FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners:
On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, each of us is invited to respond to the Good Shepherd who asks each of us how well we are responding to His call to greater holiness. Husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, can ask of themselves: How well have I lived up to the call to holiness within the state of marriage? Do I try with all my heart to be faithful to the promises I made on my wedding day? Am I faithful to my spouse every day of our lives? Am I completely open to God’s gift of children? Or do I place artificial obstacles, such as contraception and sterilization, in the way of God’s creative power? Am I raising my children in the faith? Do we go to confession, together as a family, five or six or more times a year? In other words, are we setting a good example when it comes to our family’s sacramental and spiritual life? Do we pray with our children? Do we tell our children about the goodness of each state of life in the Church: the state of marriage and the state of religious life and priesthood? Do we explain to them that God calls certain people to be religious brothers and sisters and priests in order to serve the Church in a special way? Do we desire and pray that God may call one or more of our own children in this way?
We priests and religious have to make an examination of conscience also. We might ask: How well am I living my vocation? Am I fulfilling the promises or vows that I made on the day of my ordination or on the day of my vows? Am I obedient to the Lord, the Good Shepherd, whose voice is spoken in a special way through my bishop? Do I pray the Liturgy of the Hours every day? Am I celebrating Mass every day and spending some time in quiet prayer every day? Am I living a life of simplicity and poverty? As a priest, I need to ask: Do I make myself available to those who desire to receive the sacraments and to those who desire words of consolation or advice? Do I teach the truths of Scripture according to the Tradition and Magisterium of the Church? By my own example and by my own love of the priesthood, do I encourage others to consider that the Lord may be calling them in that way as well? In other words, do I live my priesthood in such a way that others would be attracted to it as well? Or even more concisely, am I happy being a priest and do I share that happiness and joyfulness with others?
To be sure, those who are not married or who do not live some form of the consecrated state are also called to holiness. Children, youth, young adults and single adults who are discerning God’s call continue to listen carefully to the Good Shepherd’s voice. You are God’s instruments for bringing others around you closer to Jesus. And you act as his instruments when you live a life
of holiness, faithful to your day to day obligations and faithful to your Catholic faith. In other words, you understand that you are a Catholic merely 55 minutes a week when you come to Sunday Mass, but you live your Catholic faith every day so that others can truly tell you are a Catholic.
May all of us respond with full hearts to the Good Shepherd’s clear and loving voice which continuously calls to us to greater holiness. A most blessed Easter season to you!
In the Resurrected Lord,
Father Berg
