This article is reprinted from April 2009 issue of The Catholic Mirror.

          The Annual Diocesan Appeal supports the work of the Vocations office.

            The office is applying a model brought to the diocese by Bishop Richard Pates that calls on all parish priests and diocesan departments to play a role in encouraging young men to consider a vocation to the priesthood.

            The office, with the help of an advisory committee, has worked for years on planting the seed, or spreading the word that the priesthood is a viable and fulfilling option for young men to consider.

The office is also responsible for working with men through the lengthy application process and then serving as a resource and support center for seminarians.

With a few staff and a quarter of the state to cover, the job kept the Vocations director constantly moving between recruiting and supporting those who were accepted into the seminarian program.

            Since coming to the Des Moines diocese, Bishop Pates mentions vocations to the priesthood frequently on his various trips around the diocese. He has held numerous Andrew dinners, at which young men have dinner with him and ask him questions about the priesthood.

            “He has been tremendous in terms of spreading the word and personally spending his time with young men and encouraging them,” said Mike Downey, of the vocations advisory committee.

            In reviewing the Vocations department practices, it is clear there is a transition, said Downey. There is a shift in pushing the responsibility out from one office to encouraging many in the diocese to play a role, he said.

“Bishop Pates is asking the priests to invite young men to the Andrew dinners and is telling all of us that we can play a role in offering support and encouragement to men who have the potential to be great priests,” he said.

Another member of the advisory committee, Dr. Tom Neal, director of the St. Joseph Educational Center, said there is some serious thought and process behind the transition.

  The following is the Vocations column in the April issue of The Catholic Mirror.

Earlier this month, I had the great privilege and opportunity to talk the high school students from Corning and Lenox parishes about vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

After sharing my story and answering any questions they had written down on a sheet of paper, we watched the video, “Catholic Priest Today.” It was approximately a half hour in length.

One segment speaks about a man who had lost his mother. He was obviously grieving and mourning her loss. It seemed to be too big of weight to bear alone. He came to this priest, a campus minister at the University of Wisconsin, Father Eric, who was present to him, listened to him, and although the video does not specifically point it out, most likely, gave him some advice or thoughts or reflections.

This man, who I believe was in his 50s, mentioned that he did not want to put Father Eric up on a pedestal, but mentioned that Father Eric was a rock to him, a great help to him in coping with his mother’s death. We might say that Father. Eric became a conduit of the reality and experience of the Good News of salvation.

We are in the Easter season. This is a season of hope. It is the season of hope because Good Friday, death, and sin did not have the final say in matters, but the resurrection did. Jesus conquered sin and death through his death and resurrection.

I must say that one of the privileges and (of course, responsibilities) is having the opportunity to proclaim the Good News of salvations in some very unique ways and multiple times. God’s representative who stands in the place of Christ has that unique role of being there with people during the joy-filled and challenging moments of people’s lives.

Someone once said, a doctor can help people from the womb to the tomb. I do not want to underestimate the role of doctors for they help us in many ways whether it be through a physical examination, sickness, etc. I also heard that a priest can affect people from the womb to eternity. In a sense, they are doctors of souls. They can lead us to a greater relationship with God, others, and into our eternal destiny-to be with Jesus forever.

In a world that can give us false promises of hope, that can lead us down a path in which we will not experience good news, or has only bad news to share, we have the Good News of Salvation. It is Good News that we must never take for granted. We have been freed from sin and given the hope of everlasting life. Priests (and yes, all of us) have the opportunity to share that Good News in concrete ways for others. I leave you with a quote from Pope John Paul II: “We are an Easter people and our song is Alleluia! He is risen!”