Vocations Awareness Week

This week marks 'National Vocations Awareness Week' in the U.S. Catholic Church. During this week, the Church at the diocesan and parish levels is called to promote a culture of vocations for priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated religious life. 

Building a culture of vocations awareness in our parishes and dioceses calls us to first and foremost be aware that God continues to call each of us to a life of service. For most, this will be the call to married life, to be a loving spouse and loving parent. Marriage and parenthood is indeed a vocation of service! There are fewer selfless people than moms and dads!

God also calls men and women to serve in the Church. Those called to priesthood and diaconal ministry are to be like Christ the Good Shepherd, to lead and serve the People of God. And those women and men called to religious life become living signs of the Gospel; their lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience point to the radical nature of the Kingdom of God. 

"To become a priest or a religious is not primarily our choice;
it is our answer to a calling, a calling of love."  -Pope Francis

To build such a culture in our Church, we need to give individuals the freedom to explore possible calls to priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life. Parents ought to encourage such callings and allow their children to explore these possibilities. Priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers all need to be joyful. Vocations are not supposed to be heavy burdens, but responses of love! 

Finally, there is something very powerful about being called by name. If we recognize that a young man or woman is generous, selfless, loving, and prayerful, they might very well be called to serve the Church. We have the responsibility to suggest this possible calling to them. 

Jesus called his first disciples by name. So too, in our day, does Jesus call individuals to be priests, deacons, and religious. However, it is now our responsibility, as the Church, to call these potential nuns, brothers, deacons, and priests by name.

For more information, check out: www.ScrantonVocations.com 

Wisdom of St. Teresa of Avila

Although her official feast day was last month, the 16th century Carmelite nun St. Teresa of Avila remains a spiritual guide whose wisdom speak to hearts today. In fact, St. Teresa's theological and spiritual writings have been so insightful for the Christian tradition that she has been declared a "Doctor of the Church."

The following prayer was found written on a bookmark in Teresa's prayer book. It is a simple, yet deeply profound statement of faith:

(in Spanish):                                             (in English):
Nada de turbe,                                         Let nothing disturb you,
nada te espante;                                      let nothing frighten you;
todo se pasa,                                           All things are passing away.
Dios no se muda.                                     God never changes.
La pacientia todo lo alcanza.                  Patience obtains all things.
Quien a Dios tiene nada la falta:           Whoever has God lacks nothing:
solo Dios basta.                                      God alone is enough. 


**St. Teresa, while a very holy saint, also had a great sense of humor! Here are a few gems she wrote or purportedly said during her lifetime:
- "A sad nun is a bad nun."
- "I am more afraid of one unhappy sister than a crowd of evil spirits..."
- "From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, Lord, deliver us!"

St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us! 

Autumn Leaves

It is a blessing to live in a part of the world where there are changes in the seasons. Winter leads to spring, spring to summer. Summer leads to autumn. And autumn back to winter.

This annual pattern helps to break up the year into distinct times. The change in seasons also allows us to contemplate the cycle of life: the new life and youthfulness of spring leads to the warmth and growth of summer; the decay and cold of winter is preceded by the autumn of our lives.

Autumn, in a sense, is a liminal space, a time in which we see nature change, transform, and showcase its sublime beauty.

What I like most about autumn is the fall foliage. The leaves are bright, beautiful colors! Nothing is as breathtaking as seeing the transformation of the late summer green into the varieties of orange, red, gold, brown, and yellow - and combinations of all of these hues!

We are each like the autumn leaves. We each possess a natural beauty and inherent worth
 that becomes even more pronounced over time. Like the autumn leaves, our beauty and goodness is
further magnified when we are held up with the beauty and goodness of other leaves.

Yes, inevitably, all autumn leaves will fall to the ground to mark the passage of time and the beginning of winter. Yet, it is not without hope that we enter into winter. We know that after the cold and darkness of winter, spring's new life will come once again.

And, as has been the case for thousands of years, spring will lead to summer, and summer to fall. The beauty and the goodness of the autumn leaves will soon return.