Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

     This Good Shepherd Sunday is always associated with the World Day of Prayer for vocations to the Priesthood.  You know only too well the shortage of priests in our country and how fortunate we are to have “missionary” priests from Ghana, India, South America and elsewhere to minister to the spiritual needs of Catholic Americans.  Many of the international priests sacrifice their homeland families and friends in order to lead us to the Kingdom of Heaven.   For their selflessness we are truly grateful.  But what about fostering and promoting young men from our own land and parishes to give their lives to Christ for the salvation of souls?

       Surely it is a life of sacrifice but it brings the greatest of joys and blessings  that the world cannot ever give.  How do we convince the young that this is a life worth living in being so very close to God.  Often it starts with proximity to the Altar.  Do you know, as I am told, that there was a time when our parish had 90 altar servers?  Unbelievable!  Now we have but a few and we are very proud that they are faithful and dedicated.  We constantly encourage and invite our youth to come forward to serve the Lord in this special way but something is prohibiting them.  Remember the words of our Lord:”..let the children come to me and do not hinder them.  To them belongs the Kingdom of God.”

     Closeness to the Altar is closeness to the Kingdom.  Where else would one want their sons to be?  The interest in a vocation to the priesthood begins when one is young,  Ask any priest.  So let us do our part to assure that there will be priests to serve His Church and His people by praying daily for vocations and encouraging young boys and men to give themselves to Christ Who has called them to be His own.

With Blessings,

Father Langan