“Beg the harvest master to send out laborers to gather his harvest.” (Lk 10:2)

This is what Jesus told his followers. The harvest master is of course God Himself. And no one is more aware of the needs of the harvest, the leading of souls to life eternal in Christ, than is our Heavenly Father.

Saturday is one of the great and joyful days of the year in the Diocese of Rockford. It is ordination day.
On Saturday, I will have the privilege of ordaining two new priests for the Diocese. Fathers (-to-be) Ryan Browning and Manuel Gerardo Gomez Reza. They represent the latest of the laborers sent by the harvest master. How proud we all are to have these new priests.

To be a follower of Christ is always a radical calling in this world, both broken by original sin and redeemed by Christ. That is also and especially true of the priesthood. It’s a life of sacrifice in many ways.

As diocesan priests, your pastors and parochial vicars give themselves totally to continuing the work of Jesus as the Apostles did. The daily Masses, the confessions, the hospital visits, the marriage preparation and yes, the celibacy, they all involve a total act of self-giving to the Church on the part of the priest. But with that comes the spiritual joy of serving the Church and God Himself.

What satisfaction it is for a priest to ponder at night in his prayer that during the day, through no merit of his own, he has been an instrument of God’s grace for the salvation of souls. And studies show what we priests know to be true: The priesthood is a very happy life and priests continually express a high level of satisfaction with their calling.

It is no secret that we need more priests in the Church. Like most demographic groups in our society, our clergy is aging more quickly than it is being replenished. But in some ways today it is harder, and therefore even more heroic, for our young men to say yes to God’s call.

Our secularized society continues to push faith and religion to the margins. Our young people, including our young men, feel that pressure.

At the end of most every confirmation and parish Mass that I have the privilege to celebrate, I ask the parish to pray for and encourage vocations, particularly from the parish and the parish families. Both prayer and encouragement are necessary.

I hope each parish prays for vocations each week in the prayers of the faithful. Each of us individually, and together in families, needs to pray for more laborers for the harvest.

We also need to give support to our young men so that they feel just how positively their decision to enter the seminary will be viewed.

Unfortunately, this support is not always present where it counts the most. Recently a high school teacher recounted speaking with some young men from a Catholic high school. They said they were discerning whether they had a call to the priesthood. But when they mentioned this at home, for whatever reason, their parents had told them that they were not to give it another thought.

It shows that it is precisely at home, and among parents, that we need to strengthen the support and encouragement that our young men receive as they listen for God’s calling.

For the coming year, seven men have been accepted to begin the seminary program for the Diocese of Rockford. Several more are still considering whether to do the same. This is a reason for hope and optimism.

Let’s join our voices in asking the master of the harvest. We can be confident that He will be generous.