Year of Vocation
13 April, 2008 by PF
Today the Catholic Church in Ireland launched a Year of Vocation which will run until the Fourth Sunday of Easter next year. The initiative is organised by a team representing Conference of Religious of Ireland, the Irish Bishops’ Conference, the Irish Missionary Union, St Joseph’s Young Priests Society, Vocations Ireland, the Knights of St Columbanus and lay personnel.
According to its website ( Your Vocation), the aim of the Year of Vocation is to raise awareness of the common vocation that we all share through baptism, as expressed through witness, love and service. Within each of these themes and throughout 2008-2009 the specific vocations of marriage, the religious life, the single life and priesthood will be highlighted and promoted.
A lot of the website seems to be still under construction (-well, whose isn’t?). In the Resources section, there are some very interesting statistics on priests and religious in Ireland. These are based on an extensive survey carried out for 2005. I was surprised to read that in 2005 (my Silver Jubilee year), there were eight religious order priests ordained in Ireland, whereas in 1980 we were seven ordained for the Passionists alone. You can find these statistics here
The Year of Vocation outreach could be used worldwide! That is an amazing thing that The Church in Ireland is doing, and a great way to highlight and encourage those chosen by God for a specific vocation — I’m sure it will do amazing things!
Current priests and those considering priesthood may be interested in the book “Reclaiming our Priestly Character” by Father David L. Toups, S.T.D. He provides a fresh look at the ancient teaching of the graces imparted to priests during Holy Orders, and invites the reader to examine the relationship between those graces and daily life. It may be a good tool to have during the Year of Vocation.
God bless!!
James, thanks for the comment and for the information about the book by Father Toups. I wonder if we have it in the bookshop here.