Let Us Pray For Vocation in May

Let Us Pray For Vocation in May

Deacon Alex Kwok

On the first Easter Sunday evening in Jerusalem, 10 frightened men were nervously waiting behind locked doors and windows for a scout to return and to report the situation outside. The 10 Apostles were like caged animals frozen by fear because their master was crucified the previous Friday and their dreams were buried with Him in the tomb. Suddenly, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19）. Later, like God who animated Adam He created out of the dust of the ground by blowing into his nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7）, Jesus also breathed on the 10 Apostles and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:22b-23）. The risen Lord has just given the Apostles, and thus their successors, the ministry of reconciliation that gradually develops into the Sacrament of Confession nowadays.

In early generations, only bishops, the successors of the Twelve had the authority to forgive sins. It became impracticable as membership of the Church expanded. Therefore, bishops delegated the authority to forgive lesser sins to priests and retained some weighty ones for themselves. In a similar vein, previously only bishops might administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to confer the Holy Spirit on the newly baptized. Nowadays, we celebrate the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults on Easter Vigil in which the elected catechumens will receive Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion. It is impossible for a bishop to run through all the parishes in his diocese to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation. For bigger parishes where there are hundreds of elected catechumens, it is also impossible for one single priest to do the same. Therefore, on that particular evening, all priests concelebrating the Easter Vigil are given the authority to confer the Holy Spirit on that particular occasion. This is the juicy part.

Beloved brethren! Are you able to understand the toil of sitting inside the confessional for more than 6 hours in a row to hear confessions before feasts and the toll it takes on the health of our priests, not to mention the risks of breaching the local security laws? As of 2022, Vatican statistics report that there are 1.39 billion Catholics globally and there are only 407,730 priests (plus 5,353 bishops and 50,150 permanent deacons）. In other words, a priest needs to hear confessions of 3,409 parishioners! Vatican statistics also report that priestly vocation keeps declining. Europe’s vocational crisis since 2008 continued unabated. In 2021-2022, the number of seminarians in Europe decreased by 6%! Other continents also drop except Africa which shows an increase of 2.1%. The numbers of non-priest professed religious men as well as nuns continue to contract.

Beloved brothers and sisters! The clergy are our civil servants. The professed religious are forerunners covering wherever needs arise while the Hierarchy has not yet been able to provide. The Lord is our Good Shepherd. He needs labourers to shepherd His flock. Let us follow the Pope’s prayer intention in May to “ask the master of the harvest to send out labourers for His harvest” (Matthew 9:38）. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: vaticannews.va