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Newspaper Cites the Eucharist and Dads Among Key Secrets
NORTH HAVEN, Connecticut, 6 FEB. 2006 (ZENIT) Dioceses reporting
successful rates of vocational recruitment have something in common,
says the National Catholic Register.
In a summary of reporter Tim Drake's article "Vocations Surge" in a
recent issue, the Register compiled a list of "six habits of highly
effective dioceses."
The first habit was putting the Eucharist at the center of vocational
work.
In an editorial the newspaper explained: "Eucharistic adoration is
especially effective because it draws sharp attention to the great gift
that makes the priesthood so extraordinary and so needed
—
we have the priesthood to thank for God's real presence in the Blessed
Sacrament.
"And the dynamic of silent Eucharistic adoration inevitably leads to the
question, 'What do you want me to do, Lord?'"
According to the newspaper, the Web site Vocation.com worked with
American bishops to deliver Vatican monstrances to dioceses to promote
adoration in parishes.
"Program leaders like David Craig have been astounded to see parishes
produce their first vocations ever after Eucharistic adoration was
introduced," the editorial stated.
Invitations
The second habit cited by the newspaper was the invitation. According to
a U.S. bishops' survey, 78% of those being ordained began considering
the priesthood after an invitation to do so from a priest.
Third, seminaries must be faithful to the magisterium in order to
attract candidates. The Register editors mentioned three seminaries that
are booming: St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland; St. Vincent in Latrobe,
Pennsylvania; and St. Gregory the Great in Seward, Nebraska.
Seminaries are not the only element that needs to be faithful.
Candidates to the priesthood also come from faithful families.
The editorial cited a key role played by fathers, explaining: "There are
beautiful exceptions, but the rule is that priests come from committed
Catholic families in which the father is an active player in the
family's faith."
Youth Day
The fifth and sixth habits reported by the Register are interaction with
priests and attendance at a World Youth Day.
Youth need to meet and interact with priests or "it may never occur to
many young men that the priesthood is a life that would appeal to them,"
the article explained.
Key among the venues for this interaction is altar serving: "For many
priests, serving at the altar was the first place they first came to
know men who had been called and understood what the call entailed."
And the "World Youth Day factor is very real," the editorial said. It
explained that these events give young men the chance to see that they
can have "a big, positive impact on the world
—
one that lasts for eternity."
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