The importance of family.

It’s often noted that we get to choose our friends, but not our family, a reference to the fact that we sometimes find it easier to relate to our buddies and acquaintances than we do our own parents or siblings. True enough, perhaps.

But, to be totally honest, the latter are in a position to do much more for the cause of priestly vocations than the former. It doesn’t always turn out that way, but in an ideal world, it would.

It’s within the family that the seeds of a vocation to the priesthood are to be planted and watered. A Godly father, a loving mother, and supportive brothers and sisters can do wonders for a boy or young man who is feeling that gentle nudge in his heart to follow in the footsteps of the holy priests he encounters regularly.

Let’s face it, though, with the breakdown of the traditional family, and the absence of many things that used to encourage young men to think frequently about becoming a priest (schools with numerous priests and religious as teachers, and so on), it’s often not one’s family of origin that fosters and nurtures his sense of a priestly vocation.

We’re no doubt seeing a resurgence of traditional family life, but it could take several generations before it attains the prominence in our society that it once held. In the meantime, Pope Benedict XVI has recently addressed this critical issue.

Every child born into the world has a vocation, a specific calling from God. If you’re raising young children, particularly boys, be sure you do all you can to encourage them to seek God’s will in their lives, and provide what Pope Benedict calls “spiritual terrain for vocations.”