The Crisis of Vocations and the Role of the Priest
Summary of Headings
- The Crisis in the Church
- Understanding the Priesthood
- The Role of a Good Shepherd
- Challenges Facing Priests Today
- The Importance of Priestly Vocation
- The Need for More Priests
- Fostering Vocations in the Family
- Encouraging Young Men
The Crisis in the Church
There is no mystery to us. We see a crisis in the Church. One of the most important aspects of the crisis in the Church is the fact that we have a very serious problem with vocations, specifically vocations to the priesthood. Now, of course, we can talk about religious vocations, and someday we will, but right now, because it's Good Shepherd Sunday, we should speak about the priesthood. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the High Priest. He is the Good Shepherd. But because He ascended into heaven and He promised that He would send His paraclete after Himself, and He did in the presence of the person of the Holy Ghost, well now He also leaves us with His priesthood here on earth, something He bestowed upon His apostles before His crucifixion, something which they were called to their missions with the coming of the Holy Ghost.
Understanding the Priesthood
Amen. Amen. Amen. So the priesthood comes from Christ and pertains to Him specifically. Now, the priesthood, of course, is something that is a vocation. It is given to people who are called only to men, and it is only specifically to certain men. It is not a universal thing. It is not that everyone is called, but only a few decide to pick it up. However, we have a problem in our day and age. because of the fact that very few are actually answering any calls, any vocations. On top of that, we have another crisis, which is many priests are leaving the priesthood.
Why is that? Well, there's a very simple response. It's because the priesthood is not understood or appreciated for what it is. It is not understood that it is the very power and word of our Lord Jesus Christ incarnated in another human person. It is a gift to all of humanity. It is someone who is a good shepherd, who stands between the wolf and the flock. Someone who guides them to good pastors and feeds them and makes sure that they are well taken care of. Who helps them in their troubles and binds their wounds. Somebody who fixes all the problems and somebody who makes sure that the problems don't get too close.
That is what a priest is supposed to be. That is why our Lord uses this example of a good shepherd.
The Role of a Good Shepherd
Someone who looks after his flock. I don't know if you've ever had dealings with sheep. They're not terribly intelligent animals and they don't know how to take care of themselves very well. Our Lord isn't saying that about all of you. Don't worry. It's just the fact that no matter how intelligent we are, no matter how strong we are, no matter how pious we are, we still need a shepherd. We cannot save our souls on our own. We cannot find our way to heaven on our own. So he leaves us with a shepherd. Yes, a facsimile if you want to call it that. Someone who only possesses the power of Christ.
Not someone who is Christ, but someone who works in persona Christi, in the person of Christ. Someone who possesses his power to be able to give, to use that power to give it to you. That is what the priesthood is. Now, Now, we have this crisis in the priesthood. Why? Because the theology of the priesthood has been misunderstood, misapplied, and completely destroyed in so many cases. A priest is a person anointed by Christ to do the work of Christ, to spread his word and his grace to all faithful around the world.
Challenges Facing Priests Today
But instead, what he is now is something of a glorified social worker. But instead, what he is now is something of a glorified social worker. You look, and how is a priest supposed to maintain his vocation when he is stripped of his duties, when he is torn away from his obligations as a shepherd, and when he is instead supposed to host fundraisers and drives for whatever purpose. When the Mass that he says removes all mention of sacrifice almost completely from the Mass, When the Mass that he says removes all mention of sacrifice almost completely from the Mass, Then, you have someone who is a powerful shepherds, someone who himself is a real bone of prayer for a priest.
Someone who is the first among equals. He is no longer set -apart. He no longer disappears into his role as a pries. He no longer disappears into his role as a priest. Which is why he turns away from the faithful so that only the people should be able to see Christ. Not the person of the priest. And yet, now watch turning the altar around, they see the personics so clearly, it is hard to see Christ. And for the priest, it is hard to see Christ because he sees Christ as own person. all the faithful. How horrendously distracting that would be. He is the one who is supposed to give Christ to the faithful in holy communion, and yet they take him from him and receive him themselves. So he loses so much of what he is supposed to do. Confession is watered down.
