The Hidden Sacrifice of the Priesthood

Often when I do presentations on vocations to the priesthood and religious life, the introduction includes the instruction to pray for our priests and religious because they have given up so much in order to respond to their call. While it is true that the life of a priest is a particular form of sacrificial living in giving up the good things of the natural world, there are certainly many blessings that nourish the priest both spiritually and emotionally during the course of his ministry in the Church. I would think, based on seeing so many religious who exhibit that deep seated joy in Christ, that they have a similar experience.


However, there is a sometimes hidden cost of responding to a priestly or religious vocation that becomes quite evident this time of year, but not necessarily for the priest or religious, but for his or her family. Because of our responsibilities and assignments, we often miss family gatherings during the holidays, or when we get there, we are so tired and worn down, all we want to do is sleep; yet nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, parents are all excited to see you and want to hear about what we have been doing.

But especially for members of religious communities, even this is not an option. Often stationed in houses around the globe, families have to make due with a two week ‘home visit’ at different points during the year. In between, hand written letters are often the only means of communication that goes between family and the professed. While the evident joy can temper some of the feelings of loss in the rest of the family, there is still something missing when that son or daughter’s chair remains empty during Christmas Dinner.

On the contrary, there certainly are many blessings that can come to the family of a priest or religious. I know my mother enjoys seeing people she meets make the connection that she is ‘Fr. Schnippel’s mother’ and my father’s favorite pastime is greeting me after Mass with a hearty: ‘Well done, Son!’ (and my sheepish reply: ‘Thanks, Father.’) Plus, family weddings and baptisms take on a special significance when celebrated by your brother or uncle, and it was a particular joy to me to receive my brother’s wedding vows while I was still a deacon.

Despite these great blessings, families of priests and religious can still sometimes feel left out. Perhaps with the upcoming Christmas season, it might make for an excellent awareness to thank those families from among your parishes and friends who have sacrificed in such a way in supporting a son or daughter in their call to the priesthood or religious life.

After all, priestly and religious vocations are not the product solely of one family, but naturally grow forth from a vibrant parish and school life. There is a pride that comes to the whole parish when a son is ordained or a daughter professed; helping a family who greatly loves, yet greatly misses, their child, brother or sister aunt or uncle; is certainly a great way to acknowledge that the fostering of a vocation is too important a task to be left to just one family. It is the responsibility of all.

During this Christmas Season, may Christ richly reward all those who have helped to foster a vocation!

For more on how families and parishes can foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life, please visit http://www.cincinnativocations.org/.

Prayer, the Heart of a Vocation

My latest runs this week in the Catholic Telegraph: I was raised in a very small town, roughly 1,000 people all together, even including the surrounding countryside. To say everyone knew everyone would be an understatement! Despite the small size, and the fact that only 50% of the town is Catholic (Lutherans and Methodists make up the rest), my home parish has sent five sons to the seminary in the last 20 years. Two of us have been ordained, two were in the seminary and left, one is currently in the college seminary. A remarkable feat, which continues to stun me, even seven years after my own ordination. Whenever I mention this fact, people always wonder how this happened. ‘What’s the secret?’ There is no secret, but just a vibrant prayer life within the parish and it is based in two areas. First, my hometown has been blessed with excellent priests, who each brought his own gift to the parish. I vaguely remember Fr. Bastian, from whom I received my First Holy Communion. Fr. O’Connor brought about some changes introduced at the Second Vatican Council, taught me how to serve in the fifth grade, and was a constant, steady presence in the parish. Fr. Trick brought a vitality and joy to the parish, a quick wit and an ability to laugh with the best of them. Fr. Sloneker turned the focus of the parish to youth and the energy they bring to the parish. Fr. Lee has just recently joined up and has the enthusiasm of the newly ordained. But this is only part of the success. Even though my home parish is so small, there is a dedicated army of ‘adorers’ who spend at least an hour a week in front of Our Eucharistic Lord, present in the monstrance. From the close of the last Mass on Sunday at noon through Friday evening, at least one person (and usually two) is scheduled to spend an hour to watch and pray with Our Lord. In no mere coincidence, this dedication to prayer started roughly as this little vocation wave started to take shape. Because it is such a small community, everyone feels an obligation to keep Our Lord company: from the elderly who cover some of the early morning hours while everyone else is home asleep or the midday hours as others work, to students from school who walk over after school to spend an hour with He who created them. Moms and dads of young families take the late evening shift, after the kids have been tucked safely away. Others fill in as they can and are able. From the time this started when I was in high school to today, I know not to call my mother on Tuesday evenings, for she has to keep her hour at Church. As we continue our journey through Lent, we can use the discipline fostered in our prayer life to continue on into the future, instead of sliding back into old habits. Especially in periods of Adoration, we see Christ face to face, as it were, and encounter Him at a deeper level. During these times, are hearts are opened to experience the great love of Christ who came that we might have life through Him. In these moments, the initial stirrings of a vocation are heard, the longing of the heart is kindled, and the soul is strengthened to follow where ever God calls. For this, and so much more, whenever someone asks what they can do to support vocations, I urge them first and foremost to prayer before Our Lord during Adoration. It is a prayer time unlike any other. For a listing of times and locations of Adoration in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, see the ‘Resources’ tab at www.cincinnativocations.org.

Archdiocese of Cincinnati Vocations Prayer

In the January edition of Clergy Communications, the internal newsletter for priests and staff of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archbishop Schnurr has penned the following prayer for use in the parishes and institutions of the Diocese as a way to promote a culture of Vocations in the Archdiocese:


Almighty Father,
You have created us for some definite purpose.
Grant us the grace to know the path
You have planned for us in this life
and to respond with a generous “Yes.”
Make our archdiocese, parishes, homes and hearts
fruitful ground for Your gift of vocations.
May our young people respond to Your call
with courage and zeal.
Stir among our men a desire and the strength
to be good and holy priests.
Bless us with consecrated religious and those called to a
chaste single life, permanent deacons,
and faithful husbands and wives,
who are a sign of Christ’s love for His Church.
We commend our prayer for vocations to You, Father,
through the intercession of Mary our Mother,
in the Holy Spirit,
through Christ our Lord. Amen.