Promoting Vocations as a Lay Leader

By Father Jason C. Hage

Director of the Office of Vocation Promotion

Vocation Crisis?

Vocation Promotion Team

Mission Statement

• Mission Statement: “God created us to live in a relationship of love with Him. He invites us to respond to His love in a particular way of life—our vocation. Our mission is to help discerners discover, embrace, and live out God’s call.”
• Vision Statement: “Foster opportunities for encounter with Jesus Christ, so that young people can freely respond to His invitation to follow Him as a priest or consecrated religious.”

What is a vocation?

• A vocation is not a career, but one’s path to salvation

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• The calling or destiny we have in this life and hereafter. God has created the human person to love and serve him; the fulfillment of this vocation is eternal happiness (CCC).

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• One’s vocation is one’s identity

What is discernment?

• Making decisions with God
• St. Augustine: “Love God, and then do what you will”
• Discovering one’s deepest desire as God’s desire
• If one is called, it shouldn’t feel unnatural
• Teens in a noisy culture
• Creating the space for silence
• Three in four responding 2019 ordinands participated in Eucharistic adoration (75 percent) on a regular basis before entering the seminary.

Universal Vocation vs. Particular Vocation

• Christ calls the faithful to the perfection of holiness. The vocation of the laity consists in seeking the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will. Priestly and religious vocations are dedicated to the service of the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation.

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• The universal call to holiness is primary
• Particular vocations are secondary
• It’s all about DISCIPLESHIP

The Call to Holiness

• What holiness is not…
• Not human perfection, but perfection in love
• Not a “Cross-free” life, but a life of self-sacrificing love
• Holiness is living your life in friendship with God
• The goal of this life is beatitude
• Holiness is the process of becoming the best version of your self
• You are not called to be someone else

Signs of a Call

• Knows and loves Jesus Christ and experiences a thirst to bring Jesus and His teachings to the world
• Is a believing, practicing Catholic
• Is striving to live a life of holiness/prayer
• Lives and desires a life of service to others
• Has a desire to be a priest
• In many cases, has his call validated by other people
• Finds his calling validated in Sacred Scripture
• Is striving to live a virtuous life
• Has good people skills
• Exhibits sufficient academic ability

Signs of a Call

• Is physically, emotionally, and psychologically stable
• Is joyful and has a good sense of humor
• Has a “priest’s heart”
• Has self-possession and self-mastery
• Shows stability in lifestyle
• Is a Christian gentleman
• Has life experiences that point toward priesthood
• Is able to accept both success and failure peacefully
• Demonstrates a healthy psycho-sexual development
• Is truly open to the will of God for his life

Qualities of a Candidate

• Four Pillars of Priestly Formation
• Human

“[I]n order that his ministry may be humanly as credible and acceptable as possible, it is important that the priest should mould his human personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man.

• Spiritual
• Academic
• Pastoral

Creating a Culture of Vocations

• Culture of vocations
• Culture of awareness, articulation, openness, generosity, and trust
• If you see something, say something
• Look for a father, not a bachelor
• Personality that builds community (Beware of the lone-ranger)
• Making the ask
• Be simple, gentle, and direct
• If it is from God, then the seed will take root

Sources of Encouragement

• 53% of those ordained in 2019 were active in a parish youth group
• 33% were active in College Campus Ministry or Newman Center activities
• 69% Encouraged by a parish priest
• 39% Encouraged by a parishioner
• 78% Active as an Altar Server
• 53% Active as a Lector
• 44% Active as Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister
• 16% Participated in World Youth Day and/or Steubenville Youth Conf.
• 52% Come and See Weekend

You are a Prime Mover

• Parish Leader as a Vocation Promotor
• You know the individual
• You know the home
• You know the potential
• You know the pace (timing is everything)

Steps to Take

• PRAYER…pray daily. Stretch the length of your prayer time. Include significant time in silence listening to God.
• SACRAMENTS…in addition to Sundays and Holy Days, attend Mass on weekdays. Go to Confession regularly.
• SPIRITUAL DIRECTION…meet regularly with someone who knows you well and can help you discern God’s call.
• TALK WITH A PRIEST OR RELIGIOUS BROTHER OR SISTER…learn how the Holy Spirit works by listening to their “call story.”
• TAKE A RETREAT…set aside some time for serious discernment, hopefully with other discerners.
• CONTACT THE OFFICE OF VOCATION PROMOTION…for more information.

