Read the whole piece. Here are a few of the things that standout:
The root of our current vocation problem is a lack of discipleship. Of course, a disciple is one who encounters Jesus, repents, experiences conversion and then follows Jesus. All too often those of us in positions of Church leadership presume that all the folks in the pews on Sundays, all the children in our grade schools, high schools and PSR programs, all the kids in our youth groups, all the men in our Men’s Clubs and all the women in our Women’s Guilds, and all the members of our RCIA team are already disciples. Many are not. (The same can be said of staffs and faculties of Catholic institutions.) Our people may be very active in the programs of our parishes, schools and institutions, but unfortunately, such participation does not qualify for discipleship.
As Father says later, this may seem very basic and obvious, but it is often overlooked. It's so easy to measure our success as a Church (and as a parish) on people "doing things" and people "showing up."
Fr. Damian focuses on youth groups as an example. I think our assumption is that we have to bring kids in with entertainment; by making Church look cool so that they will want to participate. The ultimate goal, as Fr. Damian writes, is to transform them - to make them followers of Jesus, not just to have regular attendance.
Yes, attendance is important: at Mass and at the various organizations and activities in our parishes, that is how we stay connected; but if people are not becoming disciples through these things, then we are not doing our job.
Church activities should lead to personal prayer, to an internal transformation that leads a person to give their life to Jesus.
The best way to do this is to be disciples ourselves:
Disciples beget disciples. If more married couples, priests, religious and faithful begin to take discipleship seriously, there won’t be a vocation problem, because ultimately our vocation problem is a lack of discipleship. The solution to this problem is so fundamental that is often overlooked and misdiagnosed, but the remedy is as old as the Gospel itself. If we, as Christ’s Church, take the call to discipleship and evangelization more seriously, the vocation problem will be lessened. Let us continue to pray for reform and renewal and, ultimately, for the Holy Spirit’s pouring himself out on his holy Church, the Bride of Christ.
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