To Serve in Charity:
A Pastoral Letter on Vocations
to the Priesthood and Religious Life

by the Most Reverend William E. Lori
Bishop of Bridgeport
March 19, 2002

Not long ago, at dinner, someone asked me, "When did you first want to become a priest?" Without pausing, I said, "In the second grade!" Hopefully, I did not belabor the details of my vocational story - but I could not resist telling him how and why a call to the priesthood took hold of my mind and heart. With the reader's kind permission, I would like to revisit the highlights of how and why I wanted to become a priest - and from that story to draw out a few essential points about vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life in the Diocese of Bridgeport.

The seeds of my priestly vocation were planted by a young priest who, in the late 1950's, served in my home parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in New Albany, Indiana. I doubt that he ever knew the name of the second grader who watched him so intently as he celebrated the Mass. To my young eyes, that priest seemed to love what he was doing. He seemed both reverent and happy. So one day, on the school bus, it dawned on me: "That's what I want to be . . . a priest!"

Of course, my ideas about the priesthood developed and matured as the years passed. I gave serious consideration to the vocation of marriage and to professions such as teaching, architecture and the law. But the call that first reached me on that school bus as it bumped along Scheller Lane in the late 1950's stuck. I was sure God was calling me to be a priest.

As I reflect with joy and gratitude on my call to the priesthood, I realize how many people nurtured my priestly vocation along the way. First and foremost are my parents who truly are 'my first teachers in the ways of faith.' They took (and take) seriously their own call to holiness and made sure I understood that union with the Lord was the first priority in life. My parents never pushed or pressured me to become a priest but they clearly sent me the signal that it was fine for me to consider priesthood as a possible vocation. Their balanced approach was fundamental to my answering the Lord's call.

My parents weren't alone. Most of the people in my neighborhood knew that the child who created so much noise and got in trouble once in a while wanted to be a priest. One family that lived across the street was especially supportive. Mr. Offinger (who belonged to the Serra Club) took a number of us seventh graders to Saint Meinrad Archabbey where there was a minor seminary. He actively encouraged us to think about priesthood. The point I'm making is that many of the laity let me know that it was commendable to think about becoming a priest. They manifested an inherent appreciation for the role of the priest in their lives and saw it as a very worthy way to spend one's life.

However, the adults were not the only ones who were supportive of the possibility of a priestly vocation. My peers were also supportive. Now by "supportive" I really mean "tolerant" and even mildly encouraging! There was very little peer pressure not to become a priest or religious. I had the freedom to think about becoming a priest and to say that I wanted to be a priest. Like so many other priests my age or older, I didn't face the hurdle of negative peer pressure when I was thinking about becoming a priest. Nowadays, that isn't always the case!

In reflecting on my vocation, I cannot neglect the Sisters who taught at Our Lady of Perpetual Help elementary school, the Franciscan Sisters from Oldenburg, Indiana. For example, Sr. Mary Viator, who taught me in the third grade (she had taught my father when he was in the sixth grade), brought so much joy to the classroom that all the boys wanted to become priests and all the girls wanted to become sisters! Her wonderful sense of humor, combined with her masterful skills as a teacher, set a high standard that I have tried always to keep in mind. May she rest in peace!

Needless to say, the priest who originally inspired my vocation had successors. I have been very blessed indeed to know and to be taught and formed by many magnificent priests - all of whom demonstrated by word and deed what it really means to be a priest. One of them, Father John Lesousky, C.R., who taught me Latin in high school, remains a special friend to this very day. Shortly after I began my service to the Diocese of Bridgeport, Father John called me up to see how I was doing. "I'm not calling about President Bush's first 100 days, " he said, "I want to know about Bishop Lori's first 50 days!" He is still my guide, along with Bishop William Curlin of Charlotte (who served as Vocations Director in Washington when I was a seminarian) and Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of Saint Paul-Minneapolis (who was my Rector at Mt. Saint Mary's Seminary). When I first met them, they were priests in their early 40s. They engrained in me the fundamental importance of the spiritual life for a priest. No lesson has proved to be more important!

But my greatest mentor and role model is Cardinal James Hickey, the Archbishop Emeritus of Washington. In God's providential love, I was privileged to work directly for him for 18 years in a variety of capacities. If I live to be 150 years old, I shall never finish assimilating what he taught me about prayer, hard work and priesthood. He is a priest's priest and a bishop's bishop! I don't mind telling anyone that I frequently call him up for advice.

