Vocations Sunday 2009 - May 3rd. End of Year of Vocation.

Next Sunday, May 3rd is Vocations Sunday. It also marks the final day of the Irish church's Year of Vocation. The Irish Dominicans will mark Vocations Sunday and the end of the Year of Vocation by celebrating Mass at 11.30 am on that day at Saint Saviour's Dominican church, Dominick Street, Dublin 1. You are very welcome to attend.

A Prophetic Voice on Vocations...

It is a risk I know to label anyone as a prophet - especially when they are still alive and even more so when they are young! So, I hope that you will forgive me for naming a prophet in this brief post. His name is Andrew O' Connell (pictured), who is the communications director for the Presentation Brothers in Ireland. He is, in my opinion, the most authentic and credible commentator on vocations in Ireland. He rarely misses an opportunity at any meeting, gathering, lecture or article to make a case for vocations to priesthood and religious life. And not only make the case but to challenge, inspire, animate and enthuse others about the subject.

A case in point: this week's Irish Catholic newspaper (edition February 26, 2009) Andrew writes in his comment piece about the negativity of many surrounding the so-called 'vocations crisis'. He says that the 'crisis' is not the work of the Holy Spirit but '...due to a pathology of tiredness within the Church in the West. It is due to half-hearted and poorly resourced efforts to build a culture of vocation in the Church'. He proposes that we get back to basics on vocations and he ends with a mighty challenge: 'In particular, on the issue of vocations, it's time for people to make a choice. Lead. Follow. Or get out of the way.'

For many, these words will be difficult to hear, even unpalatable. But they are crucial and important words - just like the words of the prophets of the scriptures.

I am delighted to announce that Dr Andrew O' Connell will be joining us, the Dominicans, to give some input on discernment, at our next Year of Vocation event which will be held in Saint Saviour's Dominican Priory, Dorset Street, Dublin 1 on March 14th next. Details about the event can be found elsewhere on this blog.

Year of Vocation - February 2009: Focus on Religious Life

The Year of Vocation in the Catholic church in Ireland continues. A theme or focus for each month from April 2008 to May 2009 had been suggested by the organisers of this year. The theme for February 2009 is the vocation to religious life. I realise that there are some events planned in some parts of the country to celebrate and recognise the work done by the various religious orders. But many of these events have been ongoing for some years now.

While one does not wish to be critical, I think it is fair to ask (with only three full months to go to complete this Year of Vocation) a few questions of those who have been charged with leading and guiding this specially designated year. (1) Why has communication from the Year of Vocation Office stopped? (2) Why has the specially designated website for the year http://www.yourvocation.ie/ not been updated for several months now? (3) Where has the impetus and energy that greeted the opening of the Year of Vocation gone? (4) Dioceses, religious orders and others were asked last year to subscribe financially to this effort. Has the money been well spent? (5) Is it the fact that the Year of Vocation was so broad based in outlook that it has completely failed to capture the imagination? I would like to hear some responses........

Just for balance, I realise that some organisations, orders and dioceses have made some efforts to be creative around the Year of Vocation but from my perspective it looks like a drop in the ocean in what might have been achieved. What a pity.

A Most Welcome Christmas Card!

Christmas cards are always welcome at this time of the year.....but one such card recently received stands out. It is from the Knights of Saint Columbanus. The dedication reads:

The Year of Vocation spans from 13th April 2008 to 3rd May 2009. The focus is on Witness, Love, Service and the calling of all God's people whether they be married, single, ordained, religious, young or old. It has a series of themes for different months. December was chosen as the opportunity to show our appreciation of those already in ministry and to say thank you for their vocation.'

This is a most thoughtful gesture on behalf of the Knights of Saint Columbanus and is deeply appreciated by this blogger. You can visit the website of the Knights at http://www.knightsofstcolumbanus.ie/

Year of Vocation - Dominican Event

Apologies to readers of this blog for the lack of posting during these past couple of weeks. As mentioned in a previous entry, I have been busy meeting new enquirers during that time which necessitated a fair deal of travel. It is always very humbling to meet people who are interested in the Dominican way of life, and I am always inspired by their courage in making first contact. That can be difficult!

I have found time though during these past couple of weeks to meet with those having responsibility for encouraging and attracting new membership to the various branches of the Dominican family in Ireland - i.e the Dominican laity, the Cabra congregation of Dominican sisters and the contemplative nuns in Siena monastery - to begin the process of planning a Dominican family event to celebrate the year of vocation.

Plans are at an advanced stage now and we hope to hold the event on the feast of Saint Albert the Great (November 15th, 2008). Further details about this in the next week or so.

