For Want of a Priest

Sad.

...It is my understanding that my fine but frustrated successor as Archbishop for the Military Services, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, has pleaded with military leaders at very high levels to show some concern for those of our Faith, but the new mantra of the Chaplain Corps is said to be: A chaplain is a chaplain, is a chaplain, is a chaplain. In other words, it makes no difference what religious needs you have as long as there is a chaplain of any denomination nearby. For Catholics, this is unacceptable!

The result? Catholics are down to some 70 priests to serve our three sea services when the need is more than twice as many. And those “slots” no longer filled by priests are going over to chaplains of other denominations, some of whom are overeager to welcome our young, Catholic, spiritually hungry service men and women into their fold.

This is unnecessary, arbitrary and clearly unjust. The once-valued spirit of ecumenism is evidently gone from the Navy and threatens to disappear from all three chaplaincies unless, in my opinion, Congress steps in.

That is why I took the suggestion, “You should write a column about that.” And it is why you should consider that as you pray for more priests for our Church and our Archdiocese you might make special mention of those serving the men and women of our Armed Forces...

The archbishop wants to see the age limit extended for military priests, which is a useful goal. At the same time--why on earth not start doing some serious vocational recruitment among Catholics heading for military service? Why not make that a part of the seminary training--mention "Hey guys, we need military chaplains as well!"

Christ calls fishers of men in every generation:

...The vocations of apostles, such as Saint Andrew, and their successors, our priests, are to draw us to Christ. But in many corners of the globe, including the Philippines, Brazil and in the United States, the Church faces a dire shortage of priests even as the Church on this planet numbers beyond one billion.

What's at stake? No priests, no sacraments, no Church.  "Who's going to give the sacraments for the next generation?" one priest asks in a powerful video called "Fishers of Men."

This 18-minute video was produced by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Vocations and Priestly Formation. If your family hasn't seen this video - our two sons watched it during CCD class last year - please do.

And as we pray the Christmas Novena together, let's reflect on whether we're raising our sons to realize, as one priest in the video puts it: "it's not natural to be a priest; it's supernatural..."