I don't mean to go on and on about my own story. As you shall soon see, I've imposed on your kindness so as to set the stage for some important points about vocations to the priesthood and to consecrated life in the Diocese of Bridgeport. I also want to suggest some specific steps which, through God's grace, we can take to foster vocations to priesthood and religious life. But first let me speak about why vocations to priesthood and religious life are such an urgent priority.

As I mark my first anniversary as your bishop and the twenty-fifth anniversary of my priestly ordination, I am privileged to share with you a promising future, indeed 'a future full of hope.' God has blessed the Diocese of Bridgeport with many good priests, deacons, and dedicated religious. He has blessed the Diocese with a healthy number of seminarians - 35, as of this writing - and with the well-founded hope of a steadily increasing number of priestly vocations in the years ahead.

But there is utterly no justification for our being complacent! Ask any priest. He will tell you that the presbyterate (the name for all the priests, both diocesan and religious, serving in the Diocese) is not getting any younger. A significant number of good and dedicated priests will complete their service as pastors in the coming years. And while I shall invite them to serve in parishes and in other priestly roles, nonetheless adequately staffing our parishes and schools will be a great challenge in the coming years. Add to that the reality that this Diocese is growing as the newly arrived from other countries join us and as heretofore remote areas of the diocese develop. Growth is a happy problem. For us to address it will require careful planning as well as a healthy and loving partnership of clergy, religious and laity. But inevitably such growth greatly stretches the resources and energies of the priests who so faithfully serve this Diocese. They need and we need additional priestly co-workers. I am hopeful that among these new priestly co-workers will be several who reflect the diversity of the Diocese, most especially our large Hispanic, Brazilian, Portuguese, Haitian, Vietnamese, and Laotian communities.

What is true of the priesthood is even truer of consecrated life (priests, sisters and brothers who belong to religious orders). For example, over 400 religious women representing 31 religious congregations serve in the Diocese of Bridgeport - in parishes, schools, nursing homes, social service apostolates and many other ministries. We are blessed to have three Motherhouses in the Diocese (Congregation of Notre Dame, Ridgefield; School Sisters of Notre Dame, Wilton; Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, Monroe). There are six religious institutes of men serving the Diocese of Bridgeport in parishes, education and many other ministries. Without exception, all these institutes of men and women religious are in dire need of vocations, if they are to continue in the years ahead.

In a word, vocations to the priesthood and to consecrated life are an extremely urgent priority for the Diocese of Bridgeport. Vocations are a very special concern of mine - but I cannot hope to address this deep and abiding concern without the help and cooperation of each and every member of the Diocese of Bridgeport. And that is why I told the story of my own vocation at the outset of this letter. It is a simple illustration of how the whole Diocese - under the inspiration of the sanctifying Spirit - can pull together to foster vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. With your indulgence, I shall now draw out four lessons that I believe my vocational story illustrates, followed by seven specific steps we can take to promote vocations.

FOUR LESSONS
Lesson One: The Universal Vocation to Holiness Comes First

Tucked into the story of my own vocation is the truth that my own parents take seriously their call to holiness - their call, as members of the Church, to participation in the life of the One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That reference is not an aside. It's a crucial point. Of course, my parents would be the last persons in the world to claim that they've achieved holiness - but through the 55 years of their marriage they have actively practiced the faith and have made daily prayer in the home a fundamental priority. Cooperating with God's grace, they have woven the problems and sacrifices that have confronted them into their lives of faith and prayer. (Let me add, that they will not like to read this paragraph and will remonstrate with me for including it in this pastoral letter. That was a risk I just had to take! And it's not the first time I've been in trouble!)

I am sure my reason for citing their good example is clear. Vocations to the priesthood and religious life will emerge from families, parishes and schools that take holiness seriously. In his letter on the Church in the new Millennium, Novo Millennio Ineunte, Pope John Paul II challenges every member of the Church to contemplate the face of Christ as the source of spiritual energy, enthusiasm and growth in holiness. The Pope writes: "…I have no hesitation in saying that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness." [Novo Millennio Ineunte, 30, p. 41]. Every person, in every vocation, in every profession, in every condition of life, is called to holiness. And all of us must earnestly respond to that call, in the power of the Holy Spirit, if we truly wish God to raise up from our midst priests and religious outstanding in holiness and pastoral zeal.

