Pray For Vocations

This past Friday, God willing we had five men that were ordained to the priesthood for our diocese; Max Carson, Jake Epstein, Reed Flood, Brad Robey, and Nick Stark. Next year with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will have three more that will be ordained to the priesthood. This is the first time in around 30 years that we have had five men ordained priests for the Diocese of Des Moines, in fact, the last time was when Fr. Michael Amadeo was ordained a priest. The calling to the priesthood is not for every man, it is something that has to be discerned by both the man, as well as the seminary, bishop, and Church as a whole. In seminary, I remember quite a few guys that dropped out of seminary, that I felt would make wonderful priests, but they, or their formation team and diocese felt otherwise. Some of these guys I keep in touch with and they are making wonderful husbands and fathers because of their time that they spent really praying and discerning their vocation in life. Through that discernment, they decided that their calling was not the priesthood. There were also a few of the guys that went through, and some that got ordained, that I personally wondered about, but in the end, it is not my call, but God’s.

To be honest, the life of a priest is not always easy, one has to be someone who can first and foremost be a man of prayer, while also being someone who can talk in front of a group, run a multi-million-dollar corporation, be a counselor, a spiritual guide, a maintenance guy, and so many other “duties as needed.” A professor in seminary once said, “The life of the priest is not for wimps.” In this he was very true. The priesthood is so much more than a job. As a priest, you will be with people in times of great sorrow, maybe even be with someone during the worst day of their lives, but you will also be able to be with people in their greatest joys and even in some cases, the happiest days of their lives.

So, I would like to remind each and every one to pray for vocations and I would like to ask everyone to encourage someone to consider the religious life. To those young men considering the priesthood I would give this advice. If you want an easy job, don’t become a priest. If you want a job with a lot of free time or a lot of material wealth, don’t become a priest. If you want something that is more than a job, something that is challenging, something to help people in their life’s struggles and their great joys, consider the priesthood. If you want something that the blessings outweigh the difficulties, consider the priesthood. The priesthood is a wonderful calling. We priests and bishops are far from perfect people, but keep us in your prayers and help to encourage those young men to consider the calling.

God bless,
Fr. Ken