The local Serra Club, whose sole mission is to promote vocations through prayer, awareness affirmation and support, gathers Oct. 13 at the Hale Koa Hotel for its annual priest appreciation dinner. (Photo courtesy of Father William Shannon)
As a diocesan vocation “director,” there isn’t very much that I actually “direct.” My real title should probably be “vocation reminder.”
When I talk about vocations and vocational awareness, I “remind” people that God’s call usually comes in the context of prayer, or liturgy or maybe a homily. But people need to be spiritually attuned to the Word of God speaking to them.
People ask, “How do I hear a vocational call?” I answer using the example of a cell phone. If we don’t turn on the phone, it’s useless. It is nothing more than an expensive paperweight! Prayer, switching on our spiritual receptors, puts us in touch with the “frequency of God.”
All vocations — whether it’s matrimony or religious life or priesthood — begin with an element of attraction. The next step is prayerful discernment. A young man must have some attraction to the ministry of priesthood. He recognizes the element of self-sacrifice, as with all of life’s vocations, but sees the reward of priesthood as doing the will of God and touching the hearts and souls of thousands of people.
An evolution takes place with everyone’s vocation, with marriage, religious life, the single state, or priesthood. My mother often told me, “Bill, in life everything will change, don’t be surprised.” I have been a priest for 44 years. I must say that in every year and in every assignment I have ever had, even in retirement, my priestly ministry keeps changing. For me, vocation discernment is an adventure and a lifelong challenge that is always a part of my prayer life. Without prayer none of this makes any sense!
The other side of the vocation awareness coin is the challenge to invite others to consider the priesthood and religious life. In some way we remind them that God might be calling them to a particular state of life. Since it is God doing the calling, we are never sure who he calls, or to what vocation.
Many years ago I attended the first Mass of one of my seminary friends. I stood on the side as he gave his first priestly blessings to a long line of people. I noticed a bit of commotion and little laughter when two elderly nuns came up for his blessing. After receiving his blessing they were both very vocal saying they always knew he was going to be a priest since he was a little boy.
During a free moment I asked him about the incident and he said the nuns had him confused with his very well-behaved older brother. Actually, they had considered the new priest as a child to be a troublemaker who would most likely one day end up in jail!
Another reality to keep in mind is that some vocations require a period of incubation. Just ask some of our older seminarians and they will tell some interesting stories about their journey through life before getting to the seminary. There is really something very random and, I think, providential about vocations. It’s not our plan; it’s God’s plan.
I was recently hearing confessions at a large teen retreat. To break the monotony of one confession after another I said to a teenage boy as he was leaving, “Have you ever thought about being a priest?” In a very animated way he said, “I can’t believe you just said that because my mother is always saying I should be a priest!” Who knows what will happen next. Maybe the “call” will come when he is in college or doing a summer ministry project for the poor.
In our diocese there are many Catholic organizations that promote vocations to priesthood and religious life. In particular, I think of such groups as the Filipino Catholic Clubs, the Knights of Columbus and the Basic Christian Community. But the group I think of first for vocational awareness is the Serra Club of Honolulu. It is the sole mission of Serra to promote vocations through prayer, awareness, affirmation and support.
On Oct. 13, our local Serra Club held its annual priest appreciation dinner at the Hale Koa Hotel. One of their founding members is 93 years old. I took a group picture of the club members after dinner. I asked a number of them how long they had been club members? Then I wondered what their cumulative years of service would be. I asked one of their members to do the math. He got back to me the next day and told me 346 years.
Think of ways you too can be a vocation “reminder.” And also think of ways that your parish or your family or your organization can be more involved in our diocesan efforts of vocational awareness.
Father Shannon is the diocesan director of seminarians.
