Hear Christ’s call to follow him

by Editor · April 25, 2012

The state of vocations to the priesthood in South Africa has yet to reach the point of crisis experienced in Western Europe and, to a lesser extent, North America.

Not too long ago, the Church in Ireland produced too many priests to deploy to the country�s pastoral ministries. Many young Irish priests followed the call to be missionaries in far-away lands, animated by a selfless zeal for evangelisation and, perhaps, a sense of adventure. Many of them still serve the Church in Africa today. So it is all the more discouraging to note that the flow of seminarians in Ireland has been reduced to a trickle.

The situation is more hopeful in South Africa, where the national seminary, St John Vianney in Pretoria, is experiencing shortages of space. For those concerned with the statistics of vocations, that is good news.

We rightly rejoice in every new vocation, and we invest our trust in those charged with their training and formation that when these young men arrive at the day of their ordination, they will begin a happy journey in the priesthood to serve God and his people as fine pastors, evangelisers and ministers of the sacraments.

Most will live a fulfilled sacerdotal life, even as they may struggle with some of the realities of the clerical vocation. Most will soldier on in spite of these challenges, others will eventually leave the priesthood. And some might come to regard the priesthood as just a job.

Experts in the field of formation say that numbers of vocations tend to be strong in environments of economic uncertainty, such as in South Africa. To some, the priesthood represents an avenue towards a secure future. It may be a poorly paid job, but nevertheless one that offers material security.

Such a priest may not embody the ideal, but it does not follow that he will be a bad priest, or one who is lacking in faith. Nonetheless, if a vocation is predicated primarily on pragmatic calculation rather than on a genuine commitment to serve, then the outcome of formation is likely to be compromised.

Addressing the priests of the diocese of Rome in 2011, Pope Benedict pointed out that �the priesthood is not a profession, to be engaged in part-time, but a full-time and perpetual vocation�. He said that �this being with Christ and being an ambassador of Christ, this being for others is a mission that penetrates our being and must penetrate ever more the totality of our being�.

In the past decade, dioceses worldwide have adapted and fine-tuned the processes by which candidates to the priesthood are selected or rejected. The criteria usually include the applicant�s physical and mental health, his capacity to live a life of celibacy, and his commitment to the Catholic faith and its teachings. It is more complicated to discern whether an applicant in fact has an authentic calling to the consecrated life.

We must have high expectations of our priests. Quality must trump statistics. We should not settle for mediocrity in our future priests.

And, as Pope Benedict reminds us in his message for Vocations Sunday this year, at the very root of the vocation to the consecrated life (indeed, one may add, all human endeavour) must be love.

�It is in this soil of self-offering and openness to the love of God, and as the fruit of that love, that all vocations are born and grow. By drawing from this wellspring through prayer, constant recourse to God�s word and to the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, it becomes possible to live a life of love for our neighbours, in whom we come to perceive the face of Christ the Lord,� Pope Benedict writes.

On Vocations Sunday, the Church must pray that families, parishes and communities create the conditions in which the vocation to the consecrated life are nurtured, and that Christ�s call to young people to follow him may be heard above the din of modern life, and discerned fruitfully for the good of the Church.