Lesson Two: Prayer Is Crucial To Holiness and Thus To Vocations

Many people contribute to a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life. In my own case, as in so many others, it was a combination of laypersons, religious sisters and priests. But most everyone whom I remember as encouraging me along the way had this in common: they prayed. They were busy laypersons who attended Holy Mass faithfully on Sundays and often on weekdays. They read the Scriptures, prayed the Rosary in their homes and belonged to prayer groups. The religious who influenced me adhered to a rigorous schedule of prayer and a truly sacrificial style of life. And the priests who most attracted me to priesthood were and are men who have made their spiritual and sacramental lives their very first priority.

The lesson here is that holiness on the part of all of us is crucial to raising up vocations. And there is no way to become holy without prayer - without daily, sustained communication with the Triune God whose life we have begun already to share. As individuals and as the united People of God we are drawn by means of prayer ever deeper into the life of the Trinity. Moreover, if we truly want vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, we have to pray for them. But even more fundamentally, we have to be ever more a people of prayer - daily sustained prayer centered around the Sunday Eucharist and purified by the frequent and fruitful reception of the Sacrament of Penance. Let me observe that one of the reasons why the Diocese of Bridgeport has a goodly number of vocations is the apostolate of round-the-clock prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at the adoration chapel of the Saint John Fisher Seminary Residence in Stamford. Since that apostolate started in 1995, some 36 priests have been ordained for the Diocese of Bridgeport. Prayer is key to vocations!

Lesson Three: Appreciate Priesthood and Consecrated Life

In his letter at the beginning of the New Christian Millennium, Pope John Paul II urges all of us to listen carefully to the revealed Word of God in the Scriptures and in the Church's Tradition. As we listen to God's Word and study the teaching of the Church, we continually discover how deep, how rich and how beautiful is the faith into which we have been baptized. And we come to appreciate all those who first taught us to know and love the Lord and to grow in our understanding and acceptance of all that the Church believes and teaches.

Those who encouraged me along the path to the priesthood were most often men and women who knew and loved their faith. Most would not have seen themselves as theological experts, but they were people who grasped the centrality of the Eucharist and the pivotal role of the priest in the Mass and in the sacramental life of the Church. And while they clearly understood that priests are fallible and flawed human beings, those who inspired me to become a priest loved the priesthood and held it up as a noble vocation. Why else would Mr. Offinger have spent many Saturday mornings bringing unruly seventh and eighth graders to Saint Meinrad Archabbey? Why else did my own parents let me know that they would be pleased if I were to become a priest? They loved priests and they loved the priesthood.

My parents and so many others who supported my vocation saw the priesthood as more than a job and more than a function. Without necessarily using the specialized language of theologians, those who helped me to become a priest realized that the priesthood is a genuinely real participation in the high priesthood of Jesus Christ. This tremendous gift is bestowed upon the priest, but not because he is more deserving than others. It is bestowed only so that he can serve the Church by making truly present for those he serves the saving words and deeds of Jesus, and most especially His saving death and resurrection.

As Pope John Paul II writes: "By sacramental consecration, the priest is configured to Jesus Christ as head and shepherd of the Church and he is endowed with a 'spiritual power' which is a share in the authority with which Jesus Christ guides the Church through His Spirit." [Pastores Dabo Vobis, 21, p. 41.] The Pope further observes that Jesus' 'authority' coincides with His total gift of self for the salvation of the world. This is at the heart of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The priest is sacramentally identified with Christ who laid down His life for our salvation. If we would foster priestly vocations, it is important for us to understand and cherish the special identity and mission of the priest.

The same is true of consecrated life. The women and men religious - sisters, brothers and priests who belong to religious orders, as well as others in consecrated life - deserve our respect, support, and esteem. A few years ago, when I was still serving in Washington, I had the privilege of introducing to a parish a group of sisters who would serve in a newly established elementary school. As we approached the church, the General Superior asked me, "Bishop, do you think these parishioners will welcome my sisters?" When I introduced Mother and her Sisters to the parish community, there was spontaneous and sustained applause, followed by a standing ovation - and this from a very young parish with very little prior exposure to religious life.

Well, that isn't surprising. Consecrated life has always been a part of the Church's life. From the earliest days of the Church, the life of Christian community was enriched by women and men, virgins and ascetics, who freely chose to devote their lives entirely to prayer, penance, almsgiving, and works of charity - such as visiting the sick and caring for widows and orphans. Whether remaining within the local parish or withdrawing into monastic communities, whether in loose associations or in organized religious orders, or even as solitary contemplatives, these men and women followed Saint Paul's advice to forego marriage and "be concerned for the things of the Lord, in pursuit of holiness in body and spirit" (1 Cor. 7:34). The Church values the communal witness to holiness of those embracing consecrated religious life according to the evangelical counsels (vows) of chastity, poverty and obedience.

