goal.

The nationwide effort to publicize Pro Orantibus Day is coordinated by the Institute on Religious Life (“IRL”).  Visit cloisteredlife.com, also sponsored by the IRL, for more information on cloistered and monastic communities.

News

Pope, U.S. Bishops Discuss Vocations

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Religious freedom, the “new evangelization,” and the push for vocations emerged as key issues during the first round of U.S. bishops’ “ad limina” visits to the Vatican.

Eighteen bishops from New England met with Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican officials earlier this month. It was the first of 15 U.S. groups making ad limina visits over the next several months, and the bishops said some particular questions and challenges surfaced quickly in the talks.

While the Church leaders addressed many issues, a popular topic was vocations, especially to the priesthood, according to a Catholic News Service report. Archbishop Henry J. Mansell of Hartford, Connecticut said it was nice to be able to share good news with the pope.

“Many of us here can say we’re very much thrilled by the large increase in vocations to the priesthood. In my own archdiocese, eight years ago we had six seminarians, now we have 47 and more on the waiting list,” the archbishop said.“Stories like that are true and real and offer great hope now and for the future.”

The archbishop said that in the meetings: “The Holy Father is very encouraging. He sees the large picture and he’s very conscious of the work that goes on.”

According to Servant of God John A. Hardon, an ad limina visit  is a pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul, canonically required of every bishop every three to ten years. On this visit he renders an account of the complete condition of his diocese to the Pope.

Resources

Discernment Retreats

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A discernment retreat is a prayerful visit with a religious community, perhaps for a weekend or even a week. Such a retreat is a good way to test your vocation. You can get to know the community and its charism, and consider whether God may be calling you to its way of life. Many communities hold retreats for groups for just this purpose. Or you may be able to visit them as an individual.

One of the most important outreaches of the Institute on Religious Life (“IRL“) is assisting those who are discerning religious vocations by directing them to opportunities to “come and see,” often in the context of a retreat.

The IRL provides information on retreats for men and women alike. In addition, the IRL offers online vocation retreats, consisting of daily meditations and reflections sent to you via email to help you discover your vocation in life.

Visit the IRL site today for more vocation-related resources!

General interest

Demographics Is Destiny?

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I recently came across this article in The Baltimore Sun entitled “Catholics look to younger students to stem priest, nun declines.” What struck me was that the profiled fifth-graders “were so unfamiliar with a nun’s habit and veil” that they referred to a nun as “the lady in the blue dress.”

Unfortunately, the author eventually trots out the usual “mainstream” explanations for the shortage of priests and religious, such as the sex scandals, the male-only priesthood, and mandatory celibacy, without going deeper.

This shortcoming was adroitly exposed by Terry Mattingly on his blog:

“One of the major problems these days is that millions of Catholic parents are no longer sure if they want their sons and daughters to surrender their lives to the church.

“This is the factor that the Sun continues to miss in its coverage of stories linked to Catholic statistics–such as struggling parishes, closing schools and, yes, the declining number of priests. A key fact: Birth rates for most white American Catholics now resemble those found in liberal Protestant churches.

“I dug into this a few years ago in a pair of Scripps Howard columns that shipped with this title: ‘Fathers, mothers and Catholic sons.’ The key interview was with the progressive Catholic academic Father Donald B. Cozzens, a former seminary vicar in Ohio and author of the influential 2000 book, The Changing Face of the Priesthood.

“The bottom line: How many Catholic young people will even considering entering religious life if this step is actively opposed by their fathers and mothers?

“In the past, when large families were the norm, it was a matter of pride to have a son enter religious life. But what if most Catholic families contain only one son?

“’When it has become normal to have two children or less, you are not going to find many parents who are encouraging a son–especially an only son–to become a priest,’ said Cozzens. ‘They want him to get married, to have grandchildren and carry on the family name.

“’So there are fewer sons and there are more mothers who are asking hard questions.’

“Grandchildren or no grandchildren? . . .

“Once again, demographics is destiny. I would also note that, especially in Catholic pews, demographics are often shaped by doctrine.”

Read the entire article here.

Papal Address

Called to Service

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Last week Pope Benedict XVI presided at Vespers at the Vatican basilica for the opening of the academic year in pontifical universities. His homily focused on priestly ministry, in the light of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations by Venerable Pius XII. The Holy Father reflected on the reading from the First Letter of Peter, which he said “invites us to meditate upon the mission of pastors in the Christian community.”

The Holy Father emphasized three essential qualities of a priest: “the aspiration to collaborate with Jesus in spreading the Kingdom of God, the gratuitousness of pastoral commitment, and an attitude of service.” A priest, he stressed, must sacrifice himself for the Church, making himself available to be “seized by Christ.”

The priests administer the sacraments, but do not control them, the Pope said. “They cannot dispose of them as they please.”

Pope Benedict also noted that “we must never forget that we enter the priesthood through the Sacrament of Ordination. This means opening ourselves to the action of God by daily choosing to give ourselves for Him and for our fellow man. . . . The Lord’s call to the ministry is not the fruit of any particular merit, it is a gift we must accept and to which we must respond by generously and disinterestedly dedicating ourselves, not to our own project but to that of God, that He may dispose of us according to His will, even though this may not correspond to our own desire for self-fulfillment. . . . As priests, we must never forget that the only legitimate ascension towards the ministry of pastor is not that of success but that of the Cross.”

News

Springfield’s Seminary Numbers at 25-Year High

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Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Diocese of Springfield

The State Journal-Register reports that the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois now has 20 seminarians, the most it’s had in over 25 years. The article includes some sobering facts to counter this news, including the approximately 50% attrition rate of seminarians and how even that number doesn’t quite keep pace with the needs of a diocese that has 131 parishes as well as various college, prison, and hospital chaplaincies.

Still, the news is encouraging and is further evidence of a stabilizing of priestly vocations in the U.S. after the decline of the 1970s and 1980s. Further, the Diocese of Springfield is bouncing back from the 1990s, when it underwent some significant scandals even before clerical sex abuse became a national story.

Yet the new generation is undaunted. As one of the current seminarians noted: “[By wearing the collar], people may immediately make assumptions about you that might be very bad. I know this is not about me. I know I’m not going to fix any huge problems on my own. But I can be, for the people God sends me to, an expression of the love God has for them.”

Amen to that.

Men's communities

Maryknoll Celebrates Centennial

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As reported by Catholic World News, the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers celebrated their 100th anniversary at an October 30 Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was the principal celebrant, and Father Jan Michael Joncas–the composer of “On Eagle’s Wings”–composed a special musical Mass setting for the anniversary.

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers were founded by the U.S. bishops in 1911 as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America. The average member is now 74 years old; according to various editions of the United States Catholic Mission Association’s handbook, 158 Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers now serve abroad–down from 279 in 2004.

Despite the many successes of devoted Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers over the past century, the community has been criticized in recent decades for adopting an overly politicized approach to missionary work.