Have you ever thought of becoming a priest? Or do you know a young man or woman who might be interested in the priesthood? I don’t think we spend enough time in our parishes and families asking people to consider whether God may be calling them to the priesthood. There are many reasons for this, not least of which is that many parents would prefer their children do something more significant, more normal, and more lucrative with their lives.
The average age of priests in the Episcopal Church is fifty four years old; in the Roman Catholic Church it is even older. In recent decades a shift has taken place in vocations to the priesthood, from younger person responding to a life-long calling to older people, pursuing the priesthood after one or more careers in the marketplace. God calls all sorts of people and I am a full supporter of those priests who enter the priesthood later in life, they bring much Christian and worldly experience to the Church and their ministries.
The priesthood is a way of life that places a man or woman in constant contact with both the divine and the human aspects of life. It is an opportunity to be close to holy things, in the formal sense of that word, and an opportunity to be close to the realities of human living, with all their sorrows and joys. Please pray this week for vocations to the priesthood and please consider asking a young man or woman you know to consider the priesthood – I’d be happy to chat with them too.
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