Fr. Joseph Corel introductory letter

Hello, readers!

I want to thank Bishop Gaydos for allowing the Vocation Office to be highlighted in this edition of The Catholic Missourian and for editor Jay Nies and his staff for all of their help in making this vocation edition come to fruition.

There are so many people who help Julie Wieberg, the diocesan vocation committee, and me with what we do to promote vocations. As you read this issue, notice the number of people from our diocese who have written articles. Truly, this edition shows that we are targeting every group, organization and person in the diocese to be praying for vocations, educating themselves about vocations, and asking young people to consider a vocation.

Over the next few months, our diocese will be involved in diocesan planning. Of course, the looming question will be how best to utilize our priests who are getting older and fewer in number, with close to the same number of parishes we had when the diocese began in 1956. Many discussions will take place. As vocation director and chairman of the Ministry to Priests Committee, I have a unique perspective on the planning that needs to be done. There are the immediate practical steps that will be needed. Then, there is the long-range plan that needs to be our primary focus and concern.

Since we are a sacramental Church, we will always need the sacraments to sustain ourselves in this diocese. Plainly, that means we need to begin immediately to increase exponentially our number of seminarians, so enough of them get through to ordination. Hiring more laypeople and appointing more pastoral administrators is good, but if everyone, including the people in paid positions, are living up to their baptismal call, they are going to inspire more sacrament-preparation, more sacraments, and the need for even more priests will become a reality.

To be Catholic means we appreciate we are part of a sacramental Church. We are all members of the one Body; one part of the body cannot replace another part. Sacramental ministry is only one-third of the person who is an ordained priest. He is also mandated by Christ to be a minister of the word (teacher) and give a shepherd's care to the community of faith (govern). A priest needs the laity for all three of these presbyteral offices; and the laity needs the priest to carry out his role in all three of these offices. Neither can be replaced.

Another solution will be to continue to welcome priests from other parts of the world. As a priest who did not grow up in this diocese, I am so grateful for the warm welcome I received, and I hope that those who are serving with us now from other countries feel that same welcome. With that being said, the Holy Spirit created the Diocese of Jefferson City, not the mission territory of Jefferson City. That means the Lord is calling seminarians and religious from every one of our parishes within this diocese. Otherwise, that "parish" would not be a parish - it would be a mission. And this "diocese" would not be a diocese - it would be a mission territory.

Many are called to serve this diocese, some to serve elsewhere. So whatever the findings in our planning process, we must begin right now to re-triple our efforts to cultivate the number of men discerning a call to a priestly vocation.

Who, specifically, needs to triple their efforts to exponentially increase our number of seminarians and religious? The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) report on the Class of 2009 is telling:

Priests: 88 percent of those to be ordained in 2009 started seminary because a priest told them to consider the Priesthood. Fifteen percent of those ordained said a clergy member discouraged them from entering.

Parents: 34 percent of mothers and 26 percent of fathers of those to be ordained in 2009 were encouraging their sons. Fifty-nine percent of parents (not separated out) were discouraging the class of 2009 to be in seminary.

Non-seminary friends: 42 percent supported and 47 percent discouraged the class of 2009.

Good news for teachers: 23 percent supported and only 9 percent discouraged the class of 2009. However, only 23 percent were encouraging!

Priesthood and religious life are counter-cultural vocations; however, it is important for all of us who belong to this sacramental, counter-cultural Church do all we can to call forth, bring up and encourage our future sacramental leaders, our future priests.

Sincerely,

Father Joseph S. Corel
Diocesan vocation director