A Word on Evangelization

26th Sunday, Ordinary Time, September 29, 2024

Deacon Mike Meyer

    Praying for vocations to the priesthood and religious life?  Are we doing that?  Most of us would immediately respond with an enthusiastic “yes”!  We do that at Mass every week on Sunday, right?  And, perhaps we think good enough.  We did our duty.  But other than praying for vocations at Sunday mass, how often are we taking time out during the week to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life?  

    When my family was growing up we had a house full of girls, six daughters, seven with my daughter Gabrielle who we lost through miscarriage.  With no boys in the mix, praying for vocations to the priesthood was simply not on my radar.  It was easy to dismiss this idea and think that praying for vocations was something we did at Mass and not something that I should be committed to do every day.

    Well, the tides have turned and currently I have twelve grandsons and six granddaughters.  Earlier this year it occurred to me that I should be intentional in praying for all their vocations even though they are young with the oldest grandson being twelve, and the rest a variety of ages younger.  And, I thought, why wouldn’t I pray for one of my grandsons (or more) to become a Catholic priest?  Vocations to the priesthood are born and nurtured in the context of a loving, Catholic, family who are living their Catholic faith daily.  Parents, grandparents, and siblings should all be praying that one of the boys in their family would become a priest, and for priestly vocations for all families in our parishes and communities.  I decided to make a commitment to pray that one of my grandsons would be ordained a Catholic priest each and every day.  It only takes a few minutes.

    How many of you would do the same?  The more people we have praying daily for vocations to the priesthood, the more likely that a larger number of men will enter the seminary.  There is nothing like the power of prayer in our lives.  

    So, please join me in daily prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  And to pray for our children and grandchildren that God will help them to discover their own personal vocation, and that he will raise up some of the young men in our families to the priesthood.  Just imagine and wonderful if would be if the fruit of our prayers would be one priest in many of our families.  If this were the case, just think how many priests there could be in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Certainly, there would be plenty of priest to assign to all the parishes in the Archdiocese, providing sacraments to the faithful.  

      We believe in the power of prayer.  We know that when we include God in our efforts, all things are possible.  Help us Lord to make a commitment and follow through on praying daily for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and to raise up out of the boys in our families, a Catholic priest.

                                            Deacon Mike