Conquering the Vocation Crisis

It’s no secret that the number of priests and consecrated religious in the Catholic Church is in free fall. A sad 20% of parishes have no resident pastor. Today there are about a quarter of the religious sisters that there were in the 1960s. The words of Jesus can hardly be more relevant: “The harvest […]

Vocation: Opening Ears to the Call

National Vocation Awareness Week is November 3-9. As a former vocation director for my community and for the Diocese of Cleveland, I can attest that promoting vocations is hard work! But it doesn’t depend on individuals who do it as a full-time ministry. Parishes can be powerhouses for stirring up vocations. I’ve just read a […]

What’s a Sister or Nun Today?

Yesterday about four hundred people gathered in our provincial house chapel to witness the final, perpetual vows of Sister Mary Kelley Rush. It was a glorious (and long) celebration of Mass. Today when religious Sisters are few and far between some people, even Catholics, don’t know one. Neither do they know about Sisters. Several times […]

Mary, A Consecrated Virgin

The Year of Consecrated Life, which began on November 21, casts the spotlight on religious vocations, such as the calls to be a sister, brother, nun, monk, or priest. Consecration is the setting aside of persons (or objects) exclusively for God and divine service. The word is derived from the Latin for “to make sacred.” […]