What are the concerns of the vocations personnel in Ireland at this time? No doubt, the question of continued dwindling numbers of vocations will be high on the agenda. It is a perennial! The other issue that always exercises the mind is: where do we tap into where the young are at – how will we reach them? Lamentably, there will be a continuous call for more sub-committees, more focus groups, more research to be done to get to the root of the problem. Allied with that will be the sense of deflation on the part of many – it’s hard to retain optimism when there are few vocations.
And yet, some of the concerns seem so misplaced. I’d like my fellow vocations directors and promoters to think in a more constructive manner. Instead of lamenting and moaning about the small number of vocations why not take the initiative and make a concerted effort to promote the vocation of each order, congregation and entity. There is a very serious lack of vocational promotion in Ireland. It is practically negligible. No visibility. Will young (and not so young) take religious vocations seriously if religious themselves do not?
I have observed the proliferation of committees, sub-committees, focus groups and research studies undertaken by religious congregations in recent years. I do not doubt that they are well-intentioned. Unfortunately, like many reports and studies – they are filed away but give a suggestion of actually having done something. No report, or focus group or research will substitute for the real hard work of vocational promotion and discernment. Time to stop meeting and get out and do!
Then the question of deflation/lack of energy or hopelessness which is the malaise of many vocations personnel: it is time to look at your congregational leaders and leadership teams and encourage them to make vocations a top priority – to put resources (material, human and spiritual) at your disposal. Congregations leave so much to vocations personnel without ever encouraging them.
And finally, prayer! Where is there a sense of religious congregations praying in a real and earnest fashion for vocations? There are a few, but very few. Look at the thousands of ordinary people associated with religious communities whose resource as pray-ers for vocations that have not been tapped into. Do religious communities pray for vocations? And ultimately – no prayer, no vocations.
Please pray for us religious vocations directors as we begin a new academic year of promotion and discernment.
1 comment:
No need for surveys, panels, listening sessions, research studies. What the young want is the truth. They want an authentic experience of the Catholic faith without distortion, without dissent. They want beautiful and sacred Liturgies in accordance with the tradition and norms of the Church. They want to know the teachings of Holy Church. The reason there is a vocations crisis is because their is a crisis of faith, of fidelity, a crisis of dissent and disobedience. Many young men look at the Irish orders and see a culture of dissent and heterodoxy which is repulsive. Only by addressing this root problem will the vocations crisis be solved.
Post a Comment