Most often we know about consecrated life through the dedicated commitment of women and men religious to ministries such as evangelizing and teaching the young, caring for the sick and the poor and so much more. The Church in the United States and in the Diocese of Bridgeport owes an incalculable debt of gratitude to the religious who built a magnificent network of schools and health care facilities. The declining number of women and men religious should greatly concern us, not only because there are fewer sisters, brothers and religious order priests to serve those in need, but because we rely on their witness to holiness and their prayers as we strive to follow the Lord.

Indeed, it is sometimes said that we shouldn't worry about the diminished numbers of priests and religious since the laity is now in the ascendancy. Some even go so far as to suggest that the demise of the clergy and religious orders is simply a stage we must go through in order for the Church to achieve full maturity. What a flawed view of the Church! Let me assure you that the ascendancy of the laity does not depend on the demise of any other group in the Church. Vocations in the Church are not competing but complimentary. That is what Saint Paul tries to tell us when he speaks about Church as 'one body with many members.' A more active and involved laity all the more needs the spiritual nourishment which the sacramental life of the Church provides through the ministry of priests. Both clergy and laity should look to women and men in consecrated life for inspiration and strength as they pursue the path to holiness.

Lesson Four: Don't Get In the Way

Mother Theresa often said that her main job was not to get in the Lord's way. She wanted to be the Lord's instrument not a source of interference. If we would encourage vocations to priesthood and consecrated life, each one of us must ask for the grace not to get in the Lord's way. I can't overly stress the importance of my parents' attitude toward my vocation. They didn't push and they didn't pull. They always said, "If that's what the Lord is calling you to, it's fine with us." I knew I could always pursue another path without disappointing them. But I also knew that would be happy if I turned out to be a priest. And they are!

The basic point is that you and I must create the conditions wherein our young people have the freedom to respond to the grace of a vocation to priesthood or religious life.

That freedom is either lacking or is severely impaired when parents actively or passively discourage vocations to priesthood or consecrated life because they want their sons and daughters to achieve worldly success or provide grandchildren. Such parents run the risk of standing in the way not of a mere vocational choice but of the Lord's will. Remember that it is Christ who calls to priesthood and religious life. It is Christ who says to young men and women, "Come and see!" (Jn. 1:39) It is Christ who engages young people in a dialogue about the special way He wants them to follow Him. Without minimizing any of the sacrifices, controversies or problems faced by priests and by women and men in consecrated life, I call on parents to let their children know that it is completely acceptable for them to consider prayerfully a vocation to priesthood and religious life.

Our Catholic schools and parish religious education programs must also offer young people encouragement and freedom to discern whether or not God is calling them to priesthood or to consecrated life. I shall always be grateful for the instruction about the priesthood and the encouragement I received to consider priesthood from the religious sisters and lay teachers who taught at Our Lady of Perpetual Help elementary school. Schools and religious education programs are partners with parents in the religious formation of young people. An important part of religious formation is equipping young people to know the Lord and to listen to His voice in their lives. They are called not only to holiness but also to a specific vocation. We help them discern their vocation by evangelizing them (touching their heart with exposure to the Person of Jesus and the central message of the Gospel) and by catechecizing them (providing complete and systematic instruction in the faith). The religion curriculum for these formative years must include instruction on the vocations of priesthood and religious life. And there is no substitute for personal involvement on the part of priests and religious in the religious formation of young people. Their witness of joyful fidelity is crucial! It is also important that all Catholic schools and religious education programs actively welcome the Vocations Director of the Diocese and encourage initiatives such as vocations talks, vocations fairs, and other similar programs.

These efforts have another advantage, critical to the fostering of vocations. They help to diminish the peer pressure that makes it difficult for a young person to open his or her heart to a religious vocation. When students know and are well informed about the priesthood and religious life, and when they are blessed by the presence and example of dedicated priests and religious who are true role models, then they are more likely to respect fellow students who feel attracted to the priesthood or consecrated life. Parents, principals, directors of religious education, teachers, and youth ministers all have a special role to play in influencing young people to respect and even admire their peers who are considering a religious vocation.