It becomes more common to have just general absolution where people don't actually come and confess their sins, show their wounds to the priest so that he can fix them, so that the shepherd can heal the wounds, so that the sheep can continue. The spiritual battle that wages for the soul of each and every one of the faithful is downplayed and denigrated as well. And the role the priest has is also likewise denigrated to the point that it's like almost as if he does not have a role in that spiritual battle, or that he is not a part of the spiritual battle.
He is completely unaware of it. In the Old Testament, there comes a point where, yet again, the Jews are murmuring in the desert, and our Lord and God, as a punishment, sends a pestilence. And a type of pestilence where people were just, by the time they caught it, they were dropping dead. And it was like a wave coming across the entire population of the Jews crossing the desert. So Moses, when he fell, he was like, oh, I'm going to die. And he was like, oh, I'm going to die. And he was like, oh, I'm going to die. And he finds out about this, tells Aaron, grab that censer, grab that thurible with the incense, and run and stand between the people and that pestilence. And he does just that. And where he is, the pestilence stops right there, and people stop dying where he stands. That is what a priest is supposed to do. He's supposed to stand between the faithful and the wrath of God. He's supposed to
stand between the faithful and any danger. That includes the spiritual dangers. Now, not everybody can be a priest. Not everybody can have the life of a priest. Not everybody can live in a church. You all have jobs, lives, families, things that you're supposed to do outside. And those are duties, and those are good and noble things that you are supposed to do. But this is why a priest must be someone who is set apart. He is not supposed to live the same life as the faithful. He is supposed to be living in the presence of God constantly, fighting the battles that you do not have the time to fight.
He is supposed to be standing guard day and night over your souls. He is supposed to be the one who is invoking the wrath of God upon your enemies. He is the one who is supposed to be also educating and guiding you constantly, first and foremost by his example, but also, most importantly, by the teaching of the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ. And again, when that teaching is watered down to the point where you're not able to do anything, you're not able to do anything, you're not able to do anything, you're not And so when you're at the point that it's almost uniquely a social doctrine, it loses so much of the power of the priest, the essence of the priest. When you take all of these things into effect, into account, excuse me, well, no wonder that we have a crisis of vocations. No wonder so many priests feel isolated and alone. No wonder it's so difficult for, to be truly faithful to the
priesthood. In our day and age. And no wonder so few people are interested in becoming priests. So ignore the call. It's not worth it.
The Importance of Priestly Vocation
We see the numbers constantly. Ireland, one seminary, the seminary in Dublin, the 50s produced as many as 300 priests. Ireland had so many priests, they had to spread them all over the world. They could not fit them in the island. Now the entire island has one seminary with 28 seminarians. We, the Society of St. Pius X, are ordaining more Irish priests than Ireland is. Spain, Italy, France, no matter where you go, we see this rot tearing down the priesthood from within. But let's not make any mistakes. The SSI is a church. It's a church. It's a church. It's a church. It's a church. It's a church. It's a church. It's a church.
The SSI is a church. It's a church. It's a church. It's a church. It's a church. It's a church. It's a church. The SSI has so many resources that these poor priests and the diocese and other religious orders do not have. We have community life. They do not. They're very often on their own. We have superiors who, even if we fight with them sometimes and disagree with them sometimes, they are still very much interested in the good of the faithful and the souls and are focused on that. Still have right doctrine. We still have the one true mass. We have so many benefits and blessings which support and encourage the priesthood. Because that is our very goal.
That is our very essence. Archbishop Lefebvre wanted to form the SSPX from way before. He talks about it in his book, Spiritual Journey. He talks about the fact that the idea came to him in Africa, a religious order that was dedicated to the spirituality of the priest. Because that was where the enemy was going to attack. That is his first goal. Before he could attack families, before he could attack society and countries, before he could attack anything else, he needed to attack the priesthood. And he's been doing it. And he's been doing it very well. So this is what our goal is. To maintain and preserve the spirituality and the theology of what the priesthood is and to reach out to the priests most in need and to protect and foster a true and true faith. And to do that, we need to attack the priesthood. And we need to attack this new and vibrant spirit of the priesthood. This is why we exist. But even so, we also have
our own crisis of vocations. We have very full churches and yes, a very full seminary. But please note, just one. Because we need more priests. This place should be a priory. This chapel should be a priory. This chapel should be a priory. This chapel should be a PRIORY. priory with at least three priests in residence at all times. We should be serving other missions from here. You should be reaping the benefits of having a school, of having the number of priests here to say daily mass for you, confessions every day, all the things that a priory should have. Why don't we? We do not have enough priests. There are dozens of places around the country begging our superiors to start a mass center, two of them here in Florida alone, begging us to start new mass centers, to send a priest, even if it's just once a month.
