Fr. Michael Williams

The Archbishop ends his pastoral letter today by stating: ‘at least five priests will retire this year: one is to be ordained’. These statistics speak for themselves, and maybe they reflect the de-Christianisation of our society, as less and less people listen to the Lord, and listen to strange voices instead. But as Catholics we must also look at the bigger picture. In many parts of the Catholic world vocations to the priesthood and religious life are at record levels. The Pope told a group of bishops from India, ‘You have become one of the fastest growing Catholic communities in the world, boasting large numbers of vocations to the priesthood and religious life’. It’s worth noting these burgeoning Catholic communities are alive with the Holy Spirit and prayer; there is no trace of being lukewarm there! What one commentator described as being a Christian on a Sunday and a pagan for the other six days of the week! The question we must all ask ourselves how do we boost priestly and religious vocations in our own Catholic community in this diocese?

The Lord has told us, ‘Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out labourers to His harvest’. In other words we are called to pray for vocations. Prayer does work. I am convinced prayer obtained my vocation to the priesthood. People don’t always believe me, when I tell them that at the age of twenty, I was a long-haired, Led Zeppelin listening, scally, with two O’ levels, lapsed Catholic, from Fazakerley. And I was reminded of this recently, when I was visiting the sick in the Royal. I saw one of the cleaners and knew it was one of the lads, who was part of our ne’er-do-well group when I was about twenty. He saw me dressed in my clerical collar and was stunned. An expletive reverberated around the ward. Then he said ‘If I knew you’d become a priest, I would have got you to do my dad’s funeral!’

I know people’s prayers drew me back to the Lord and to my vocation. Without persistent prayer there will be no vocations to the priesthood it’s as simple as that. Pastoral plans are all well and good and necessary, but persistent and concerted prayer is irreplaceable. People say to me, ‘Oh, I don’t have time to pray Father!’ No, but you have time to watch every soap opera going and constantly surf the net! Ultimately, it’s about priorities and what we desire. I was heartened recently by a lady who told me her and her husband and her children say the Rosary together frequently. They are a busy family and they manage it!

So let us make a renewed commitment to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and encourage people to pursue such a vocation, if the Lord is calling them to it.