This weekend Paulist Evan Cummings is being ordained at the Paulist Mother Church, St. Paul the Apostle in New York City. Longtime parishioners may remember that Evan was with us as a novice during Lent (much as Chris Lawton recently was with us) almost five years ago. It is a happy day for the Paulists!
Also this weekend, at all the Masses, we will hear from a seminarian of the Diocese of Austin, Mr. Matthew Jewell. Matthew is in his second year of theology at St. Joseph's Seminary, in Convington LA.
This seems like an appropriate opportunity to talk about vocations, especially vocations to the priesthood, the permanent diaconate, and to the Paulists. The church cannot operate without priests and deacons. We have no shortage of bishops; that is not a problem. But we do have a shortage of priests and of permanent deacons. Both the Paulist Fathers and the Diocese of Austin need more priests to be able to carry on the mission we already have. Not to expand our mission but just to maintain what we already do.
The Paulists today number 114 including seminarians. Over half of our priests are 70 years old or older. This means I am still in the younger half! As our men age and retire we will have to adjust our ministerial commitments around the country. That is inevitable. We will probably leave more foundations, which is always painful.
Therefore, I urge you to continue to pray for priests to serve our parish and diocese. If you know of a young man who would make a good priest, tell him so. That encouragement is invaluable, important, and critical.
If you are a young man and the thought of priesthood has passed through your head, talk to someone about it; someone you know who has a sense of spirituality and of church. Investigating such a call will require some guts on your part, but I can assure you from personal experience that the Lord is never outdone in generosity. The life of a priest, and of a Paulist, is never dull.
Will the Church ever change the requirements for ordination to the priesthood and accept women or married men? None of us know for certain. And right now, in the real world, and not some hypothetical world that may or may not be in the future, we need more good priests and permanent deacons.
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