Next week, we will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week. As the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops explains, this is an annual week-long celebration dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer and education, while renewing our prayers and support for those who are discerning one of these particular vocations.

This year, National Vocation Awareness Week begins on Sunday, November 1. As we prepare for it, we will take up a special collection at all Masses this weekend to support the St. Joseph Education Fund, one of the various sources of funding for the education and formation of our seminarians and permanent deacon candidates.

The fund also supports the ongoing formation and education of our clergy, so I have personally benefited from it. It helped support my formation as a seminarian and later my studies in canon law. Fr. Galles is also benefiting from it as he works toward his degree in liturgy. So when you contribute to this collection, you are helping form not only the priests and deacons of the future, but also those already serving the Church who continue their education and formation.

I have mentioned before that I would like our parish to be a place where vocations are nurtured, and National Vocation Awareness Week is a good opportunity to remind ourselves that this is a shared responsibility.

Priests, deacons, and consecrated men and women come from families, so a culture of vocations ought to begin at home. It begins with prayer: parents praying for their children’s vocations; families praying together for those who dedicate their lives to the proclamation of the Gospel; and, above all, families making prayer a normal and important part of their life together, especially through faithful participation in Sunday Mass.

But prayer is only the beginning. Vocations cannot be a taboo subject or something we leave entirely to religious education classes. Parents should speak with their children about vocations. They should encourage them to ask God what He wants them to do with their lives, to pray seriously about their own vocation, and to be generous enough to say yes when He calls.

Finally, the whole parish must be involved. Again, this begins with prayer, but it also means encouraging the young people of our parish to discern their vocations. Sometimes a young man begins to consider the priesthood because someone simply tells him, “I think you would make a good priest.” Sometimes a young woman begins to consider consecrated life because someone recognizes in her a deep love for God and encourages her to ask whether the Lord may be calling her to give herself completely to Him.

We should not be afraid to ask those questions.

I still believe that we can be a parish that produces vocations—a parish that gives priests, deacons, and consecrated men and women to the Church. But that will require all of us to pray, encourage, and create an environment in which a young person can hear God’s call and have the courage to answer it generously.
Will you help me build that culture of vocations in our parish?

Pilgrimage to Portugal, Spain, and France
There are only about six spots remaining on the pilgrimage I will be leading to Marian shrines in Europe. If you have been thinking about joining us, please do not wait too long.
To learn more or to register, visit:
https://selectinternationaltours.com/product/pilgrimage-to-portugal-spain-and-france-with-fr-david-esquiliano-and-fr-brian-buettner/

• Next meal: Saturday Oct. 31, in conjunction with the All Hallows Eve celebration, and  Sunday Nov. 1
  
• Next Meeting: November 17, starting with the Holy Rosary at 7pm.