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Two events have me thinking these days about the Church and the priesthood. One of those events is a happy one: on June 4 Bishop Malloy will ordain Nathan Pacer to the priesthood for the Diocese of Rockford (the only priest ordained for our diocese this year). The second event is not a happy one: the Franciscan Friars, who have served St. Anthony of Padua parish in Rockford since 1933 (89 years), announced they will be concluding their service to the parish on July 1 this summer.

We congratulate Nathan and his family on their gift to the Church. The Catholic priesthood is essential to the Church because the heart of our Faith is the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist can only be brought about by those who have received the priesthood in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. This has been the practice of the Church since apostolic times and there is no indication it will or can be changed.

We thank the Franciscan Friars of St. Bonaventure Province for their long service to the mainly Italian parish of St Anthony. Although I grew up in another parish in Rockford, I have fond memories of the Franciscan priests at St Anthony from those years and then as a priest of the diocese. The reason for their termination of service is lack of personnel to be able the staff the parishes they serve throughout the country.

These two events remind us of the crisis of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life in our country. Underlying all reasons we could propose for this crisis appears to be a significant lack of desire to give oneself to Christ in a special way through the priesthood or consecrated religious life for the work of His kingdom on earth. 

Of course we have the wonderful labor for the kingdom on the part of our Permanent Deacons and Catholic laity. The majority of Catholics are not called by God to serve in the priesthood or consecrated religious life, but rather through the faithful living-out of the vocation to marriage and family life, and in some cases, a life of sacrificial love in non-marriage. 

Nevertheless, vocations to the priesthood are crucial for the sacramental life of the Church. As a Church family we need to pray for all vocations, but especially for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life. Teach our children to pray to God to show them what He wants them to be and do with their lives, not just what they want. Encourage young people to seriously consider whether God wants them to be priests or members of consecrated religious communities of men or women. Let those boys and girls whom we believe would be God’s good servants in these vocations know that we see something special in them. It may help them think and pray about it.

God has not stopped calling people to serve Him in special ways. It’s our task to recognize and respond to those calls.