'Reality'

The Redemptorists and particularly those who produce their monthly magazine 'Reality' are to be warmly congratulated on their May 2008 issue - which is a special issue on vocations. Triona Doherty has a very good investigative report on the fall in vocations and invites commentators to give some analysis on the situation. The Redemptorist vocations director Michael Cusack CSsR writes a fine article on why he accepted the job as vocations director recently. Much of what Michael writes resonates very much with my own experience. Sue Leonard carries a very good interview with Maura Walsh, a Redemptoristine novice (enclosed nuns). Communications Director for the Presentation Brothers, Andrew O' Connell gives his usual articulate and profound analysis on vocations ministry in an excellent article. Mercy sister Helena O' Donoghue writes on 'Have we Amnesia about Religious Life?' and makes the plea for promotion of religious vocations. Again, this is an excellent article. Other contributions to the issue make for very good reading.

It is very evident that the 'Reality' team put in a very big effort to put the special vocations issue together. They have done us all a great service in so doing. You can visit their website at http://www.redemptoristpublications.com/

The Media and Year of Vocation

It was good to see that the national newspapers in Ireland carried some coverage (albeit scarce) of the national launch of the Year of Vocation. All of the broadsheets: The Irish Examiner, The Irish Times and The Irish Independent quoted from Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's homily at Dublin's Pro-Cathedral where he said that being a Christian 'is not a spectator sport.....You cannot simply be a passive Christian sitting on the sideline always or watching from the grandstand when the occasion arises.' There were quotes too regarding priesthood: 'We need priests, good priests. We need them not to fill gaps caused by the death of older priests. We need priests who can be beacons in our society.' And on vocation, he said: 'The world needs vocations not determined by a detailed job description, as in business, but in the ability to place one's life, with all its inadequacies truly at the service of Jesus.' These papers also included statistics about the large number of deaths of priests and religious as against the numbers of those joining seminary or religious life.

The Irish Catholic also produced a supplement for Vocations Sunday which had a particularly strong Dominican input - 3 of the 4 main articles in the supplement focused on various aspects of the Dominican vocation. This pleased this blogger very much!

As part of the launch of the Year of Vocation the organising committee for the year have put together a website http://www.yourvocation.ie/ It appeared on the evening before the launch and it seems that the website is very much in the embryonic stage. This is, unfortunately, an opportunity lost to really give a proper launch on the internet to this special year.

Project Manager for Year of Vocation Appointed

Ms. Brenda Drumm (pictured) has been appointed Project Manager for the 'Year of Vocation'. She has been working with the Catholic Communications Office of the Irish Bishop's Conference as a communications officer. I wish her every blessing in the important task that she is undertaking. It is a good appointment!

Spotlight on Vocations in Catholic Publications in Ireland.

The upcoming 'Year of Vocation' is obviously exercising the minds of editors of some Catholic magazines and publications in Ireland. This weekend I noticed two articles of interest - and both with very different takes on 'vocation'.

The first was in Reality, the excellent publication of the Irish Redemptorists. The article entitled 'Empty seminaries and the future of priesthood' is by Tony Flannery CSsR. In the article he refers to the comments of a the newly appointed bishop of Ossory about the bishop's desire to attract vocations - and particularly to remind the Christian community in the diocese that it is their duty to nourish priestly vocations. Fr. Flannery doesn't have any great confidence that the bishop will succeed. The article centres on a conversation the author had recently with a group of about 30 people. In asking them about the rapid decline of clergy numbers and the problem this creates for ministry in the Irish church, the group did not think that priesthood was a good career choice because of a number of issues. (1) Fear of life-long commitment. (2) The Church's inability to adapt to modern times. (3) Compulsory celibacy. (4) The exclusion of women from the priesthood and (5) while not explicitly stated, the scandals within the Irish church in recent times.

In the end, I wasn't sure who was the real author of the article. Was it the 30 people or Fr. Flannery? That apart, I was left wondering whether the central issue of vocation was touched on at all - namely, that vocation is a divine call given to all the people of God, but in a particular way to some whom the Lord chooses to work as priests, brothers, nuns, sisters in a consecrated fashion.


The second article was in The Word - another excellent periodical published by the Divine Word Missionaries. Entitled 'A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats' and written by Sarah MacDonald, the article centred on the work of Andrew O' Connell, the Communications Director of the Presentation Brothers in Ireland. Andrew explains his guiding philisophy as the message of John Paul II: 'Let no one, on account of our negligence, lose the beautiful gift of their vocation.' In upbeat terms, the article singles out a number of reasons why vocation to religious life is a real alternative by(1) Opening the doors of religious communities to young people to invite them in and de-mystify the notions people have. (2) Presenting vocation as a real and credible option. (3) Have people work full time on vocation (the real secret!). (4) Use human and financial resources to promote. (5) The importance of personal invitation. (6) God!

Andrew also, rightly, cites other issues of real concern, particularly the lopsided theological notion that the fall off in vocations is attributable to the work of the Holy Spirit and that we should accept this and get on with it. He sees the 'vocation crisis' as the effect of aggressive secularism, post-modern confusion and the inability of the Church in Ireland to come to terms with these realities.

Both articles mentioned are important as part of the dialogue we need around new membership to our way of life. But for realism and hope, it's the artcle in The Word - by a mile!!