Fishers of Men

If you have not seen the Fishers of Men, put out by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, you really should. You can watch a clip of the video here; it is quite good and is a fine start toward a renewed promotement and encouragement of vocations to the priesthood.

As Pope Benedict has said:

"There is an urgent need for the emergence of a new generation of apostles anchored firmly in the word of Christ, capable of responding to the challenges of our times and prepared to spread the Gospel far and wide. It is this that the Lord asks of you, it is to this that the Church invites you, and it is this that the world - even though it may not be aware of it - expects of you! If Jesus calls you, do not be afraid to respond to him with generosity, especially when he asks you to follow him in the consecrated life or in the priesthood. Do not be afraid; trust in him and you will not be disappointed." [Message to the Youth of the World on the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day]

For too many years have we simply sat by and expected vocations to rise up on their own from our parishes and families. I am absolutely convinced that vocations are abounding in the Church today, we know that the Lord has not stopped calling young men to serve him as priests, but that instead young men are not hearing his call, in no small part because we are doing very little to help them hear his call. We must do all that we can to help young men answer the call of the Lord, we must explicitly encourage vocations by asking those whom the Lord might be calling to seriously and prayerfully consider a life lived in service to the Lord and to the Church.

Let us dedicate ourselves anew to the promotion of vocations, for, in the words of St. Francis of Assisi as he neared his death, "Let us begin, for until now we have done nothing."

All you holy Apostles, pray for us!