Accuracy is a key element of priestly discernment.

As you’ve read on this blog, vocation directors have let us know that it’s important for prospective candidates for the priesthood to have access to accurate information about the priesthood and the teachings of the Church. That would seem to go without saying, but I think they might be implicitly stating that the information which has been presented to young men in the recent past perhaps hasn’t always been as solid and dependable as it could be.

What these young men need to know, among other things, is that:

• The Church’s practice of ordaining only men to the priesthood is rooted in the apostolic tradition and is not subject to change based on cultural trends or developments. This issue was put to rest once and for all by the statements of Pope John Paul II, which you can read here, and then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, available here. The declaration by the Pope on this very important issue is not at all discriminatory against women. In fact, according to Inter Insigniores, the 1976 document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “The Church desires that Christian women should become fully aware of the greatness of their mission: today their role is of capital importance, both for the renewal and humanization of society and for the rediscovery by believers of the true face of the Church.”
• While the Latin Church’s expectation that priests remain celibate is considered a discipline, not a doctrine, it, too, has its roots in the apostolic age, and to lead prospective priestly candidates to believe that this will one day change is imprudent and misguided. A book worth reading on the topic, The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy, by Fr. Christian Cochini, S.J., illustrates the ancient history regarding this matter. In the Eastern Churches, married men can be ordained as deacons and priests, though bishops are only chosen from among celibates. This practice has been in force for many centuries.
• Receiving the Sacrament of Holy Orders truly changes a man’s soul, conforming him to Christ in such a profound way it’s hard for our human minds to fully comprehend. That character remains on his soul for all eternity, identifying him as one of God’s ordained servants. This enables a mere sinful mortal to perform actions that otherwise only Jesus – who is God – could perform, such as feed us with the Lord’s body and blood, forgive our sins, and more.
• A vocation to the priesthood is both a tremendous blessing and a grave responsibility. No other call given to mankind can compare with the glory of the priesthood. At the same time, there is no other duty on earth that carries the same terrifying burden of fidelity to Jesus and the Church. Both are due to the very nature of the priesthood, and the fact that an ordained man bears the indelible mark of Jesus Christ on his soul, thus endowing him with a unique and sublime dignity, while at the same time placing a responsibility upon him which is not shared by any layperson.
• There’s a two-sided discernment to every priestly vocation. The man who feels called to the priesthood must devoutly ask for God’s guidance, while the Church, through the local bishop, engages in its own process of discernment to determine whether or not a man is indeed called to receive holy orders.
• God is still calling men to the priesthood. To believe otherwise would make Him a liar (“I will give you shepherds…” – Jer. 3:15). While the majority of men do not have a priestly vocation, the Lord would not have possibly established the Church – and the priesthood in particular – as the means of salvation and then abandoned Her at any age in history.

Armed with accurate information, there’s a greater likelihood that a young man will give serious consideration to pursuing a vocation to the priesthood. After all, they’re seeking the truth above everything else. When the truth about the priesthood is presented to them – and lived out joyfully by our priests – the result will be a continued increase in priestly vocations!

Additional reading on this topic: John Paul II, Letter To Priests For Holy Thursday, 1995