Bishop Lucas announces Year of Prayer for Priestly Vocations

His Excellency the Most Reverend George J. Lucas, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, announced last evening - during his homily for the Chrism Mass - a Year of Prayer for Priestly Vocations “that our diocese will become a more fertile seedbed where healthy priestly vocations will grow.”

“This yearlong observance,” he said, “will begin this Advent – coinciding with the consecration of the cathedral altar – and will extend through 2010.”

This Year of Prayer will be centered on the Eucharist and placed under the patronage of Mary, the Mother of Priests, and Patroness of the Diocese, under her title of the Immaculate Conception.

Bishop Lucas recalled the joy he has as he confirms “hundreds and hundreds and hundreds” of young people each year, but “at the same time,” he said, “my joy is tempered this evening by the knowledge that the promise, the purpose, of the sacred chrism will go partially unfulfilled during the coming year.” There will be no priestly ordinations for the Diocese this year.

This is not the first year the Diocese has not had a priestly ordination, but Bishop Lucas does not “want us to get used to it.”

While he will ordain men to the permanent diaconate this summer, and while lay ecclesial ministers provide valuable service to the Diocesan Church, Bishop Lucas said, “at the rate we are going, we will not have enough priests to provide an adequate sacramental life for a vibrant Catholic Church in years to come.”

This sober reminder was followed with praise for the priests who have served the Diocese in the past and who currently serve the Diocese. “I am proud of our priests and grateful to God for the life and ministry of each of them,” Bishop Lucas said, before acknowledging,

…my pride and my gratitude don’t do much to lift the increasing burden being carried by fewer priests. People expect a great deal of our priests, which, in most cases, speaks well of people’s faith and priests’ dedication. Yet the burden increases, people want the sacraments, priests are dedicated to providing them. The fostering of priestly vocations is a challenge and a responsibility of the whole Church, and, frankly, I don’t think we have been giving it enough attention. We must be more clear among ourselves and before God about what we need for life in this world and in the next.

Over the next several months, Bishop Lucas will work with Fr. Christopher House, the Director of the Office for Vocations, to “develop a schedule of prayerful activities, along with resources to be used in families, parishes and schools during the year of prayer.”

“I know I want more good priests to serve the people of this diocese,” said Bishop Lucas. “If we pray together about this, then we are bound to learn more profoundly what God wants for us and from us.”

Thank you, Your Excellency!