A Higher Chivalry and a True Vocation

About this sermon

If times today were like the Middle Ages and the era of St. Bernard, then there would literally be tens of thousands of monasteries and religious houses throughout this country packed with consecrated men and priests. But unfortunately, this is not the case. I remember hearing a story from a good priest a few years back. This priest was working with a young man that had just turned 18 years old. In short, the priest was helping the young man with discerning a call to the holy priesthood. When the natural father of the the teenager heard about this, he was infuriated. Taking his son to the parish, the natural father barged into the priest’s office. He then berated the priest for talking about the holy priesthood with his son. The natural father then added…Listen …I want my son to be successful in life…I want him to be somebody important, not a Catholic priest. Over the past few decades, we have witnessed a virtual hemorrhaging of consecrated persons from the Church. Tens of thousands of priests and religious have left their vocations leaving behind many empty convents and priestless parishes. Oh how devalued a vocation to the holy priesthood has become in the minds of many. Please pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. If you are parents, encourage your children to embrace the call in order to bring restoration to the priesthood and consecrated life. Be like those mothers of Lu, in Italy, who longed to have priestly sons and daughters in habits. The little village of Lu was located in northern Italy. The deepest desire of many of these mothers was for one of their sons to become a priest or for a daughter to place her life completely in God’s service. No one expected that God would hear the prayers of these mothers in such an astounding way. From the tiny village of Lu came 323 vocations!: 152 priests (diocesan and religious), and 171 nuns belonging to 41 different congregations. The mothers prayed this prayer: O God, grant that one of my sons may become a priest! I myself want to live as a good Christian and want to guide my children always to do what is right, so that I may receive the grace, O God, to be allowed to give you a holy priest! Amen. For more please visit http://reginaprophetarum.org & remember to say 3 Hail Marys for the priest

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• Work & Career