August 2006
I write today to
invite you to join us in prayer for an increase of
vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and
consecrated life for the Diocese of La Crosse. We
live in an age in which the center of people’s lives
is filled with so many distractions that it becomes
very difficult to hear the way in which the Lord
calls us. Unless we enter into the quiet with the
Lord in prayer we will not hear His whisper and
call.
When I was
entering seminary with a lot of uncertainty, the
then Fr. Burke told me to be sure to spend time in
adoration. He told me, “You will find your vocation
in the Blessed Sacrament chapel.” I did.
Mother Teresa
taught her sisters to spend three hours a day before
the Blessed Sacrament so that they remain rooted in
their mission as they went out daily serving the
poorest of the poor.
Dorothy Day
worked forty-five years with the destitute in this
country. A classmate of mine knew her personally
and related the time that she shared with him that
when she goes to Mass, she reflects on Christ at the
moment of consecration saying to her, “Dorothy, this
is my Body broken for you. Will you let your body
be broken for Me and for others today?” And when
the priest blesses the wine the Lord says, “Dorothy,
this is blood poured out for you today. Will you
let your blood be poured out for Me and for others
today?”
Adoration before
the Blessed Sacrament connects us with the very
presence and Heart of Christ. If you want to learn
your call and vocation in life, learn to find the
Lord in Adoration. If you are presently committed
to your vocation and need to ground yourself more
deeply, find that ground in Adoration. It is there
that the Lord will strengthen you for your mission.
We need priests, deacons, and consecrated persons
for the work of the Church in the Diocese of La
Crosse, please join us in asking the Master of the
Harvest for workers for His Vineyard.
I invite and
challenge you to consider spending time in Adoration
on a regular basis for vocations besides your daily
prayer for vocations. One way you could do this is
to choose a date and make a holy hour on that day
each month for an increase of vocations to the
priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life for the
Diocese of La Crosse. This is often referred to as
participating in the “Thirty-One Club”.
The needs in our
parishes are great. The answer will come to the
degree that we commit our lives more completely to
Christ. Eucharistic Adoration invites us to deepen
in that commitment. Then we will no longer ask the
Lord to call others to His work, we will be asking
Him to call us to do His work in the Church.
Please join us
around the Diocese of La Crosse in your parishes and
chapels. Increase the time we spend in Adoration so
that the Lord will fan into flame the Holy Spirit
within us so that we will be worthy instruments of
His in a world so much in need of His presence and
healing.
In Christ,
Fr. Joseph
Hirsch
Director of
Vocations
Diocese of La
Crosse
