Sunday, September 28, 2008

Ask and Encourage


Priesthood Sunday 2008 (in Ireland) has come and gone (almost!). I had the opportunity to preach about priesthood today and ask the congregation to pray for priests that they might be happy and fulfilled in their vocation. It is fair to say that if a preacher hasn't joy, then he will find if difficult to communicate the joy of God's love to others! Anyway, humble beginnings, but who knows where it might take us?

It did set me thinking, of course, about vocations to the priesthood. Elsewhere on this blog are entries about discernment and so on, but it strikes me that all the promotion in the world, whether it be on the internet, or in the printed media, or any other form of communication won't ever make up for the personal invitation or personal call from one person to another. One of the more common ways that God calls people is through other people. That is why it is so very important that if you think someone might be a priest or a religious that you tell them so. A lot of people have just never considered the possibility!

So, how about it? Let Priesthood Sunday 2008 be a day when you begin to pray for priests, and secondly, why not think of asking or encouraging a person who might have an interest in priesthood or religious life to consider that the Lord is calling them? Remember how Jesus did it?

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