Blogs

This Saturday’s broadcast will mark the first anniversary of Vocation Boom Radio. Our prayer is that the program is touching many minds and hearts, encouraging men of all ages to consider the glorious vocation of the priesthood.

During the past year, we’ve been able to bring you interviews with bishops, priests, seminary rectors, vocation directors, seminarians and their family members, and laypeople, all of whom share our vision and passion for promoting priestly vocations.

I want to personally thank you for your prayers and support of the Vocation Boom initiative. It all started with the launch of our web site in September 2009. That was followed by the debut of the radio show last February. And we don’t want to stop there. Our hope is to create a Vocation Boom TV show, and possibly host local events in cities across the country, encouraging men and their families to consider the priesthood as a way of life.

Please say an extra prayer this week for Vocation Boom. And I’ll share with you shortly how you can help take us to the next level, and get some great appreciation gifts in the process. Talk to you soon.

God bless!

There's great news to report. Vocation Boom Radio is set to begin airing weekly on the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network beginning February 5. The program will air Saturdays at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, 2:00 p.m. Pacific on nearly 150 Catholic radio stations across the country, as well as on the Internet (www.ewtn.com) and Sirius Satellite Radio channel 160. Here is a list of EWTN affiliates. 

Early episodes will feature Jerry Usher telling the Vocation Boom story, Steve Ray, Fr. Donald Calloway, Grant Desme (the young professional baseball player who left the Oakland Athletics' organization to pursue a priestly vocation with the Norbertine Fathers and Brothers in Southern California), Fr. Shawn McKnight (executive director of the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations), Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend, just to name a few. 

If you aren't able to listen to the show weekly on your local radio station, the Internet, or Sirius, check back here on the VB web site for the archives. We're in the process of creating a radio page, and should have that up and running shortly. 

Thanks for your prayers for the next important phase of the Vocation Boom initiative. May God be glorified through our new program, and may many young men and their families be inspired to consider the priesthood as a life's vocation!

Vocation Boom is going to the next level, and we need your help! In December, phase two of our initiative will begin to unfold with the taping of the first series of Vocation Boom Radio shows. Fr. David Toups, pastor of Christ the King parish in Tampa - and former head of the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations - has graciously invited us to record some shows in the studios of WBVM, the Catholic radio station in Tampa. The station is located on the grounds of his parish.

So, I’ll be traveling to Tampa in December to get the first several Vocation Boom Radio shows “in the can.” We hope to have them airing on Catholic stations and networks across the country by early January.

Now, here’s how you can help. The show is going to feature bishops, priests, vocation directors, seminary rectors, and, most notably, seminarians and their family members and friends. If you fall into any of the latter categories - in other words, if you’re in the seminary, or know someone who is - we want to hear from you, and soon! We need to identify at least a dozen seminarians and/or family members and friends within the next week or two, people we can feature on the show who love either preparing for the priesthood or supporting someone who is.

You can contact me directly at jerryusher@vocationboom.com. I look forward to hearing from you. And I ask that you keep the roll out of our radio show in your prayers.

Thanks and God bless!

Those who know me are well aware of the fact that I am not a reader. At least, not as much of a reader as many of my family members and friends. Until now. My love of the priesthood and priestly vocations, coupled with the launch of Vocation Boom, have compelled me to take up reading and learning all I can about the holy priesthood. All I can say is “Wow! What an incredible gift Jesus has given to his Church in the continuation of his ministry through our priests!”

It’s not that I had no understanding at all of the nature of holy orders before now. After all, I have a degree in philosophy and theology, spent six years in formation for the priesthood, and hosted the radio program Catholic Answers Live for over ten years. But to drill down into the deeper realities associated with the priesthood is simultaneously eye-opening and glorious.

Two of the books I’ve recently read I highly recommend to anyone who truly wants a glimpse inside the beauty and dignity that is the Catholic priesthood. One is Reclaiming Our Priestly Character by Fr. David Toups, published by the Institute for Priestly Formation. Fr. Toups is the immediate past Executive Director of the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, and now pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church in Tampa, Florida. In this easy to read work, Fr. Toups examines the permanent “mark,” or “character,” that is imprinted on the soul of a man when he is ordained. This mark, or character, is what transforms a man’s soul to be like Christ in such an intimate way that he is empowered to do many of the things that only Jesus, as God, can do - turn ordinary bread and wine into our Lord’s Body and Blood, forgive our sins, and so forth.

The book I’m currently reading is About Being a Priest by Fr. Federico Suarez, another tremendous look inside the dignity and duties of the priesthood. Fr. Suarez provides a fairly thorough look at the priest’s place in the Church and in the world, the importance of his faithful preaching and administration of the sacraments, keys to solid training of priests, where a priest can turn for ongoing strength and support, methods for priests to develop their spiritual lives, and more. The only challenge I am facing with this book is that what I’ve read so far is almost all marked with my yellow highlighter. 

Of course, there are many, many more titles available to anyone who wishes to gain a better understanding and love of the priesthood. I can’t wait to move on to the next one!