Howdy, Church fans! Hope your team wins this weekend! . Below is the column. As always, you can catch the livestream at our FB page:
“So how did you decide to be a priest?” It’s a question I get a lot. The short answer is, I was invited by another person. It’s as simple as that.
Vocations are not rocket science, but it is important to realize that every person in the parish has an essential role to play in calling forth, from our own parish family, men and women to serve the Archdiocese as priests, deacons, and religious. Vocations are everybody’s responsibility. Think about it. What could be better than helping someone answer the calling that Jesus has wanted for that person since he or she was created? How cool is that?!
I’m also painfully aware that as we approach our 50th anniversary as a parish, I can think of no one whom the parish has called to the holy priesthood for the Archdiocese. I think we are about due, don’t you?
So how does it work? How do you invite someone to follow Christ into the priesthood? We can get an idea from call of Peter through Andrew in today’s Gospel. The encounter shows us six easy steps.
Step 1. Look for Jesus yourself.
Step 2. Follow Jesus yourself.
Step 3. Spend time with Jesus.
Step 4. Seek out the other.
Step 5. Invite the other to follow Jesus.
Step 6. Keep praying and trust Jesus to do the rest.
Step 1. We see that Andrew (and presumably John) were already looking for the Messiah, that’s probably why they were disciples of John.
Step 2. Once John points him out, off they go!
Step 3. They came. They saw and spent the rest of the day in the Lord’s presence. That’s essentially what prayer is. Spending time with the Lord. We spend time with Jesus in private prayer, in small group prayer, and most profoundly in the liturgical prayer of the Sacred Assembly at Holy Mass.
Step 4. Having come to know Jesus, Andrew seeks out his brother, who apparently was also looking for Jesus.
Step 5. Once he finds him, he says, “Simon! You gotta come with me! We found him! This is the guy! Come and see!” Then he brought him to Jesus.
Step 6. Jesus receives Simon…and Simon’s name, and his life, are forever changed. And, we should note, so is Andrew’s.
Remember. No Andrew, no St. Peter. So be Andrew! Follow steps 1-3 and when the time is right go up to that young man and say: “You know, I see the qualities in you that would make a good priest. Would you please consider it? I’m going to be praying for you.” Then keep praying and let Jesus do the rest.