Last, but surely not least, is the personal encouragement and example which priests and religious provide to young people. At the beginning of this letter, I cited the example of priests who have been and remain deeply influential in my life. Truth to tell, I don't know of any priest whose vocation was not influenced by the spirituality, fidelity, devotion and joy of other priests. Most religious women and men will tell similar stories: they are often attracted to religious institutes because they met members of those institutes who lived consecrated life wholeheartedly and served the Church's mission generously. As we 'read the signs of the times,' it is important for us - as priests and as consecrated persons - to know that young people will be attracted to priesthood and religious life only if we're living the life honestly and joyfully. We need to be serious and single-hearted about our spiritual lives, confident that genuine holiness is foundational to our pastoral service. Far from hiding the distinctive elements of our vocations - including our way of life and the spirituality that is appropriate to it - we need to lift them up. We need 'to be who we are' so as to place our gifts at the service of the laity and to attract the young to special vocations of ecclesial service.

I take this occasion to offer a personal word of thanks to the hundreds of dedicated priests and religious who faithfully serve the Diocese of Bridgeport. During this first year of my service, I have come to know so many of you. I pledge myself to continue deepening the bonds of faith, spirituality and service that bind us together. And I count on you to be my co-workers in the critically important task of fostering vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. I can't tell you how encouraging it is when you introduce me to young people considering a religious vocation, or when you respond favorably to invitations to the vocations dinners that I periodically sponsor.

SEVEN ACTION STEPS

Thank you for considering four lessons which I have gleaned from the story of my own vocation. But if those lessons are valid, then they will lead to action - action that is begun, sustained and completed by God's grace. So here are a number of action steps which I ask all of us to take so that together we may truly encourage vocations to priesthood and religious life in the Diocese of Bridgeport:

• I invite every Catholic in the Diocese of Bridgeport to devote some time each day to prayer for vocations. We can be confident that personal prayer and the prayers offered in our homes for vocations will, in God's good Providence, bear abundant fruit.
  
  
• I urge all Catholics in Fairfield County who possess sufficient physical health to abstain from meat on every Friday throughout the year as a freely chosen, personal sacrifice for the sake of vocations.
  
  
• I invite any who may wish to do so to fast periodically for vocations. Practically speaking, this may take the form of limiting one's intake for breakfast and lunch and refraining from eating between meals. Fasting and prayer remain a fundamental part of the Christian life.
  
  
• I ask every priest and pastor in the Diocese of Bridgeport to include in the General Intercessions at each Mass a specific petition for an increase of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, especially in this Diocese.
  
  
• I appeal to each parish and religious institution to hold Eucharistic Exposition and Adoration at times and intervals judged to be pastorally appropriate for the explicit purpose of promoting prayer for vocations. Many parishes already do this, and for that we should all be grateful.
  
  
• I urge parents to talk to their children in a very positive fashion about the possibility of a vocation to priesthood or religious life. Let them know that you are open to that possibility.
  
  
• I ask all Catholics in the Diocese of Bridgeport, and especially those involved in any form of Church ministry, to give their wholehearted support to the vocation promotion programs sponsored by the Diocesan Office for Vocations and the Saint John Fisher Seminary Residence and the many communities of consecrated life located in Fairfield County. These include days of reflection, vocation dinners and retreats, and the recently organized Vocare Club which meets monthly at the Seminary. This Club is a special outreach to young men in high school. It is already bearing fruit - three of our current seminarians have been drawn from diocesan Catholic high schools.

CONCLUSION

In challenging us into the new millennium, Pope John Paul II repeats the words of Jesus: "Duc in altum" - that is - "Put out into the deep" (Luke 5:4). Jesus instructs each of us to cast our nets into the deep waters of our times and, with His strength, to catch the hearts, minds, and souls of countless individuals who are searching for God and who are attracted to the truth and beauty of the Gospel. I devoted my first pastoral letter to evangelization as the first and most fundamental task for the Church. This second letter has raised up the important and irreplaceable role which priests and religious play in the Church's mission to proclaim the Gospel and to draw everyone to participation in the life of the Triune God.

I conclude this reflection simply with a word of deep and heartfelt thanks to all of you who have welcomed me so warmly in the first year of my service as Bishop of Bridgeport. If you don't know it already, I am delighted and grateful that the Holy Father has entrusted such a magnificent Diocese to me. But I cannot serve in solitary splendor! How important that we be united in the one faith and in the mission that the Lord entrusted to the Church. How important that we work together to build up the Church - each of us serving in charity and in love!

May God bless and keep you in His love!