We don't have enough priests. The entire world is dying. Spiritually speaking, the entire world is losing faith in God. There's one thing on this earth that can actually turn that around, and that is the priest. Because what he brings is God himself, and that is what we need now. We need more priests, and we need them badly. We need holy priests more than anything else. How do we fix this issue? Well, first and foremost, I ask all of you, all faithful, everywhere, to consider the situation in the world. Take the politics out of it. Take the media out of it, and just look at the reality of the situation in the world. Look at the situation in our country here.
Look at the situation in a place like Cuba. We have one chapel in Cuba, but there's so much damage there. They need priests badly to give them a sense of hope and also a sense of Christ, something that they have the barest idea of because they have been so abandoned for so long, because they have been persecuted and suppressed for so long. They need priests, and they need a mission more frequently than once every two months, which is all we can manage right now. Look at so many countries around the world that have either departed from Christ, departed from the church, or are being openly persecuted for their faith.
What is the one thing that can actually give them hope and strength? It is the priest. What is the one thing that can bring salvation to souls no matter where they are? It is the priest. What is the one person who can actually drive, the devil out of a soul? It is the priest. Who is the one person who can heal the wounds of this world? It is the priest. No one else has this power. It is the most urgent necessity that we have on earth. Padre Pio famously said that the world could sooner live without the sun than without the mass, and there's only one person who can say the mass. It is the priest.
We need priests, and we need them. So how do we get more priests? Well, let's contemplate what a priest is. The sermon is going to be a little longer than usual, and I am sorry, but this is necessary. What does a priest do? He heals. He hears confessions. So first and foremost, you must have trust in the priest. This is something that is very hard because of the scandals that have
The Need for More Priests
gone on in the world. We need priests. We need priests. We need priests. We need priests. We need priests. We need priests. We need priests. We need priests. We need priests. We need priests. And these are all the problems of the priesthood that have been revealed over the last 25 years. And the depth of the scandals and problems in the priesthood all across the church for so long, it's hard to have confidence in them. But you must still trust your priest, and that's where confession comes in. You must still be able to bear your soul to him, reveal your wounds to him, so he can take care of you. That's not always easy to do, but it's an act of humility that can save so much of your soul, but it also strengthens the priest, And it strengthens the priesthood by giving him an understanding of what his job is and what his vocation is.
And to sense the power of Christ when he says those beautiful words, I absolve you. I fix you. I heal you. Because that is what he does. The second thing is he protects you. He stands between you and the wolves. He defends you. He fights for you. Give him a reason to do so. Don't look for trouble, obviously, but trust him to do so. Tell him your problems. Not the petty little things, please, I have enough on my plate, but the important things. The things that weigh you down. The darkness that you suffer. The doubts and fears. The frustrations. The confusion. Look to him for guidance.
The shepherd protects, but he... He also guides. Also, very importantly, go to him for spiritual feeding. And this is where the Mass and the sacraments come in. Too often I hear people say, well, I didn't want to call the priest when I was sick because I know he's got enough to do. Don't think that way. If you have a spiritual necessity, that is what the priest is for. But let us make that clear. There was a time when I was my teachers was calling another very important interest of mine There was a complaint between the British and Pacific Christians in the course of World War One, There was a complaint during World War One in the British trenches for the Irish guards.
There was a complaint, because the the Roman Catholic chaplain, Father William Doyle, was converting a lot of Protestants among the army. And when the Protestant ministers, the chaplains, complained about it to the general, the general who was in charge of this Irish division, and said Father Doyle was the bravest man he ever saw, said, well, let's think about this for a minute. You all are back here in the back of the lines, in the very back, so you never see the action of the trenches. Father Doyle's up front, and he even crosses no man's land to give the sacraments to the people.
You think for a second that that doesn't have an impact on the faith of the soldiers around him? Think for a second that they don't see the courage of someone doing their job above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that the grace of God descends upon people in their worst need. The Protestants have no response to that, because for them a minister is not a minister. It's not necessary for their salvation. But for Catholics, a priest is. And a priest has to be willing to risk his life to bring that grace to his faithful, no matter what. No matter what it takes.