Diocesan Offerings

• Social Media Outreach (52% of our followers are young men ages 18-34)
• Holy Hour for Vocations
• School Visits - Regional Presence
• Regional Workshops
• St. Andrew Dinners – Ages 15 to 18
• Fisherman’s Club – Ages 18 to 39
• The Tenth Hour! - Bishop’s Vocations Picnic
• New York State Winter Discernment Retreat at Christ the King Retreat House
• Men In Black Games

Current Situation

• The Fisherman’s Club, which is our outreach to college-age discerners, continues to meet once a month at Christ the King Retreat House reaching, on average, 5 young adult men at each meeting. This is Father Nathan Brooks’ third year as coordinator of this ministry.
• The Fisherman’s Club is going on its seventh year, and each year at least one FC participant applies and is accepted to seminary formation. We currently have six FC alums in seminary formation.
• Due the pandemic, Father Hage has also been conducting an online discernment group over Zoom that reaches, on average, 7 men at each meeting.
• The St. Andrew Dinner project, which is our outreach to high school age discerners, continues to meet once a year in each region reaching, on average, 7 young men at each meeting. This is Father Ken Kirkman’s third year as coordinator of this ministry.
• For the past three years, we have attempted to bring this project to each region with little success in the Southern and Eastern Regions. This is the first year we moved the Saint Andrew Dinner to a neutral location at Christ the King Retreat House in Syracuse. We typically averaged around 7 high school boys when the project was hosted in the Western Region. This year, we had a record number of 38 high school boys participate. It was an amazing success.

Current Situation Cont’d

• The Bishop’s Vocation Picnic is our co-ed outreach to any young person discerning a vocation to priesthood and religious life in our diocese. This event occurs every August and reaches, on average, 50 young people a year.
• Due to the pandemic, we transitioned the event from indoor to outdoor, and ended up reaching almost double of what we typically get in terms of participation. With the new outdoor setup at Christ the King Retreat House we reached over 80 young people this past year.
• The Men In Black Softball Game, which is our co-ed outreach to any young person discerning a vocation and their families, draws in around 400 people every summer and continues to be a great success.

Current Situation Cont’d

• The New York State Discernment Retreat, which is our collaborative effort between all five Upstate New York dioceses, reached 7 college-age discerning young men from the Diocese of Syracuse in January of 2023.
• This is by far our most effective outreach, and one that the Diocese of Syracuse is very proud to host for the other Upstate New York dioceses.
• We also serviced 7 other young men from the Dioceses of Ogdensburg and Buffalo having 14 discerners participate in total.
• The Vocation Promotion team members are currently assigned to every single Catholic high school and elementary school in the Diocese of Syracuse.
• Each team member makes an official Vocation Promotion visit to each school once a year visiting every classroom, most specifically grades 4 through 11.
• We now have a Vocation Ministry team at each of our diocesan schools that are composed of dedicated faculty and staff who believe in the mission of vocation promotion in our Catholic schools.

Goals

• Goal #1: Continue to build on the momentum created by the Year of Vocations.
• Goal #2: Continue to collaborate with other ministry department heads in creating a culture of vocations in our diocese, especially the Office of Campus Ministry as well as the Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry

Objectives

• Objective #1: Focus on keeping the communication strong with the newly developed network of Vocation Ministry teams in parishes and schools gained from the Year of Vocations.
• Objective #2: Help facilitate/coordinate an annual Vocations Workshop for the newly developed Vocation Ministry Teams in our parishes and schools.
• Objective #3: Coming out of the Year of Vocations, the Vocation Promotion Team now needs to focus its efforts less on programming and more on relational ministry.

What Opportunities Exist to Achieve Greater Success

• Greater collaboration with the Office of Campus Ministry and the Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry is of paramount importance in the next year.
• The Year of Vocations helped uncover a missing link with the young adult population in our diocese. A surge in vocations is unlikely until there are well developed discipling groups available to young adults in each region. This type of young adult outreach is outside the purview of the Office of Vocations. These young adult discipling groups would provide natural bridges between the priests on our Vocation Promotion Team and discipled young adults in our diocese.

Successes

• Two years ago, we had the tremendous blessing of ordaining four priests at the same ordination rite. The last time this took place in our diocese was 20 years ago.
• With the help of Rhonda Gruenwald and her Vocations Ministry, we trained over 200 lay people representing 90 (out of 119) parishes in our diocese.
• Every single Catholic school administrator, principal, and teacher received formal extended training on how to create a culture of vocations in our Catholic schools.
• We hosted trainings for all of the Youth and Young Adult Ministers of our diocese, our Catechetical Leaders, our college Campus Ministers, and our Chancery staff.
• We had 52 parishes as well as all of our Catholic high schools agree to host the traveling vocations Icon of St. Joseph, which means that there has been a Holy Hour for Vocations and a Rosary for Vocations offered every single week in our diocese without pause throughout this year of grace
• Lastly, the Office of Vocations called together and now facilitates a Vocation Promotion Team for Religious Life
• From top to bottom, everyone at every level of our diocesan family generously availed themselves to these trainings on the art of vocation promotion at the parish and school level. What we collectively realized as a diocesan family is that everyone is called to be a vocation promoter in the Diocese of Syracuse. We know now more than ever that we are co-responsible for the future of our local Church.

Prayer for Vocations

• God our Father, we thank you for calling men and women to serve in your Son’s Kingdom as priests, deacons, and consecrated persons. Send your Holy Spirit to help others to respond generously and courageously to your call. May our community of faith support vocations of sacrificial love in our youth and young adults. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.