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Nikki Shasserre c: (734)
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Wanted: More Priests
FOCUS
sees young men enter the seminary in impressive numbers
“A [priestly] presence…given the
stark numbers, will have to be filled by more non-traditional faces,” CBS
reports.
After only ten years of serving
Catholic students on college campuses, FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic
University Students) has seen a renewal in vocations that is anything but
stark. Since 1998, 108 young men involved in FOCUS as missionaries or students
have entered the seminary.
CBS reported that it was a “major
challenge for the Church” to find young men who are willing to leave behind
secular success for a life of service and celibacy. Evan Koop, former FOCUS missionary and
seminarian for the diocese of St. Paul, MN, was ready to enter seminary after
only a glimpse of the spiritual fatherhood he experienced as a missionary.
“The idea of ministering to the
spiritual needs of others souls, leading them to Christ—I got that experience,”
said Koop. “The way that it really
brought me joy and stirred my heart was a great signpost for me on the way to
seminary and, God willing, the priesthood.”
Jeff Ossinger spent two years
serving as a FOCUS missionary at Seton Hall University where he was inspired by
the parish priests he encountered. Ossinger will be studying for the priesthood
at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, MA.
Reflecting on priestly celibacy,
Ossinger said his year-long dating fast during his first year as a missionary
allowed his prayer life and devotion to the Church to grow.
“The more I fell in love with
Christ through prayer, the more I felt called to celibacy and to have that deep
relationship with Christ and his Church,” Ossinger said.
Father Jim Crisman, Director of
Priestly Vocations for the Archdiocese of Denver, says there is a growing
awareness in the Church of the need for seminarians and priests. He said such
awareness has resulted in the prayer and sacrifice from the laity that brings
about an increase in vocations.
“It begins with prayer and
continues with radical openness to God’s will which is lived out in families,
college campuses, and youth groups,” Father Crisman said, “and then the radical
generosity of young men to offer themselves in service to the Church.”
While CBS points out that there are not enough
priests to accommodate the growing number of Catholic faithful, it is precisely
that renewal in the Church that will result in a wellspring of dynamic priests
ready to lead the Church into the third millennium.
“In the end, we’re all called to
holiness,” said Koop. “I think as our
lives are conformed to Christ he will begin to bring out the authentic desires
in our own hearts, what He’s placed in us from the very beginning, and you can
begin to discern your own heart. It’s
not an exterior call; it’s something he’s built into the very fabric of your
being.”