Staff Writer
Tom Reilly may follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a mechanical engineer. Then again, the 14-year-old could be known someday as Rev. Thomas Reilly and join the ranks of the diocesan priesthood.
A parishioner of the Chapel of St. Theresa the Little Flower, the mission of Most Precious Blood Church in South Kortright, Tom was one of several people from a wide age range who attended a recent discussion on vocations led by Rev. James Walsh and Sister Katherine Hanley, CSJ, members of the diocesan Vocations Team.
The talk, held in the parish center of St. Mary's Church in Cooperstown, gave interested Catholics an opportunity to learn more about the life of a priest or sister and ask themselves if they were being called to pursue religious vocations.
Invitation
Father Walsh, associate pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Delmar, opened the talk by explaining the importance of inviting people to consider religious life.
"We have to identify people we think would be a good priest, sister or brother and tell them so. They have to feel that is something that is needed and important," he said.
Unlike some high-paying jobs that always have appealed to people, religious vocations don't seem to attract as many candidates as they once did.
"A person doesn't need an invitation to become a physician," Father Walsh said. "I'm a believer that God's calling the same number of people [to religious vocations] as He did 40 or 50 years ago. The problem is it's harder to say 'Yes' today."
Time to think
Sister Katherine was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph while growing up in Syracuse and saw a religious vocation as "a very natural path." But people shouldn't assume that if they don't decide at a young age to pursue a religious vocation that it won't happen at a later time, she said, noting that the seven women currently preparing to become Sisters of St. Joseph in the Albany Diocese include a 24-year-old and a widow in her 60s.
Father Walsh knows that people wonder how someone who isn't married, doesn't have sex and earns only $12,000 a year could be happy, but he insisted there's more to religious vocations than that.
"We can't sell salary or benefits, but we can sell happiness, joy and peace," he said.
More to come?
Father Walsh is optimistic that more young people will consider religious vocations, based upon a survey of the class of 2001 by the bishops of the United States. Ninety percent of those surveyed said they believe in God, and the majority regularly attend religious services. About 75 percent have done volunteer work in the past year, and 92 percent of them said they would do it again. More than 75 percent said that money doesn't bring happiness.
Parishes should seize opportunities to reach out to such young people and make them realize the practical side of religious vocations, Father Walsh pointed out. "We can teach about Holy Orders, the theology part, but we also have to talk about our struggles, our joys," he said.
Father Walsh tries to teach young people how the Church will operate 15 years from now if there aren't more religious vocations. A hospital patient may want a blessing from his or her parish priest, not a chaplain; but there could come a day when the hospital doesn't have a chaplain and the parish priest is in charge of five or six parishes.
Making a decision
Sister Katherine remarked that everyone has some unique ability that qualifies them to pursue a religious vocation. "There is no gift you have that cannot be used in this ministry, that isn't a need of the people of God in some way," she said.
The effort by the diocesan Vocations Team and parish committees promoting religious vocations is extremely important, and pamphlets and brochures are available to those who want information on opportunities in diocesan priesthood and religious congregations.
Tom Reilly enjoyed the talk by Father Walsh and Sister Katherine. Although he knew that priesthood isn't the highest paying job, he was surprised to learn that a priest's room and board are paid. Loneliness isn't as much of a problem as he believed, either.
He has talked with his parents about becoming a priest, and they are being supportive of whatever decision he makes. "They would like it if I became a priest, and they wouldn't mind if I didn't," he said.
Checking it out
Kathleen Hidalgo Smyth is coming from a different perspective. A divorced mother of four and grandmother of four, she feels called to a religious vocation and is at a point in her life where the time may be right.
"I have an opportunity to ask the question, and I feel I've got to keep asking the question," she said.
She knows that becoming a sister wouldn't change her relationship with her family. "If I make this commitment, they're still my family," she said. "I can't stop being their mother or grandmother."