Father Doyle died a beautiful death in no man's land, giving the last sacraments to somebody. That is how every priest should be about everything. He is someone who takes care of the things of God, no matter what. In Denver there's a story of a priest who was distributing communion in the old church of St. Elizabeth's. And one man jumped up, spat the host out, and shot him. He fell down and dropped the ciborium. And the last action he did was picking up all the hosts and putting them back in the ciborium. And that's how he died. There's a plaque on the floor commemorating him, and of course the Archdiocese sold the church.
But that is what a priest should do. His life is important. His life belongs to God. He belongs to the Blessed Sacrament. It belongs to the Mass, and it belongs to the faithful. Go to him for those things. Ask him for those things, and entrust him with those things. Because ultimately it is not the priest who gives them to you. He is just the agent by which you receive them. He works and speaks in persona Christi, in the person of Christ. How do we get more priests who are willing to give their lives entirely for God? Three things. It all starts in the family. Parents, those of you who are contemplating marriage, those of you who are married with young children, consider this very strongly.
A vocation is not heard in a vacuum. A young person, a young man, has to be able to hear the vocation
Fostering Vocations in the Family
because of the environment at home. They have to have already formed good habits and good desires and good will at home. This means discipline. It means prayer. It means order. And most importantly, it means virtue. That comes from you. You're supposed to learn it here, yes. But what you receive here, you are supposed to apply at home. That is the most necessary thing. That education, that education, that formation in virtue begins with you and it must exist in you. When St. Pius X was made a bishop, he went home and he showed his mother his episcopal ring and said, Mom, look at my ring.
And she said, that's very nice, Giuseppe, but you wouldn't have that if I didn't have the ring on this finger. Reminding him that his vocation came from her. And he himself said, a priestly vocation is born on the knee of his mother. It is at the heart of the soul. It is at the home that the vocation, the seat of a vocation can be planted. The second thing, and part of that first actually, is encourage the young men to get closer to the liturgy. So make sure they're paying attention during Mass. Encourage them to serve and learn the responses, to sing in the choir, whatever it may be.
Just to touch the liturgy a little closer, to understand it a little more. Teach them about the liturgy. Form it in them. That's part of the virtues they have to learn. The third thing is, all you young men and boys, learn to pray. Learn to pray in silence. Not preoccupied with all the things you have going on in your mind, remembering and going through that video game you were playing just before you arrived, whatever. Focusing on the one essential thing, that you belong to God. Whatever it is He calls you to do, whatever it is He calls you to do, you belong to Him. And you live to serve Him.
You can only hear that voice in silence. Learn to come and spend time in the church apart from when your parents drag you over here. When you pray, at home, here, or on your own, make sure that you give a little time of silence in your own minds. Learn about the sacrifice of Christ, because we must learn to sacrifice ourselves. But that only comes when we learn to love and appreciate what it is God has already given us. Appreciate it so that we can live it. Not all of you will be called to a vocation. But considering the numbers in our chapels across the country, we should have a lot more of you in the same place.
We should have a lot more of you in the same place. And if you're not there, in large part, it's because you've let the world drown out that voice. It is the greatest honor on earth, the greatest responsibility. It's terrifying and magnificent at the same time. It's something that the world desperately needs. And it's something that we all must hope and pray for. Lastly, pray for priests. Pray for more priests, of course. But pray and pray and pray for priests that are still practicing their priesthood. That they find the strength and consolation, the faith in their vocation, so that they will be able to practice it.
So that our Lord Jesus Christ's work can continue to be practiced and exercised throughout the entire world. And so the salvation of souls can be won by His tremendous power.
Encouraging Young Men
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Summary
The homily begins by addressing the crisis in the Church, particularly focusing on the decline in priestly vocations. It highlights the essential role of priests as shepherds of the faithful, entrusted with the mission of Christ on earth. The speaker discusses the challenges facing priests today, including the misunderstanding and misapplication of the theology of the priesthood. The homily emphasizes the need for priests to be set apart, living in the presence of God and guiding the faithful through their example and teaching. Finally, the homily calls for a renewed commitment to fostering vocations, starting within the family and community. It highlights the importance of prayer, discipline, and a deep connection to the liturgy as foundational elements in nurturing future priests.