By TARA CONNOLLY Staff writer
“It’s a good day for us to come together and spend time together as a Roman Catholic family of faith to pray for something so essential to the Church,” said Bishop of Allentown Alfred Schlert April 21 at St. Joseph the Worker, Orefield.
Bishop Schlert led the faithful praying to the Lord to send more laborers to the priesthood and religious life during a Mass highlighting World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
Like the necessity for good laity, devoted mothers and fathers, and dedicated single people in the life of the Church, Bishop Schlert said the Church needs more men and women to respond to the call to religious life and the priesthood.
“Without priests, there are no sacraments – there is no Eucharist,” he said.
Speaking to parents of young men and women, Bishop Schlert told them that vocations start in the family, and asked them to be open and encouraging to children about the religious life, but “don’t push them.”
“I encourage you to not rule out the religious life or place obstacles before them if they express a desire to become a priest or a sister,” he said.
Bishop Schlert acknowledged the difficulty – like foregoing grandchildren – and the sacrifices involved when a child enters the religious life.
“If we are generous to God, he will be generous to us,” he said.
“Your son or daughter can have a great effect on far more people than you can imagine,” said Bishop Schlert.
Like men and women who make great parents, Bishop Schlert said the priesthood and the religious life are looking for the same qualities needed to be a loving mother or father.
“Priests aren’t bachelors. Bachelors can often lead a life of independence,” he noted.
“A priest or sister is called to think like the mother or father of a family. A priest or a sister must be ready to make sacrifices for the family. The qualities aren’t really different – the calling is different,” said Bishop Schlert.
He also told the faithful that a vocational life is a wonderful life that – like all vocations – does not thrive without challenges.
“Every vocation has its challenges and every vocation has its rewards,” said Bishop Schlert.
He also said that many men and women are called to the religious life and disagreed with the notion that younger generations are not open to sacrifice or engaging in worthwhile causes.
“They are uniquely equipped to take in the sacrifices of the priesthood or religious life. They are attracted to sacrifice,” said Bishop Schlert.
In this time and place, Bishop Schlert told that faithful that they are given the role to respond to vocations or to pray for vocations.
“This is so God’s work can continue and so we can receive his body, blood, soul and divinity,” he said.
Father Mark Searles Reflects on the Presence of Christ
The special day of prayer, which fell on Good Shepherd Sunday, also featured a personal reflection by Father Mark Searles, Director of Vocations Promotions and chaplain at Allentown Central Catholic High School (ACCHS.)
“As we pray for holy and joy-filled vocations to the Sacraments of Marriage, the Priesthood, and for courageous men and women to enter the religious life, the Church and the Word of God also invite us to look more deeply at who is Christ in my life. Who is this shepherd that I am called to follow? How do I and how can I listen more closely to his voice?” he began.
Growing up, Father Searles said, he met Christ on many occasions in the family members – especially his grandparents – that he was blessed to know and to love.
Getting to know Christ as a kid wasn’t just in religion classes, said Father Searles, who recalled experiencing Christ with his cousins during summer escapades to places like amusement parks.
“Life wasn’t very fancy or flashy, but it didn’t need to be. There was so much love and beauty that surrounded me at home, in my family and friendships.… There are a thousand other ways to know him and to live in his love, and it is a great blessing for me to think about all the ways the Good Shepherd guided me,” he said.
Another way Father Searles grew to know God better was through a kindergarten classmate who became one of his closest friends and died from leukemia at the end of the school year.
“I remember one day watching a movie with Matt that depicted heaven and even though this conversation was almost 25 years ago, I still remember pondering with Matt what heaven might look like. We were sure there were beautiful puffy white clouds, dogs, and all-you-can-eat cheeseburgers and fries, and video games, and of course God, but it was still so hard to say goodbye to my best friend,” he recalled.
Thinking Christ was not always close and present, Father Searles said he felt distant when he would worry in high school about making plans, his position on the soccer team and trying to impress girls.
“I was consumed with planning the next school dance or event, going to sports or play practices and memorizing lines, playing my trumpet in the concert band, and then maybe getting to the piles of homework when all of that more fun and important stuff was finished,” he said.
Looking back, Father Searles said, Christ was present at all those moments and in every person he met and every activity he participated in.
“I didn’t notice him nearly enough, but looking back now, I was so very blessed. I met him in my teachers, in the kind priests who shook my hand after Mass every Sunday and offered a big smile and a kind word, who absolved my sins every time I stepped into the confessional with great gentleness and mercy, and who showed me an awesome path of both discipleship and conforming my life to Christ in an extraordinary way through the priesthood, and I met Christ in the religious sisters who taught me through the years as well,” said Father Searles.
Christ was also there when he was sent to the principal’s office for violating dress code, playing sports, and developing relationships with friends and classmates who shaped him into the person he is today.
“And Christ was always there waiting for me in the Blessed Sacrament in the small chapel in my high school and at my parish… ever present and patiently waiting to bring me the nourishment, peace and strength that I needed most,” said Father Searles.
According to Father Searles, one of his greatest challenges Christ set before him was deciding to attend the seminary for discernment to the religious life after finishing college.
“My life was great, I had great grades, I was pre-med so that I could be a doctor and help people one day and have a family, and make plenty of money, but I also knew that what brought me the greatest peace and joy was not in the biology lab or in volunteering in a hospital. It was the time I spent in the chapel,” he said.
During a low point as a sophomore in college, Father Searles said he became afraid to think about his future and what Christ might be calling him to do.
“No matter how uncertain the priesthood sounded, no matter how unusual it was for a college guy like me to say that I’m thinking about entering the seminary, and no matter how drastically different my life would soon become, I still found peace and joy thinking that one day maybe I could be a priest to a whole bunch of cool high school students like the ones I am blessed to serve at ACCHS,” he said.
As a priest, Father Searles told the faithful that he has found peace and joy to be a father, and in living out his vocation and the plan that Christ invited him to follow in this life.
“I am getting to know him better each and every day in my conversations with young people, in the fun activities and busy life of high school ministry, in celebrating a Sunday Mass in a big, vibrant parish like this one, and in the moments we share before the Most Blessed Sacrament,” he said.
“When we humbly surrender our lives to this great and humble king and follow our vocations, when we surrender our lives and our wills to the one who bore the cross and the crown of thorns, and who alone is worthy to bear the greatest of all glorious crowns, then we can live more fully and more beautifully in his love.”
After Mass, faithful and diocesan seminarians participated in Eucharistic Adoration and offered several prayers for vocations. The day concluded with Solemn Benediction by Bishop Schlert.
